July 3, 2015
Hey, I’m Lina Ramirez and I’m from Los Angeles, California. I attend UCLA for anthropology with an emphasis on archaeology. I am really interested in prehistoric archaeology but I took a class on historical archaeology last year and fell in love with medieval Europe. In that class we actually learned a lot about the Blackfriary site and read several articles. My professor really recommended the site and had a spokesperson from IFR come in and speak to us. The other digs on the website were interesting but because I felt like I had some exposure to the Blackfriary site I decided to give it a try. My main goal in coming is to gain different techniques for excavation. I worked on a prehistoric site before this and already it is so different. I’m really excited to learn historical excavation and how to properly take care of artefacts.
So far my experience has been similar to home but more exciting. The finds have been great and there always seems to be an explosion of excitement on site whenever bone is found (and there is a LOT of bone). I’m looking forward to doing planning the most. Most people think I’m crazy (as many of them aren’t fans of planning) but I think it will suit me just fine. I think it will be really cool to go through the whole program and be able to see a large portion of the process!
