What SPF Sunscreen did Indiana Jones use?

It is an ongoing joke among archaeologists that if you don’t want to speak to the person next to you on an airplane, you tell them you are a theoretical physicist.  Saying you are an archaeologist usually leads to a conversation about:

a)    how they always wanted to be an archaeologist and/or

b)   how they LOVE dinosaurs

It seems that many people think archaeology is an exciting profession, a viewpoint promoted by Hollywood depictions of “archaeologists” who usually pillage sites in ways that no self-respecting, trained professional would consider.  I find that about half of the students who attend field schools realize quickly that they don’t like being dirty, working outside, working tirelessly, and often finding nothing—so one function of field schools is to weed out those who think archaeology is the most wonderful experience they’ve ever had versus those who can’t stand field work.  The reality is that archaeology is really hard work, particularly fieldwork. 

What is a typical day like in the field?  On the Room 28 project, a typical day goes like this: we rise at 5 AM, eat breakfast, make our own lunches, slather on sunscreen, pull on clothing with SPF rating (which usually means long sleeves and long pants), and finally don a neon vest—which in Chaco identifies us as project members.  By 5:45, we are at the trucks, loading equipment for the day, along with our packs, water, and food.  We drive to Pueblo Bonito at 6 AM and are the first people there every day (the gates don’t open for tourists until 7 AM).  We haul the equipment to the excavation area and begin the opening—this involves a lengthy process of removing sandbags from the tarps that hang from the Quonset-hut shaped garage over the excavation—and rolling the tarps up and fastening them to the frame using the wonderful bungee balls (truly an invention right up there with mousetraps).  The ravens scold us as we unlock the equipment left at the site and distribute screens and buckets, and set up the shade over the screening area.  As the designated “Competent Person” (for OSHA purposes—this means I have the power to tell everyone to get out of the excavation, make decisions on what is safe and what isn’t, and fill out a safety checklist every single morning before we enter the dig), I don my hardhat and fill out a safety checklist, monitoring cracks in the walls, watching for any telltale piles of dirt on the floor that weren’t there the night before, and checking the scaffolding to make sure it hasn’t slipped.  ALL excavators working in trenches must meet OSHA standards—we wear hardhats, have an exit within four feet of our work at all times, and have a safety plan in case a wall falls. 

Then we start to excavate.  We use shovels in some levels if the material is just backfill, trowels where it is important.  We put the resulting dirt into buckets, usually using dustpans for this task.  The buckets are either carried to the top of the steps in the dig OR lately we have used a bucket raising device that involves a pulley and ropes to move buckets straight up and then over to the screening area—we call it the buck-o-matic.  The Park Service Stabilization Crew put it up for us and it’s very ingenious,  but does require a lot of strength to raise buckets, now that we are down 3+ meters.  We usually have 2-4 crew members in the excavation area and 2-4 in the screening area—we’ve used 1/8^th inch or window screen throughout most of the excavation, so screening a single bucket can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, depending on what is in it and how fine the mesh used for screening.  On a typical day, we screened around 150 buckets.

I think most archaeologists would agree on the qualities of an excellent crew member: they work tirelessly without complaint no matter the conditions; they take supervision well without any argument, but they often provide suggestions for ways to do things; they take a deep interest in archaeology and are always asking questions about the past and about what they are finding; they write thorough field notes every single day with lots of sketch maps; they are always looking around for what needs to be done; and they work quickly and efficiently in the field. 

We take cookie break at around 9 AM—a brief break for some food/drink.  Then back to work until lunch around 11:30.  Then more work until around 3:30-4 PM.  We take outreach seriously, so we talk to most visitors who stop at the “wayside exhibit” that is outside our excavation area.  Since we are located right ON the main trail through Pueblo Bonito, most people pass our area and stop and talk.  We have spoken to hundreds of visitors, in addition to field school groups and special interest groups.  Archaeological groups are sometimes invited to come into the excavation area, but we don’t have time to talk to everyone at length.  Some visitors from New York City stopped and looked at the dig area when we were inside the tent at lunch—they discussed how the Park Service had set up the area to look like a dig, but it wasn’t really realistic—more like MGM Studios version of a dig.  They were surprised when we popped up and chatted with them. 

Probably the most difficult part of the excavation is getting in and out of the excavation area—the five scaffolding pipes keep the walls from falling on us, but they make getting in and out a challenge.  We have stairs cut into the dirt, but we still have to negotiate the pipes—some require going under and others require stepping over.  As we’ve dug deeper, we bang our heads on the pipes less often, but it’s good we wear hardhats.  The location of the pipes prevents us from putting a ladder in—there is actually no place to put one where we could climb the ladder without running into the scaffolding.  So the stairs have been necessary. 

When close-up begins, we pull the tarps down, put sandbags on them, lock up some equipment and take the rest to the trucks.  After driving back to the residential area, the students unload the truck and do lab work until they are caught up—this means assigning field numbers, inventorying (counting) all artifacts in each category (sherds, chipped stone, ornaments, etc.).  There is a lot of paperwork to be done.  I sometimes meet with the Park Service personnel in the afternoons after work, meetings that can take minutes or hours.  Everyone eats around 6 PM—the students cook together in a cook trailer and they take turns cleaning up.  At 6:30 PM we reconvene for more lab work until it is finished.  Most of us are so tired, we go to sleep around 9-10 PM.  The students sleep in tents and have dealt with noisy birds, lizards under their tents, rain, wind, and dust storms since we got here.  Sometimes they barely sleep. 

The artifacts, samples, and fauna we’ve collected this summer will be taken to Albuquerque to analyze before being turned over the National Park Service for curation.  My NEH grant includes funding for the analysis, which will take place during the academic year.  Samples will be sent to specialists for analysis during that time too, including pollen, macrobotanical, and dated materials analysis. 

I don’t remember the Indiana Jones movies ever showing him drinking water or putting on sunscreen or cleaning the sand from his shoes (and ears) at the end of the day.  I never saw him write a field note or draw a sketch map.   I’m not sure he cleaned artifacts or even analyzed them once he had them.  This is my 39^th year of doing archaeology in the American Southwest and I don’t ever regret going into this profession.  But I certainly didn’t learn about what archaeologists do by watching movies….