Reliving the Good (Not So Old) Days
I recently began a weekly trip back to my old stomping grounds. Before my job as FPAN Northeast's Outreach Coordinator, I worked as the City of St. Augustine's Archaeology Assistant. It started as a little bitty data entry job, adding lists of analyzed artifacts to a digital database, but over time the job became a full-time position. As I saw where help was needed, I spent time organizing files and digitizing documents and photos from the City's excavations. It may not have been a glamorous job, but it was work that needed to be done.
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| Working away in my old office at the City's lab. |
Nowadays when I go into classrooms, I make sure to tell students that archaeology isn't just digging. For every man hour spent in the field, about five are needed in the lab. I worked with the City's volunteers to analyze artifacts and manage office needs, maintain records, and do some fieldwork. I left 2 1/2 years ago. Carl briefly had another assistant, but the position is now unfilled due to budget issues.
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| Volunteers analyze part of the City's vast artifact assemblage. |
As that job has stood vacant, a little part of me has pined for the work that I did; I love my work with FPAN and wouldn't change jobs if you paid me (no really!), but those files became my babies. Maybe it sounds silly, but I spent hours putting each file in order, then ordering them all in a system that Carl and I devised to access them easily for research. The idea that the system could be compromised--Carl, after all, has his hands full trying to keep up with his own work--just broke my heart.
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| A fraction of Carl's 20 years worth of site records. |
Luckily part of FPAN's mission involves supporting local governments. As City Archaeologist, Carl's archaeology program qualifies! As a result, I will spend one morning a week assisting City Archaeology with its lab and collections. It's not nearly enough time to do all of the work, but I hope it will significantly help the program by maintaining order and updating the collection database.
Before I can start, however, the City must unpack the lab. Carl's lab and offices recently moved from the Government House in the heart of downtown St. Augustine to a renovated warehouse owned by the City, just west of US 1. Walking through on my first visit, I couldn't be more thrilled. There is ample space for collections, a lab, offices, and plenty of room to grow. It was a thing of beauty, and just the facility that the program has needed.
As for me, I started my work by reuniting with my babies, my files. I spent the first morning unpacking files-- 20 years of City digs-- and lovingly placing them in their new cabinets. It was good to be together again.
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| Pictured above: me, the labors of my love. |