So we’re excavating at a site called Chelechol ra Orrak,
which I’m not entirely sure how to pronounce. We drove to the big island of Palau, and then the site is a short boat ride away.
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| The boat ride |
We’re excavating a rock shelter right on the beach. It’s
amazing- stalactites and stalagmites. I’ll put up some pictures when I
can. The site has been excavated a few times over the last 12 years, and they’ve
uncovered a number of burials. The human remains at the site date back about
3000 years, making the site one of the oldest known in the Pacific. When it was
last excavated in 2007, they found some human remains that they didn’t have
time to excavated, so they carefully covered them back up with sand. We worked
today to uncover those remains so that we can excavate them this field season.
The people of the Pacific island of Yap made stone
money. If you aren’t familiar, look it up- it’s quite interesting. There is an
awesome piece of stone money at the entrance to the Smithsonian National Museum
of Natural History. The site we’re excavated was also a stone money quarry, and
there’s an unfinished piece of stone money there. We also found a small piece,
about a foot in diameter, on the beach today! It was a great start of the dig!
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| Stone money at the Smithsonian |
The only place we have internet here is in the lobby of our
apartments. And by lobby, it’s the back porch, which overlooks a jungle. I’m
honestly sitting in a rain forest. This place is incredible.
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| Rain Forest. Heavy emphasis on the rain. |
So everything is off to a great start! I’m excited about the dig,
about diving, and our field trips. This is really the trip of a lifetime!
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