Well, we’ve finally come to the end. This has truly been a summer to remember. As I gave my internship presentation this morning at the Graduate Showcase I got a little sad realizing that it was in fact the end of the semester. I’ve learned a lot this summer, both during my dig and all of the thinking and processing that I’ve done since I returned.

On my very last day on site, we began backfilling all of the units we’d opened up over the course of the trip. We took final measurements about the changes in stratigraphy, the depth of the units and then soil samples from each side of the units. Then, we took our rock pile, and the dirt that we’d been piling up on tarps and began pouring it into the units. Before we completely covered the unit that we’d first opened, the one with the earth oven inside, Dr. Sinelli placed his extra tarps and unused rolls of screen. “For next season,” he explained.

Then, we did some last final test pits and a group of people helped Dr. Sinelli hide the screens that we’d been using, and some other supplies throughout the site.

I took a moment for myself. I walked down to the salina where we had buried my oven and I stood and reflected on my time at the dig. I actually recorded my thoughts at the time, thinking it might be useful later on but in summary: I really loved this entire experience. Speaking to other students on the trip, all of us had been profoundly affected by the dig.

Some of them had stated that they now realized that field work was not for them. They enjoyed working indoors more and I completely understand that. However, I really enjoyed the physical labor that went into the excavation process. Every day, no matter how early we had to get up or what we were doing, I was excited to do it. Sure there were some days when I stood up and instantly wanted to lie down again because my feet were so sore or I was just so sunburnt, but the fun I had outweighed the exhaustion. I was on a dig. Something I have wanted to do my entire life.

When I was in elementary school, I dressed up as an archaeologist for our school’s career day. Knowing that what I was doing was making a childhood dream come true made it all the more meaningful to me. Not to mention that I was surrounded by material culture that directly related to what I wanted to study in graduate school. There was food everywhere!

Looking back on the trip, I wish that I had had more of a chance to understand exactly what I was walking into so that I could have come prepared with more questions and conducted more experiments. Knowing more about Palmetto Junction now, has allowed me to process what an awesome experience that trip was and I know that I don’t want this to be my last archaeological dig. I want to do more. I want to continue to see how history and archaeology intersect and I want to put the skills I learned at field school into practice, whether that’s as a volunteer excavator or as a professional historian.