Working in a chain gang – moving rocks in designer gloves

A stylish squad in glamorous gloves
A stylish squad – Paul’s team present their glamorous gloves. From left: Sue Jorgenson, Rehan Scharenguivel, Paul Donnelly, Marco Schugk, Alexandra Ribeny, Antonio Bianco and Elaine Lin

Yesterday, the first day of the 2013 Zagora fieldwork season, after the morning induction of the newbies, I decided to work at excavation area 5. My Powerhouse Museum colleague, Paul Donnelly, is the supervisor of that trench area, which is covered with rocks large and small. Lots and lots of rocks. And they’re almost all grey marble – which is about as heavy as rocks get. Paul decided this called for a chain gang approach, to pass the rocks down the slope and to create a spoil heap with the rocks removed from the trench area.

As each of his team members for this first day (the trench teams are not yet confirmed) brought out their gloves, I was amazed to find the high design element in most of the gloves. There were pink gloves, turquoise gloves, lime and blue. This screamed out ‘photo opportunity’. (Secretly, I’ll be watching out to see how their stylish gloves fare through the season compared with my drab but very sturdy grey workman’s gloves which I used last year and still have plenty of life in them yet.) Click the image at right for a closer view.

The first phase of work in this Zagora archaeological fieldwork season requires a lot of hard yakka (that’s Australian slang for ‘hard work’), including trench clearing and backfill and vegetation removal. That’s what most of the team was doing in the five excavation areas yesterday, the first day of the 2013 season.

The Zagora team leaders provide all the tools for excavation work except for a few personal items which we provide for ourselves: archaeological trowels, work gloves, anti-dust goggles and any extras some of us use, such as knee pads.

Following is a photo essay showing Paul’s team hard at it moving those rocks off the trench area.

Passing rocks, chain gang style
Passing rocks, chain gang style
Phase 1 of the chain gang: Paul Donnelly passes a rock to Marco Schugt
Phase 1 of the chain gang: Paul Donnelly passes a rock to Marco Schugt
Phase 2 of the chain gang: Marco Schugt passes the rock to Alexandra Ribeny
Phase 2 of the chain gang: Marco Schugt passes the rock to Alexandra Ribeny
Phase 3 of the chain gang: Alexandra Ribeny passes the rock to Antonio Bianco
Phase 3 of the chain gang: Alexandra Ribeny passes the rock to Antonio Bianco
Phase 4 of the chain gang: Antonio Bianco passes the rock to
Phase 4 of the chain gang: Antonio Bianco passes the rock to Julia Manouras
Phase 5 of the chain gang: Julia passes the rock to Sue Jorgenson
Phase 5 of the chain gang: Julia Manouras passes the rock to Sue Jorgenson
Phase 6 of the chain gang: Sue Jorgenson passes the rock to Rehan Scharenguivel
Phase 6 of the chain gang: Sue Jorgenson passes the rock to Rehan Scharenguivel
Phase 7 of the chain gang: Rehan Scharenguivel passes the rock to Damien Stone
Phase 7 of the chain gang: Rehan Scharenguivel passes the rock to Damien Stone
Phase 8 of the chain gang: Damien Stone passes the rock to Elaine Lin
Phase 8 of the chain gang: Damien Stone passes the rock to Elaine Lin
Elaine Lin is at the final stage of the chain gang
Elaine Lin is at the final stage of the chain gang

The rocks removed from the trench excavation area are placed in what is called a spoil heap, at some distance from the trench. This is what Elaine Lin is doing in the photo at right. This soil heap is on bedrock so there is no possibility that the rocks are covering up anything of archaeological significance underneath.

With all the details that had to be taken into consideration when arranging the logistics of the 2013 Zagora archaeological fieldwork season, who’d have imagined that the team leaders would have gone to the trouble of grouping together a team with such stylish gloves to match our debonair Paul.

Passing rocks, chain gang style

Passing rocks, chain gang style

Passing rocks, chain gang style

Passing rocks, chain gang style

All photos by Irma Havlicek; © Powerhouse Museum

More from the Dig Blog

Zagora dig blog
Catherine Mellor

FROM SCHOOL TO SITE

Introducing Sanju Vairav, an Australian high school history and geography teacher in Sydney, volunteering on the Zagora Archaeological Project this year.

Read More »
Zagora dig blog
Catherine Mellor

FIELD SCHOOL IN SESSION

Day 3 saw the students begin the day on site with Andrew Wilson, the Zagora Archaeological Project’s GIS specialist, running a hands-on workshop on plotting and stringing out a trench area manually without the use of digital technology. Learning such basic fieldwork skills are an essential part of archaeological training.

Read More »

6 thoughts on “Working in a chain gang – moving rocks in designer gloves”

    • Thanks, Lynne – I was actually on the chain gang before I took the photos. That was Monday – really high wind. Today (Wednesday) it’s felt like about 35 degrees celsius, little or no wind, and almost no shade. Really hot. That walk up the hill was a doozie. We’ve just got back to our hotel (about 4pm; having set off from the hotel for the site at 6.20am). The good news is I can hear the waves of the Aegean just across the road, and in about five minutes I’m going to be in there.

  1. HI there, very interesting stuff.I hear that you guys are digging in ground that may be good for a GPR system. If so GSSI make some great gear like UtilityScan DF and Profiler which have ArcheoSurveyor software for data interpretation.We have used this in Sydney and Auckland and ChristChurch to great effect.It is always nice to see the needles in a haystack I think.Of course MIL SPEC gear wouldbe a great way to go but they keep that stuff far away from people who could use it best.I have heard of the US Mil having a system that can image resolve a 5c coin at 5 metres or a coffee cup.That could be handy indeed for finding middens etc.Love the stories and pics.You are lucky not to be stuck in an office like some !

    • Hi Kathy
      Greetings from sunny (and windy) Andros. Yes, the beautiful location certainly is compensation for the hard work. But, even though it can be gruelling work, the work itself too is compensation for two main reasons. One is that it is so satisfying to be part of such a cooperative team – all members having the same goals at heart, and each and every person putting in 100% effort to progress as far as possible each day. And the second reason is that we all know that the effort will help to reach the shared goal of understanding Zagora better. What were domestic arrangements? Was there industry and, if so, what and where? There will be posts coming up with more about what we are hoping to find. Hope all’s well in Sydney.

Leave a Comment