I'm Back from Spain after a month! (and Lots of PICS) UPDATE: 9/9/09
STONE
Posts: 15,275 ✭
Wow, a month overseas is a long time, especially when you don't have internet and limited use of a phone. (ohhh, poor me. How did you veterans do it 
)
Really though, my time spent in Spain was wonderful, at least the three weeks I spent excavating. My final week of sight-seeing was a bit much, and it's just nice to be home
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, or have forgotten, or just plain don't know who I am, here's a link to my previous post: Linky
(Oh, and for those MANY people who have sent me PM's give me a day or two to respond to those - Thanks)
To keep this on topic of coins, I did visit two, of at least seven or eight seen, coin shops in Madrid. (I honestly wasn't thinking of coins at all until I saw those shops)
This is really going out of order, since I only visited those shops my last full day in Spain and I didn't pick anything up. (My Spanish is still very bad)
If I might add, almost all of the U.S. coins I looked at were cleaned (not to mention overpriced
)
Now, to get to the main purpose for my visit to Spain: Archaeology
Here's a little history of the site I was excavating:
Hominid occupation site; species: Homo Heidelbergensis
Site is at least 700,000 years old, with very strong evidence for 800,000 years old, but probably not older than 900,000 years old. (Upper to Middle Paleolithic)
Most of the items we uncoverered were small animals, most of which were birds or rodents.
We did uncover such large animal remains as Rhinoceros, an extinct species of Horse, Bison, and the largest prize was a Heidelbergensis Molar. (Only the 8th tooth of a hominid found here in 20 years!)
We also found dozens of Lithics. Lithics are stone tools or fragments of stone discarded to make the actual tool. (I just so happened to uncover a large cache of lithics in the square I worked on one morning)
There were at least 7 different types of stone/rock used for making these lithics, which is a particularly high amount for these hominids during this time.
There was never a "normal day" of work since my site instructor wanted to us to experience as much in our limited time there as possible.
But, if there was a regular day, it would be something like this:
Awake before 7:30. Leave at 7:50. Drive 10 minutes to the site. Dig/sift between 8:00 AM and 1:30 PM (while eating breakfast before we leave and have a midmorning snack at 10:30).
Leave the site at 2:00 PM, get back to our school and take a quick shower. Eat lunch at 3:30 PM. Break/Siesta until 5:30.
5:30 we sort our finds in our make-shift lab. Sorting takes 90-120 minutes. From 7:30-9:00 we had either a lecture or break. At 9:00 we ate dinner, and anything after that was up to us.
(We took several field trips to such places as where Lithic/stone material was gathered, Neolithic Rock Art sites, Running of the Bulls, and of course the local Bars, to name a few)
There were 13 volunteers along with the site instructor (Dr. Walker) and 6 Masters/PhD Students - 20 people in all.
Enough with the gibberish words, here are some pics (not even close to all of them - I took 500 in those three weeks)
The Cave - The Warning - Levels being excavated (3 meters wide x 1 meter deep x 4 levels = 12 square meters):
What we did up there:
Excavations (a lot), 6-7 people in there at a time - Sam pulled the short straw and ended up in the Pit - Up-close digging (it gets crowded)
Sometimes we found something cool! (actually almost everyday we were there we found something important):
James (not me) and his Lithic - Extinct Horses's Tooth (c. 700kya) - This square was FULL of Lithics and Macrofauna (large animals)
We also had to sift through the dirt brought up from the Excavation pit:
Three sizes of pans to seeve through - Watering our finds - Our water pump had some problems (image of it getting fixed, again!)
Everyone working hard seeving (as I hike up the hill to take this pic!) - We had some free-time every now-and-then to catch up on our sleep!
Lab work (back at the school)
Working hard to finish sorting - We got bored again (vertebrae) - Discovered/identified a brand-new species from this site with just this single mandible (jaw bone)
Food:
Sandwich snack up at the site - Fish for dinner (a lot of fish was served over those three weeks, this was the only time the head/tail were still attached!)
Miscellaneous:
Rock Art site (6-8,000 years old)
Running with the Bulls (not Pamplona) - Yes I participated and survived unscathed (I don't have pictures of the running, since I was running!) - I also tried to keep my distance!
Flintknapping (making stone tools):
My instructor Dr. Walker - Some of the material we used -
THere's a lot more, but that's the majority of what went on during those three weeks....
)Really though, my time spent in Spain was wonderful, at least the three weeks I spent excavating. My final week of sight-seeing was a bit much, and it's just nice to be home
In case you don't know what I'm talking about, or have forgotten, or just plain don't know who I am, here's a link to my previous post: Linky
(Oh, and for those MANY people who have sent me PM's give me a day or two to respond to those - Thanks)
To keep this on topic of coins, I did visit two, of at least seven or eight seen, coin shops in Madrid. (I honestly wasn't thinking of coins at all until I saw those shops)
This is really going out of order, since I only visited those shops my last full day in Spain and I didn't pick anything up. (My Spanish is still very bad)
If I might add, almost all of the U.S. coins I looked at were cleaned (not to mention overpriced
)Now, to get to the main purpose for my visit to Spain: Archaeology
Here's a little history of the site I was excavating:
Hominid occupation site; species: Homo Heidelbergensis
Site is at least 700,000 years old, with very strong evidence for 800,000 years old, but probably not older than 900,000 years old. (Upper to Middle Paleolithic)
Most of the items we uncoverered were small animals, most of which were birds or rodents.
