College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• April 3, 2006

  Rain doesn't hamper continuation of dig
  
  

• Editor's Note: Check back daily for updates on the progress and new photos of the Department of Anthropology's team's dig at the Memorial Union.
  
  Original release
  Saturday, April 1
  
  Sunday, April 2
  
  There are times when David Rapson doesn't care what the weather does.
  
  For the next week however, Rapson will be have an eye glued to the sky and his ears listening to the weather forecasts.
  
  "In the field you're always watching the weather," the project archaeologist for the Department of Anthropology's dig at the Memorial Union construction site said. "Archaeology is very much a creature of the environment. You have to be aware of the weather and what challenges you may have to address because of it.
  
  "When I'm working in the lab I could care less what it's doing outside."
  
  The first weather challenges happened early in the nine-day dig that began on Saturday, April 1. That evening and again on Sunday night, heavy rains and winds hit the Ames area. As a precaution, the archaeology team covers the dig before leaving for the night.
  
  The rain continued when they arrived at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning and Rapson and his students had to use the same tarp as an overhang so they could work throughout the day. That didn't prevent large mud puddles from forming at the construction site.
  
  "It was a complicated process to make a quick fix to cover the site," Rapson said. "But that's not uncommon for us. In fact it happens on a fairly regular basis.
  
  "We've learned over they ears how to improvise quickly."
  
  Still Sunday's constant drizzle and damp conditions made work unpleasant to say the least.
  
  "It's not a lot of fun," Rapson said, "but we find ways to work around it. We just have to deal with it."
  

Day 2 - Sunday, April 2

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