ArchaeoBlog

Okay, so yesterday I went to the public library to get a copy of the TV show “Bones” — a popular show about a forensic anthropologist. And what happened to ArchaeoFriend yesterday? ArchaeoFriend did some surprise field work, helping a forensic anthropologist recover human remains from a construction site. Reality is in many ways better and worse than TV land. In reality: I had on long underwear and wool socks (and was still cold — I felt the icy wind, sleet, and snow were unnecessary). In reality: the remains were fully skeletalized (ArchaeoFriend does not do smelly wet stuff). In TV land: they get full answers, quickly, and resolve the case. In reality, we did not get our answers, and we spent more than 60 minutes doing the work. But at least we got one answer: it was not a police case (*phew*). The sheriff was thankful about that (lucky for him). The construction crew, well, not as grateful. It depends on the results of lab analysis, but they will have to halt work for a week and then probably relocate/reroute their work a few feet over — that’s expensive. Sometimes those surprises just crop up, and they never crop up at an opportune time, or during warm weather.