《Diary Of An Archaeologist - Wattys 2019 Non-fiction Winner》That Time I Got Human Bone In My Eye
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For my first story, I'd like to start at the very beginning. My first excavation was when I was just a first-year Archaeology student, and it was amazing. I don't even remember how long we excavated, but I was like a kid in a candy shop, super excited about everything and anything.
As students, we were of course closely supervised by senior archaeologists and our professors, but the entire team was not bigger than 50 people, including us students. Over the past months, more than half of the first-years dropped out because archaeology wasn't what they had expected so our class was very small and we all were very close.
The excavation was on a field outside of the city where our university was, so every morning we would all bike together to the excavation, and every evening we would bike back and often even eat together.
It was also a sunny and warm June, so I didn't mind spending my time outside, although it was very windy in the open field. To give you a better idea of the excavation, we were on the edge of a farmer's land, who was kind enough to let us use his outhouse, so if you needed to go, you needed to walk 1 km (0.6 miles). The man and his wife also checked in on us several times a day to bring us ice cream or refreshments.
The excavation site itself was not very large. Research had shown that there was a late Medieval farm at that site, and the remaining foundation lay exposed through the dirt, so it had to be documented and removed for further analysis before they would be lost to the elements.
Now, of the wooden farm itself, there were only a few parts of the foundations left and traces in the dirt of where the farm would have been. But around the farm, it was a treasure trove of artefacts.
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Cesspits with shards of pots and ceramics, the remains of several animals, tiles, a water well. It was like this place was custom-made for students. We got to see so many different kinds of artefacts, documentation and preservation; I still learned more from that one excavation than any other I've worked at.
So, the last two weeks rolled around, and we had excavated most of the sight, or so we thought. As soon as the well was gone, we found a number of dark spots in the ground underneath. My professor quickly called over his colleague to confirm his suspicions, and he was right; they were cremated remains.
He explained to me and my fellow students who were under his supervision that it was possible the site was inhabited far before the farm was there, and that in the late Bronze Age urnfields were common in this area.
An Urnfield is the name for the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields. This practice was practised from 1300 till 750 BC in most of North West Europe; including the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Poland, parts of France, Italy and even Spain.
We were ecstatic to excavated it, but our professor reminded us that these urnfields lay low enough not to be disturbed by the elements and because we had very little time left it wouldn't be wise to excavate it all. After discussing the find with his colleagues, it was decided that we would only unearth one urn. So, I and one other student got our instructions, and with two professors by our side, we started.
In this image, you can see what this kind of urn is supposed to look like. Seems simple, right? A hole with an urn in it. Well, our urn was broken into a million pieces, and the remains lay scattered throughout. So, the next two week we spend on our knees documenting and then sifting out any remains. It was a strenuous job, to say the least, but I did it with a smile until the last day.
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The last day was like being trapped in a tornado. The wind was hailing sand in your face, and although most of my fellow students were cleaning up, I was still finishing up my urn. Sifting through the last layers, with sand blowing in my face, no matter how many windshields were placed around me.
You can imagine, that at the end of the day when everything was finally finished, I had sand in places I didn't even think were possible. I tasted sand, it was in my hair, my ears and my eyes.
So, I took several showers that evening, a few more the next morning and then went to my parent's house feeling squeaky clean. Except for my right eye. Throughout the day tears kept welling up, and I tried to clean it, but nothing seemed to help. Within a few hours of being with my parents, I began to look like two-face (from Batman). My right eye teary, swollen, red and mascara streaming down the side of my face.
My parents were beginning to worry, and although I assured them it was just some sand, they took me to the hospital. The doctor nearly fell from his chair when he saw me. He assured my parents it was going to be fine and that my eye was probably just irritated by something.
He cleaned out my eye and put a few white specks in a petri dish so he could examine them under the microscope.
My eyes felt so much better, I could see again, and I was ready to leave when the doctor came back, a solemn look on his face.
