Breanna Caruana
Ever since I was a kid, I always knew that I had a strong love for history and archaeology. It was movies such as “The Road to El Dorado” and “Night at the Museum” that sparked the interest for me early on. As I got older, I started becoming more and more intrigued by the idea of studying archaeology. I remember attending my high school open house at the end of 8th grade and finding out that there was a 12th-grade archaeology class and a need for lab work volunteers. It was the first time that I was actually excited about starting high school. Before 12th grade rolled around, I was taking every history class that I could, until finally in 2021, I could take the archaeology class. This class only confirmed my love for archaeology, and without it, I may not have pursued a career in this field (thank you Mr. Carter).
This spring, I got the chance to put my love and interest for archaeology into action via the Trent University archaeology field school; all thanks to my parents, who have supported my education and helped me pay for my field school tuition and my equipment (safety boots, safety vest, trowel, etc).
The hardest day on the dig was definitely the first, I felt like I was very obviously much less physically capable than others. I couldn’t dig as fast or lift as much compared to most of my peers. I remembered though, that Kate had said by the end of the dig, everyone would have improved. I kept this in mind and tried not to compare myself to others. That day, I came home from the field school completely exhausted. I crashed on the couch almost immediately. Although the first day was quite difficult and exhausting for me, I was excited for all of the things we were going to find and learn.
As time went on, I improved more and more; it eventually became less exhausting and I never did stop enjoying all of the things that I was learning. Kate taught us so much about material culture, as well as how to lay out a unit, and how to excavate effectively. James taught us about profile drawing, surveying, and mapping, which was something that I was initially less interested in but grew to love. In the lab, we learned the difference between a pit and a unit – as James says, “a pit is for trapping baby elephants”. This left Kyra and I wanting to challenge ourselves by getting our unit to be deep enough to fit a baby elephant, we unfortunately never did reach our goal. Instead of baby elephants, our unit housed giant spiders.
It wasn’t until we moved on to our 2×2 units at BcGn-15 that I found my first exciting find, a bullet casing that was about the length of the palm of my hand. I was so overjoyed that I immediately snapped a picture and sent it to my mom, my partner, and my best friend, who were all just as excited as I was. The time I spent excavating at BcGn-15 will always be memorable, I would love the opportunity to go back and do some more work there again in the future. OA-5 will be missed by myself and my group members. By the end of the field school, I became an expert at wall profiles and definitely developed some strength. I hope to get in more field work practice again in the future.
I owe a final thank you to James and Kate, who have both taught us so much. Together, they have given me the skills, resources, and knowledge that will allow me to pursue a career in archaeology.