Excavations

Gamarjobut,

I finally had the chance to get my hands dirty. I began excavating last week and found quite a few flakes, cobbles, and various stones, but no bones in my squares yet. I came back to Tbilisi for a few days to work in the museum and will be heading back to work out at the site Thursday. It is also David Lordkipanidze's birthday so we will have a big bash and dinner of shashlik with him and dozens of other people. It should be pretty fun. Saturday is the day of the paleo-Olympic games, in which we test our skills in spear tossing, rock throwing, and various other prehistoric things. I plan on winning several gold medals to hang on my mantle.

The site has produced some small hominin bones so far, but nothing as spectacular as a skull or any limb bones. Just a small tooth and a finger bone, which is still pretty exciting. There are several bones being taken out everyday, and we have our hands full cataloguing.

I posted more photos on facebook so feel free to check them out. We a fun trip on Sunday that entailed tours of a few churches and a castle. We also tried to climb up a basalt escarpment to another castle, but it was too daunting of a task, so we had to quit. It was probably for the best, since I am not much of a mountain climber, nor am I Sly from 'Cliffhanger.'

It's dinner time now. Some delicious Georgian cuisine is in the near future.

Nakhvamdis