We did uncover such large animal remains as Rhinoceros, an extinct species of Horse, Bison, and the largest prize was a Heidelbergensis Molar. (Only the 8th tooth of a hominid found here in 20 years!)
We also found dozens of Lithics. Lithics are stone tools or fragments of stone discarded to make the actual tool. (I just so happened to uncover a large cache of lithics in the square I worked on one morning)
There were at least 7 different types of stone/rock used for making these lithics, which is a particularly high amount for these hominids during this time.
There was never a "normal day" of work since my site instructor wanted to us to experience as much in our limited time there as possible.
But, if there was a regular day, it would be something like this:
Awake before 7:30. Leave at 7:50. Drive 10 minutes to the site. Dig/sift between 8:00 AM and 1:30 PM (while eating breakfast before we leave and have a midmorning snack at 10:30).
Leave the site at 2:00 PM, get back to our school and take a quick shower. Eat lunch at 3:30 PM. Break/Siesta until 5:30.
5:30 we sort our finds in our make-shift lab. Sorting takes 90-120 minutes. From 7:30-9:00 we had either a lecture or break. At 9:00 we ate dinner, and anything after that was up to us.
(We took several field trips to such places as where Lithic/stone material was gathered, Neolithic Rock Art sites, Running of the Bulls, and of course the local Bars, to name a few)
There were 13 volunteers along with the site instructor (Dr. Walker) and 6 Masters/PhD Students - 20 people in all.
Enough with the gibberish words, here are some pics (not even close to all of them - I took 500 in those three weeks)
The Cave - The Warning - Levels being excavated (3 meters wide x 1 meter deep x 4 levels = 12 square meters):
What we did up there:
Excavations (a lot), 6-7 people in there at a time - Sam pulled the short straw and ended up in the Pit - Up-close digging (it gets crowded)
Sometimes we found something cool! (actually almost everyday we were there we found something important):
James (not me) and his Lithic - Extinct Horses's Tooth (c. 700kya) - This square was FULL of Lithics and Macrofauna (large animals)
We also had to sift through the dirt brought up from the Excavation pit:
Three sizes of pans to seeve through - Watering our finds - Our water pump had some problems (image of it getting fixed, again!)
Everyone working hard seeving (as I hike up the hill to take this pic!) - We had some free-time every now-and-then to catch up on our sleep!
Lab work (back at the school)
Working hard to finish sorting - We got bored again (vertebrae) - Discovered/identified a brand-new species from this site with just this single mandible (jaw bone)
Food:
Sandwich snack up at the site - Fish for dinner (a lot of fish was served over those three weeks, this was the only time the head/tail were still attached!)
Miscellaneous:
Rock Art site (6-8,000 years old)
Running with the Bulls (not Pamplona) - Yes I participated and survived unscathed (I don't have pictures of the running, since I was running!) - I also tried to keep my distance!
Flintknapping (making stone tools):
My instructor Dr. Walker - Some of the material we used -
THere's a lot more, but that's the majority of what went on during those three weeks....
0
Comments
<< <i>Very cool, thanks for sharing! BTW, anyone get gored or trampled by the bulls while you were there? >>
There were a couple people who received some heavy injuries, one of which occurred less than 10 meters from where I was, and I actually saw it take place (which was weird, to say the least)
There were two or three ambulances on the scene for those people.
<< <i>Site is at least 700,000 years old, with very strong evidence for 800,000 years old >>
So I take it there were no dug coins?
<< <i>Welcome back, Winston! Glad you had a good trip. And if you have any spare 'lithics' around that were shaped into spear points, etc. give me a holler
The only lithics I have are the ones I made while flintknapping, and those are nothing special - yet!
Unfortunately, I don't think we found any spear points during those three weeks.
The best lithic found at this site is a stone-hammer/axe which pre-dates the next oldest stone-hammers/axe (from another site) by some 300,000 years, which is a phenomenally large gap.
<< <i>
<< <i>Site is at least 700,000 years old, with very strong evidence for 800,000 years old >>
So I take it there were no dug coins?
Not unless they were made of stone
BUT, somewhat along those lines, and judging from the range of lithic material discovered at this site, it brings about the possibility that materials were "traded" by other groups.
Welcome back, Stone.
Looks like you had a very interesting month.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coin collecting is not a hobby, it's an obsession !
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<< <i>
There were at least 7 different types of stone/rock used for making these lithics, which is a particularly high amount for these hominids during this time.
