Archaeology in Belfast

My third full week working on the project started on the 30th of September, it was an overcast and cold morning but I tried to keep my morale high. I had finished excavating the cross section of the pit feature and was ready to complete the section drawing. However, it started raining straight away so I starting cleaning up the edges of the trench, the rain kept getting worse and I was getting nowhere, if anything I was making it more dirty so we went inside to wait out the rain. The rain continued and there was no point attempting to excavate but we are still behind on schedule and supposed to have this trench finished by Thursday (no chance), so we went out and started cleaning a rock feature in the section 2A, where we will move to next. This was an arched strip of medium sized rocks, stretching around the south section of the mine about 20 metres south of the edge of the trench 1A, Naomi theorised that it was a bank that had been washed away, marking a boundary of a possible enclos...

 Week starting 23/09/24 This week I continued with the same back breaking work, but made good progress. The weather is getting noticeably worse to work in, on Thursday it was so bad that we could not go out all day. Instead the others finished filling out missing context sheets, organising finds and selecting photos. As I had not actually excavated any of my own features I had nothing to do, I was paying attention and trying to pick up on the processes that were happening for a while but the early morning and sitting around got to me and I felt myself dosing off. By halfway through the day everyone had finished the jobs that they could and it was time to back out the deck of cards. The rest of the day consisted of us playing every card game under the sun and some of my co workers competitive sides came out, it was actually quite an interesting day for me as I felt like I got to know everyone that much better.  Friday the 27th was actually a nice day weather wise so we got back...

The following will just be a brief description of what I got up to over the weekend to keep up with what I've done and how it was. I stayed within the city of Belfast again this weekend, although it is not that big geographically there is still a lot for me to try out. Although the public transport is not great you can walk around the majority of the city, and because of the public transport it gives me the excuse to walk which gives me a better view of the city and means I am learning to navigate it properly. Also good for my fitness! 21/09/24 On the Saturday I had booked into the Titanic museum on Queen's Island, so after breakfast by the beach at my local cafe in Jordanstown I set off into the city. The museum building was quite impressive with metallic and modern architecture. The experience was excellent although it was very busy and a bit crowded in places (and it cost £25). However, the money was worth it as the museum had 4 floors that you navigate in one flowing direct...

 I am writing this from Friday the 20th of September to keep myself updated briefly with the events of the past working week. I felt good and ready at 8 am to start my first Monday on the 16th. I was continuing with my area on Friday clearing the layer of overburden soil to expose the limestone bedrock, to expose any features that may be present. The weather had taken a serious turn and it was about 20 degrees all week, this was nice but meant I had to strip the the huge reflective jacket off. Shovelling and trowelling the soil off the bedrock following its unpredictable pattern was quite hard work as the limestone is soft and easily moved, water had eroded it so much that I was basically following the sudden meanders of a stream, meaning I was removing a lot of soil.  I made good progress the whole first day but with 30 minutes to go I stumbled across a nice piece of black pottery and a few flint hollow scrapers. The pottery was the interesting find as not much had been found...

 13/09/24 This continues straight from where I left off on Friday after work. I ventured into the city centre of Belfast for the first time via the bus, the journey took about 30 mins and by the time I got into the centre it was dark. I got off the bus right outside the Cathedral, which was lit up with purple and blue lights, it looked really good. The city was bustling and busy but it was raining slightly so I looked for what seemed to be a nice, authentically Irish pub. I walked for about 10 minutes and went inside the Fibber Magee, it was a very old and traditional looking place so naturally I ordered a Guinness, it was a good choice as it was creamy and cold. Went down a treat. I stayed here for another pint as I could see a band setting up to play, there were two on the violin, one of which also played the keyboard, one guitar player, and a guy on the harmonica. They were a real crowd pleaser and did classic songs from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Dublin and others that everyon...

 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...