First Impressions

 My name is Shahid Abraham, I am an archaeology and anthropology student from Bournemouth University and have just finished my second year of studies. My goal now is to complete a working placement year before my final year of studying in Bournemouth, I need to carry out 30 weeks of work within my field to achieve the placement threshold. I have already 7 weeks over the summer, interning at an NGO in Kosovo and spending 3 weeks in Romania surveying a farmstead in the mountains. I am currently in Belfast where I will be spending the next 9 weeks working for a commercial archaeology company, I will use this blog to briefly cover my time and help keep track of the important moments.

10/09/24 - moving in

I flew from Bristol airport to Belfast International airport on Tuesday the 10th of September and moved into my new home for the next 10 weeks. The Ulster University student village in Jordanstown, just outside the city. I am writing this on Friday the 13th, so a few days later and can honestly say I was very worried from my first impressions. It's a bit of a shithole but after a visit to the shops and few personal touches I already feel more at home. Anyway I only had the evening so I went for a stroll along the seafront to the shop and found a lovely bar, I couldn't resist so I went in to try my first Guinness in Northern Ireland, it was beautiful. I then went home and had a very rough nights sleep before my first day of work. 

I woke up on the 11th at 6:30am, ready to be picked up by my new colleague and be taken to the archaeological site in which I would be working. We got there ready to start at 8am and made my introductions, Naomi, the site director, gave me an induction and a run down on what had been going on. The site is on a limestone quarry and is a middle Neolithic flint mine, from around 3000BC. At the beginning of excavations, in March, there were thought to only be a few pits and features so it wasn't clear what the site actually was and the project was planned to be done by the end of May. It turns out the top layer with these features was 'overburden', the human created layer of material above the actual site. So, when the team got past this layer they realised they had a lot more on their hands than first thought, seemingly why they are still going in September and want me to join. They have discovered this flint mine that is a really special find, ones like it have been found in Northern Ireland but none with this amount of lithics, but what really makes it special is the 'shafts'. Most Neolithic flint mines just have pits and trenches that are completely exposed, however, this one effectively has mine 'shafts', that extend beyond and underneath the initial pits, similar to the very famous Grime's Graves. There is still much work to be done so my job to begin with is to help clean the limestone bedrock by removing the overburden to hopefully expose more pit features. This turned out to be pretty hard work as the weather is not what I am used to, I have only ever excavated in sunny dry conditions but this was completely different. My whole job has been shovelling and trowelling wet clay mud, at first I was thinking what have I got myself into but by the end of the day I got right into it and ended up enjoying myself. It seems like an impossible task in these conditions at first but when you persist it starts to come together and I have made real progress. I forgot how satisfying archaeology can be! I came home after my first day exhausted. Although I did manage to get to the shops with Sarah, my ride, and sorted out my room which was a good way to finish the day.

The next two days, I continued the same job but have got more and more into it, I refuse to be put off by the hard work and worse conditions, although the weather has improved. Today, Friday, being positively pleasant. I am feeling good about the work as the company director, Ciara, came today and we talked about how unique the site is. This is the only Neolithic flint mine with these shaft features that has been found in the whole of Northern Ireland! I was also able to theorise a bit with Naomi, of course she doesn't know exactly how it was used but there being so many small lithic tools and no large ones suggests they may have been carving wooden tools that would be used to lever and move the limestone rather than hacking away at it. The limestone bedrock is very loose so this could have worked, the site may have also been seasonal as after the limestone is loosened, water and weathering etc. would continue their work so when they returned they could get to the flint much easier. There is still half the site to excavate so hopefully the details will reveal themselves. I also don't think we will be done by the time my contract ends. 

It is the evening now and I am about to venture out into the city for the first time. I am excited for a little explore and probably another Guinness! Anyway, so far I am enjoying the place, I love being by the water and the area is super chill. Now let's see the city!