>>
Oh, get off their backs! they were cave men.
<< <i>
Enough with the gibberish words, here are some pics (not even close to all of them - I took 500 in those three weeks)
Sometimes we found something cool! (actually almost everyday we were there we found something important):
>>
It's all interesting....
I notice how "un-caked with dirt" that stuff is.... is it from being in the cave? not being buried for millions of years? not buried deep enough? all? did you clean them with something to chip off dirt stuck to it?
Plus the condition they are in is so good. Looks like whatever they were kicked off a few years ago.
<< <i>
Miscellaneous:
Rock Art site (6-8,000 years old)
>>
evidence of ancient vandals....
or should we decriminalize tagging?
I'd have loved to been there!
(I can fit in a small suitcase)
very interesting stuff!
The Penny Lady®
Thank you for the post!
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
Glad you enjoyed your trip!
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Yes, this will be a very memorable summer, and I'm continuing my correspondence with this professor who hosts this dig.
The 500 pictures divide up to about 350 for the first 3 weeks of digging and about 150 more from the last week of sight-seeing (I've since deleted about 25 since they were fuzzy extras)
Unfortunately, on my third day there, and 50-60 pictures in, my camera decided to erase those pictures and start fresh. Fortunately It was still early in the trip and I since re-took most of those.
Oh, and shorecoll, that's a good one about the cleaning
I should also add that the top three layers being excavated was relatively loose soil and not super compact. The last level, or two, was where pick-axes needed to be implemented
in order to break through material that was almost as hard as rock and also took a long time to break down in the wet-sifting areas.
<< <i>I'm super jealous. I hope you enjoyed it. Welcome back. >>
"Enjoy" is truly an understatement to what the trip turned out to be.
It was an absolute blast!!!
Now you need to head to Egypt to excavate a lost pyramid..
John
Website-Americana Rare Coin Inc
Were there any unidentifiable bits of ______ (something that's an artifiact but too small to ident.) that you got to keep for yourself because it wasn't useful scientifically?
AND, I don't believe any of help took anything as a "souvenir" either, like a lithic for instance, we just weren't that type of people.
Oh, and you are right, it never felt like work, despite it being rather labor intensive.
K
<< <i>Next time take a metal detector if you expect to find coins.
Nice to hear that you got to follow up the "work" with some sightseeing. Let us see a few photos of your last two weeks as well!
<< <i>
Thank you for the post!
Fascinating work. How long was long was that cave occupied?
What was at the top?
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
<< <i>Fascinating work. How long was that cave occupied?
What was at the top? >>
Its difficult to determine how long the cave was occupied since there is such a dynamic mix of stone-objects as well as bone/bone fragments mixed in most layers of the deposition.
At the time, 800,000 years ago (+/- 100,000 years), the cave sat next to the shore of a lake and flooding from that lake deposited sediments, of which there is 3-4 meters deep of sediment.
As tectonic uplift took place, that lake turned into a river and a small canyon began to form in the region (which is how it looks presently, and that river is now just a small stream).
It's not unreasonable to assume that the site was occupied temporarily (likely seasonally) for 80,000 years (+/- 20,000) by small groups of hominids.
This is taking into account what objects we're finding, how much we're finding of those objects in a level, etc.
****************
There is also an extended answer to you question of how long the cave was occupied.
We know that in the late 1300's or early 1400's the cave was being used as a hide-out for a religious group (forgive me for not remembering more specifically the religion), and religious objects as well as other wares were found in pits (dug by that religious group) on the west half of the cave.
The cave was also used as a hide-out by those escaping/fleeing the Moorish invasion (I can't recall the date of this)
And, the cave was later used in the 1800's and early 1900's as another hideout by locals fleeing civil war.
I'm sure there was other occupation of this cave since the adjacent plateau, which sits above the cave, was a Neolithic settlement which had direct access to this large cave.
******************
You also asked about what was at the top level.
My most accurate answer is that we never excavated any of the very top level from this cave while I was there and our field instructor never went over this level specifically.
BUT, if it wasn't for one team members lounging around at the entrance of the cave on the second to last day, I would be completely oblivious to what was there.
This member happened to be bored and dusted some of the surface with his hand and uncovered about 4-5 lithics just in a relatively small area.
This then tells me that what we were excavating about 2 meters down was the same or very similar to that at the general surface. (Below the 2 meter mark it becomes difficult to determine who occupied this level since there is a fairly drastic change in Lithic types and tool manufacture)
I hope this helped, and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask (although I can't promise that I can answer every question completely)
Thank you.
"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working" Pablo Picasso
It seems that the professor running the dig I was on has finally taken sediment samples collected from the site to be date-tested.
As such, news of the age of the tool being highlighted (Hand-Axe) is now 900,000 years old, when it was previously estimated to be 800,000 years old.
This is truly fantastic news since this tool pre-dates the previous oldest hand-axe in Europe by 400,000 - 500,000 years!
"NATURE" article
Just thought I'd give you all some mor info