He asked my parents and me to take a seat, put down the petri dish in front of us and took a few deep breaths. "You had pieces of human bone in your eye."
"Oh, I've been excavating cremated remains the last week. Can I get them back?" I responded calmly.
My parents, especially my father were anything but calm. "You had freaking bone in your eye. YOUR EYE!"
As my parents freaked out, the doctor continued to keep as much distance as he could, although he did visibly relax. I think he thought I was some sort of murderer who somehow got bone in her eye.
But he didn't give me the petri dish with 3000-year-old bone shards on it. Maybe, it's now in some display case for the strangest things ever taken out of someone's eye.
All turned out fine in the end, my parents and I joke about it now, and my professor's had a good laugh over it. The doctor, well I hope he wasn't too shocked.
⭐
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This Strange New Life
Seems like I got a new chance. Better not fuck it up then, since I really want to see what it feels to have a family. Power is pretty lame alone. Best used to build things and protect people. Did a lot of building 'till now, lots of research stuff and all. Now, let's protect the people that I love and that loves me back. An enjoyable life with my loved ones. Whatever the cost. Mufufu~~ What can I do, my siblings are so cute~~ maybe I'll try having children at some point~? --- PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION ^p^ ---- This is an extremely slow reincarnation story, with heavy usage of dialogues and diminutive descriptions. Chapter are posted whenever I feel like it, because I won't burn myself down like I did before. Chapters will often be around 2k words. The first arc, Life in Valince, will be at least 50 chapters deep, and the main character won't get to her 1 year anniversary over the span of this arc. As I said, it's a slow, character interaction, dialogue-heavy story. Lots of feeling, slice-of-life etc, with some dramatic events that shape the rest of the story ^^ AND PLEASE, STOP PESTERING ME ABOUT JAPANESE. this story contain a very limited amount of japanese words, used in context for a reason and that are part of the mystery of the worldAnd the bad guys use german (not because nazi buit because german is badass)And there’s also french. Please be open-minded. I’m not a delusional weeb and this kind of thing, and it would be very appreciated if people could be more polite.If you don't like it, I don't force you to read it, but a lot of people seems to like this novel nonetheless, so maybe you should give it a shot. ---- Lux's here! Yeah I know I should work on ToL and ToF but I had another idea, then another one. So here it is. Story talk about a war vet that reincarnate and can finally know what it is to have a family. I like engineering, creating things and all, so I'll try putting production scene in this. Like all my stories, it's about love, be it with family, friends or lovers. I like my coffee with so much love sugar that half the planet would get diabetes. You're warned. Also, the MC is quite OP, but I keep a progression curb and she still has things to learn, which she will eagerly do. After all, curiosity is one of her main drives, with a thirst for love and utter hate of loss, be it losing a battle or losing someone she loves. Ha, nearly forgot. CONTENT WARNINGS AREN'T FOR SHOW. Sex, of course. I'll try to explore sexuality as a male, a female, and some other PoV that can't be categorised like that, not exactly. Also, beware the yuri/yaoi. I don't limit myself to straight couples. Gore. A lot. Blood everywhere, guts spilling and all. I don't do censure. The Mc cut a wolf in half? you get the details of what is inside it. Traumatising content. I dunno. No NTR, no heartbreaking drama. However, some of you may dislike the way I handle bodies and flesh. Got some feedback about body horror on my previous works, but everyone as a different border separating transhumanism and body horror. Mine is pretty high. How high? Go read The Other Labyrthin to have an example. To put it in simple term, I've no problem at all to describe alien bodies, change in human bodies, interactions between differents strange species etc. Expect a lot of tentacle, bio-incubator, spawning pool à la zerg. Profanity. Well, I think you fucking got it in the very first sentence of this synopsis, ain't right? ---- THIS IS A WIP (work in progress)! Earlier chapters may get retconned