Lots to share

How should I start?   The conference turned out to be a really fun event and quite eventful.  I couldn't really enjoy it (actually I didn't attend any panels) until my paper, but the rest of the time was exciting.  I mean... I was walking around and sitting in on panels with some of the leading European archaeologists and anthropologists... people I've been reading for the past 6 months.  I even attended a lecture by Cornelius Holtorf, the author of from Stonehenge to Las Vegas, the first archaeological text I read after starting this program.  Like I said it was exciting.  Plus it was fun to just observe the other people in the discipline.  I began to notice some patterns in the way anthropologists/archaeologists dressed (usually demurely, but with some sort of unexpected twist... like "authentic" jewelry or once a bright yellow shaggy faux fur bolero).  There were a handful who looked as if they had just stepped out of the field (hiking boots, waterproofs).  Most carried backpacks instead of briefcases.  Hair was a popular form of self expression, dyed purple or red and in one case half in long dreds and half cut short.  Apple users definitely outnumbered there Windows counterparts, although it appeared that this discrepancy was as much an indication of generation as being an anthropologist.  There were a lot of younger people present.  (Now this is beginning to sound like an anthropology field journal. [smile] I guess it got in my system or perhaps you might say I've been converted.)

Back to my participation in the conference: The panel of which my paper was apart explored the idea of ruins. How they come to be? How they are perceived?  What is the interaction with the local population?  All quite fascinating topics.  The panel had a bit of a rough start as the fire alarm sounded and we were all evacuated from the building for about 20-25 minutes.  Not great for the nerves, but good for networking.  I met a Cambridge PhD student who was also presenting in the panel and who had several people to suggest that I contact in the process of completing my dissertation.  Her paper was great too!  She explored the process of a developing a fictionalized landscape of ruins in Bosnia.  Apparently there are these natural hills that one man (an amateur archaeologist) claims were built by a prehistoric population of which native Bosnians are descendants.  She theorized that perhaps part of the ability for such a fantastic story to be accepted by the general public is due to economic crisis which grew out of their recent history of civil unrest.  I'm not explaining this well.  Google Bosnian Pyramids for some more information.  My presentation was the last to be read for the panel... I think they were attempting to move forward chronologically.  And though the questions came slowly at first, by the end of my five minutes or so of extra discussion a pretty great and intellectually challenging (at least from my end- presenting new directions for research) had begun.  My lecturer, the one who I was anxious about presenting after, even came up to me at the end to applaud my efforts and encourage me to keep going with the research.  To celebrate my friends, other MA students at the Uni, and I went out for Mexican food and margaritas.   [smile]

Anyway Wednesday evening after more of the conference, this time a panel on theories of hospitality, and the customary Wednesday gathering of the archaeology department at our University cafe/bar, I headed home and before retiring found I had an email from my lecturer (the one in the panel) asking to publish my paper for an edition of Archaeologies he's editing.  I was practically speechless.  I still can't quite believe it.  The funniest thing is that I had mentioned hoping I could get published some day twice that day.  This... getting something published... is another one of those things (like studying abroad or becoming an archaeologist) that I've always hoped would happen.  I feel so blessed.  I've got a fast deadline, but as the paper is essentially written its just a matter of working out the formatting.  Speaking of... best get back to work.  Thanks for letting me share.  I'll definitely post photos of the article once its published (not sure yet when that will be).

Just, Margaret