Nose to the Ground

I want to grab a link to this article from The Pilot. Its about some work that I did last spring. The Beothuk Interpretation Centre in Boyd's Cove started a new sandbox dig for kids and I supplied the artifact reproductions. Lori and I went out to help with the set up and to train the staff in basic archaeology field techniques. This is the sort of venue where reproductions are ideal. Using the real materials creates a much more authentic experience when compared to resin or plastic casts. The stone and bone is more durable and the waste flakes and even broken or incomplete pieces all add to the reality.

Real archaeology sites are not filled with perfect museum quality display pieces -- what we usually find are the broken or discarded debris that is left behind. Hmm... and they're often muddy.

On the way back home we took a detour through Brookfield. It was the weekend of the Craft Council's AGM and to celebrate the inaugaration of Janet II as the new Chair of the Executive we held the meetings in her homeland. One of the weekend's events was a linocut workshop in her Norton's Cove Studio. I printed a design that I'd cut during a New Year's cabin retreat. I honestly hadn't intended the print to mean anything, but now a big dirty animal snuffling at a ceramic jug in the mud seems like almost too obvious of a subject for a print by an archaeologist.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast
Photo Captions:
Top, Pig and a Jug, Linocut 2008 Tim Rast
Bottom, Sharon and Lori inspecting a print at Norton's Cove Studio