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Not all archaeology is as exciting as Raiders of the
Lost Ark, but it does have its moments. In one of his
books my husband Shawn spoke of surveying in Peru and
being attacked by wild dogs. And on one of our trips
to the north country we crossed the path of a brown
bear and almost became history when we became mired in
the muskeg. When we were hired to do an archaeological
survey on some property in the badlands I thought it
would be a safe place, no worries, no wild animals, no
attacks. I was wrong.
I
was shovel testing and very focused on the task at
hand. Basically every so many feet I was required to
dig in the earth and then examine carefully everything
that I dug up. This required sifting through the soil
and then replacing it.
I
was so intent upon looking carefully through the soil
as I did a shovel test, that I did not realize the
location I was digging at was very near the home of
hundreds of underground bugs. Not until I felt
something nipping at me did I look down and see that
my clothing was covered in ants. They were in my
sleeves, on my stomach, even under my socks. In fact,
I missed the patter of their many feet until I was
well under attack. When I suddenly realized that the
sensations I had been experiencing were not caused by
perspiration as a result of the labor and heat of the
day, I was so startled I screamed and began jumping up
and down. That caught my husband, Shawn's attention
and as it turns out, the attention of a few others
too.
I
began pulling at my clothes, unbuttoning my
long-sleeved top and throwing it to the ground. This
awfully crawly feeling was well up my pant legs and I
knew I'd have to take off the trousers and peel the
tee shirt to find them all. With my hands on my shirt
I glanced up , still hopping, still sounding like a
kettle that's been on the heat too long, and that's
when I spotted them. A roof full of workers, gathering
to investigate the commotion, was staring across at
me.
I
was red, and not from bug bites as I tried to find
composure, turn my back on the workers, bring my
clothing back into place and still push, pull and
scratch at a body covered in ants. Considering my
startled hip hopping and screaming, I am sure it was a
little late to appear poised.
Of course in the surprise attack from the ants I'd forgotten that the land
we were surveying was adjacent to a new housing
development and my shouting and uncomely conduct had
captured the attention of every worker in the area.
All eyes had definitely been riveted on my war dance
How does one search, dislodge and evict a colony of
ants with composure and modesty?
I
laughed at myself as I realized that I had probably
provided a great interruption in a rather hum drum
day. I called out to my concerned husband who was
worriedly coming toward me. "I'm fine, I just should
not sit on ant mounds to do archaeology!! "
Well we may not have found anything outstanding to
record for archaeology that day but if ants write at
all, I think they will be writing up their own
exploration reports as they sure covered a lot of
foreign territory, (for ants!)
Ellie Braun-Haley
shaley@telusplanet.net
story from western Canada
Ellie says being an entertainer is okay, but its
better when you know ahead of time you have an
audience. Ellie has been published in numerous books
to include Chicken Soup for the Soul of America. She
is presently completing her fifth book, a compilation
of true stories, on Heavenly Intervention. |
