Thursday, December 20, 2007

This is the End…

Maybe not my only friend, but not an unwelcome one.

Well it has been a long season, 24 weeks to be precise. After years of planning and scheming the map of Xtobo has been completed, and 32 test pits have been excavated. There have been fun days, hot days, wet days, boring days, dusty days, painful days, and plain and simple hard days, but the goals of the year have been met. What comes next is the analysis of the artifacts collected at Xtobo, then general data analysis from the whole project to figure out what it all means. Finally will be the writing of the dissertation. So maybe it’s not really the end, but it is a landmark.

Most importantly, I would not be where I am today without the immense assistance of a number of people. Dan Griffin, despite being frequently lampooned in this blog, has been of more assistance than I can really qualify. Despite all the effort that has gone into this season, I have little doubt that Dan would be ready and waiting to go to the field every morning for many years to come, before he would call it quits. Let us not forget Scott Johnson, too. Scott actually showed up pre-permit letter, and very patiently waited with me for that day when we’d get our chance. He very much helped the season get off to a roaring start. Emit Luty joined us mid-season, catching the tail end of the mapping and the beginnings of the excavations. With out Emit’s help we might still be mapping those crazy sacbes. And certainly not least, I want to thank the boys from Ucu. Something tells me they won’t be reading this, but I certainly would not be here today without all of their immense help. Where else can you find someone who will go out and chop down a forest all day with a machete and still giggle on the truck ride home?

And one more thank you to all of you who have read along through out the season. Your comments and emails have provided much cheer.

This will be the end of the blog for this season. There will inevitably be another season at Xtobo, despite all that was accomplished this year there is still much more to do, and those exploits just may find there way to this page in the future. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck and a happy holiday season. As for myself, I am now off to California to spend a happy few days with the four and a half members of my immediate family!

1 Comments:

Blogger Candy said...

Merry Christmas, Dave!

7:06 AM  

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