Excavation

Excavation is really on the go now which has been great. Dr. Toohey chose a 1 by 2 meter unit towards the middle area of the large cave up against the wall. This is really only the testing phase of this project, which is why there is only one unit being placed in the cave. We started excavation in 10cm levels which doesn't seem like a lot, but when those buckets of dirt are brought to the screens for screening you end up turning a lot of dirt. In the first couple of levels we were finding a lot of small animal bone like cuy and maybe bats or rats. We also uncovered a lot of classic Cajamarca ceramics. After 60ish cm we seemed to hit a dry spell and weren't finding much at all except a lot of cobbles and maybe ceiling fall from inside the cave, which is obviously natural. And then we found a human male right inominate or pelvis. We got pretty excited. Also found a navicular or foot bone while screening. The ceramics and small animal bone continued to pick up after that point.  When you find a human bone like that you just want to expand the unit and find everything possible, but there just isn't enough time this summer. We had to leave the field early for a dinner but before we left I found a human subadult right upper maxillary bone with a mandible still in tact, and a canine that hadnt erupted yet. Coolest find I've ever had for sure.      Now I'm back at the house playing with the cutest puppy ever. Well, that's a lie actually. My mr hunter pants is the cutest puppy ever. Still miss him a ton. Shane finally found a place for us to live, apparently with his taxidermist in a big house. It will work for now I suppose. I also just tried mango ceviche, and it's super delicious. There is a restaurant in Cajamarca that we have gone to a couple of times and it is delicious. Turns out he is a friend of the professors and he is cooking dinner for us here at the house. I anticipate it being one of the best meals I've ever had. We will be back out in the cave tomorrow and probably Wednesday depending on if the deposition of the unit goes down much farther. I sure hope it does. Nobody likes finding bedrock. After that we will have a treacherous hike to way up the same mountain to document architecture and open up at least a couple more units. 

Not a great picture but you can see how small the unit really is and how dark the cave is. 

Ariel the puppy who makes me miss my own puppies. 

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I spent this previous weekend sick with a stomach issue as well as a clear allergic reaction to something. In addition to a hideously swollen face I had hives which looked more like boils all over my body. Warranted a visit from a doctor in Cajamarca who came to the house. Gave me some medicine but said it was a typical bad allergic reaction and I would need to try and figure out what was causing it. Were pretty sure it was the blankets I was using it bed, so the professors bought me new blankets, pillows, and sensitive detergent. Slept like a baby last night and woke up hive free thank god. I had the hives on and off for over two weeks but they were never bad enough to effect me until my face swelled up. Things are looking up now.