or completely changed, structure of the story isn't set in stone, all the usual stuff. ANY HELP IS WELCOMED. Want to throw me your idea? Shoot! Spotted an error in the text? Comment! Seen a plothole bigger than the impact zone of a nuke? I'll gladly hear you out and try to fix the problem (somehow ;-;) --- Cover: John Martin - The Plains of Heaven (c. 1851) ---- Official Editor: TheZouave (starting from ch25 onward) ---- List of thanks: Necrotyr (English) Asviloka (English) Damokles (Review) David Talon (Review) JHA (English) Helbom (English) Slee202 (Common Coherence) NEEDS_MORE_DAKA (First First) Srayan (English) Koooomakimi (Dialogue Flow) Emagstar (English) Apocryphal (Review) ToasterForker (Review) Ellen Taylor (Review) Zak (English) PrimalShadow (English) Elliot Flanders (HUGE THANKS for the re-write of the poem "Tale of Ashen Night" Go check their work, it's good ^^) Lance Wheeler (Huge thanks for the English edit on each chapter ^^) (If you think you should be here because you helped me, feel free to ask, pointing the reason, like the comment you gave that could have helped me ^^)
8 198The Blue Tower
When I heard a soft, and gentle voice, asking me if I'd like to go to a new world, far away from here... I didn't even think twice about it. My life on Earth could hardly have been any worse, right then - and the chance to start back over was more than I could have dreamed of. But now that I'm here, I'm starting to discover that this new world is really nothing like what I had been expecting. Right now, I'm all alone, in the middle of a huge, and darkened forest, with nobody to tell me where to go, or what to do next. And somewhere, far off in the distance... I can hear something huge, and strong, moving slowly through the woods. Before, I was hoping to get the chance to start my life up all over again. But now, I'm just hoping to make it safely through the night. Maybe once I achieve that, then I can finally start to think about what's going on... ... and then, maybe, I can figure out just why it was that I was brought here, exactly - and just what sort of a world it is that I've arrived in.
8 186Zeltis
Alexander Kent has many things going for him, but despite all his wonderful qualities, he still finds himself the target of bullies. The harshest of his many critics is the one who worries him the most: his father. A near-tragic accident renders Alex incapacitated. As he hangs on death’s door, he’s visited by the unlikeliest of beings: a demon. Their unfathomable exchange becomes even more troubling when he’s offered a second chance at life… in exchange for use of his body by the devil himself. Alex’s deal with the devil leads him into a hidden supernatural world, rife with mystery, danger, and a convoluted web of the worst the underworld has to offer. Now, he has no memory of his ill-fated deal and is desperate to break free of the hold the Demon King and his minions have on him, but escaping their clutches may prove to be more difficult than any battle he’s ever faced. (Author's note: I've had writers block on this for a while but recently hired a professional editor. I don't think it will be much longer before I have new chapters. A cover is also in discussion. I won't just drop it. Thanks to Papillion for the cover!!!)
8 183Raindrops
This is a collection of poetry that contains themes and topics loosely related to one another; some light-hearted and some heavier in nature. But be certain that you will find at least one of them that will resonate with you.
8 155Road To Immortality! Again!
Nex who have reached the Peak of his World got bored from being an immortal. In his world, all living things worship him. Kings,Elves,Fairies, Demon kings and even Gods feared him. He became the Teacher of the Heroes. Father of Kings and Queens and even Ancestors of elves. But he gave up all of that and kill himself.But on his surprise not only he got reincarnated he also have the same body as before?
8 68Blushie // The Goonies
Jess lived in New York until her mom dies. Jess's dad had left when she was younger so she had lost every thing now. She was going to be sent to Astoria Oregon to live with her Aunt and Uncle and cousin Mouth. When she meets the Goonies they call her Blushie because all she does is turn red. She falls for Mikey with his darkish blonde hair and light eyes. Where will this adventure take her.I do not own the Goonies I only own my ideas and the characters I create.
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