Hello again! I know I can’t be the only one who finds it hard to believe that classes for the Fall semester have come to an end and that for some of you, studying and writing for final exams has already begun! As usual, I feel as if so much has happened to me, especially in terms of my thesis research, since my last blog post went up. Back in September, I had just gotten home from an amazing summer abroad while still managing to stay within the greater Newfoundland region. It was after two months of fieldwork in Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, that I was having a hard time getting used to spending my days back indoors and back in the lab and Archaeology MA office here on campus, both of which are situated in the basement of Queen’s College.
By the end of September, I was starting to feel as if I had finally adjusted to the back-to-school grind, however, it turns out I wouldn’t really be here for long. I was only in town long enough to complete the catalogue of artefacts that were retrieved during the summer’s excavations at our study area of Anse à Bertrand over in Saint-Pierre. This was a task that actually turned out to be quite a large undertaking, and one I must say, I absolutely would not have been able to get done if it weren’t for my collaboration with Archaeology Honours student Mallory Champagne. Mal, if you are reading this…thank you, thank you, thank you!! Your hard work and dedication to the project is not only appreciated, but also inspiring!
Come mid-October, it was time for me to take off again…this time for a month-long sojourn to London, England where I was conducting archival research at the National Archives based in Kew. Looking for English records pertaining to the Colonial occupations (both French and British) of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, turned out to be an interesting challenge to say the least. After much searching, I did however, manage to come away from the archives with some really useful material. I think it’s fair to say that during my stay in England I learned a lot, not only about the history of our neighbouring French overseas territory, but also about how to conduct research in general.
While I came back to Canada very excited to begin incorporating my new insights and information into my thesis and the research project overall, I wasn’t in town three days before it was time for me to take off again. This time, I was headed back to Saint-Pierre! My supervisor and I spent this week-long trip attending several meetings and taking time to process the metals (mostly nails) that were retrieved from the site during excavations. The metal artefacts along with the bulk of our collection stays in storage in Saint-Pierre at the Musée de l’Arche. I will also say that I may have managed to cram in a hike (or two) during my short stay back on the archipelago. The picture above was taken during a fantastic afternoon of exploring on the island of Miquelon.
By the time the end of November rolled around, I was starting to get a lot of jokes from my friends and roommates about whether or not I’d ever be coming back to NL. As of last week, however, I am happy to say I’m back in St. John’s for good –well, for a few weeks at least until I get to go home (to NS) for Christmas! But these jokes got me thinking, I can’t be the only one out there whose graduate research presents them with amazing opportunities for travel, right? Now, I will fully admit, I have a somewhat limited perspective on graduate student life here at Memorial, however, I am always happy to share with you whatever insights and experiences I can…and something I know with absolute certainty is that there is some pretty interesting research-oriented travel that goes on within the department of Archaeology.
The historical archaeologists at Memorial, such as myself, tend to work within the North Atlantic, though there are always exceptions to this, like my supervisor’s research in French Guiana. There has been worked done on a range of historical sites and collections located in places like Newfoundland, Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and across New England as well. Some of us also get to explore the archives overseas such as those in England and Wales. The arctic archaeologists among us get to work in many communities across Labrador and Quebec and even on sites that are as far North as Nunavut. Their work can also lead them to research trips across Canada and the United States –visiting museums in New York is a good example of this! Some of the bioarchaeologists in the department study the western coast of Canada. Their work brings them to sites in British Columbia and takes them to labs all the way over in Germany – how cool is that?! Then there are those of us who study Neanderthals and get to spend time working in both Spain and France!! And honestly, these statements don’t even begin to do the department justice. This is really just a broad overview of some of the kinds of research that is carried out, and a brief highlight of some the cool places that my colleagues get to visit.
To wrap it up, I have always said that archaeology can take you to some pretty amazing places…this was always part of the allure of it for me. However, the more I think about it, the more I feel like I should try and broaden that statement. I can’t really speak for any other disciplines but I’d be willing to wager that all areas of graduate student research here at Memorial can lead to some pretty incredible travel opportunities as well. Between fieldwork, archival research, lab work, conferences and more…where will your research take you?
Thanks for reading,
~Meghann
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