Arma Veirana 2022 Season Post 10: Community

August 10, 2022

Ciao!

Well, we've reached the end of our time here and our final blog post. It's hard to believe over a month has passed since we first arrived, it feels like time moves differently in this little corner of Italy. This past week, we students completed a preliminary analysis of the Mousterian layers of the cave and thousands of faunal specimens from 6 different stratigraphic aggregates. Some questions of interest were: which animals are represented in highest frequency and how does this differ between the layers? Where are the most densely butchered bones found? So far it is evident that bovids and cervids and long-bone elements were present and butchered the most. Also of interest to us was that each layer contained bear bones, except for one. The data and analyses will help drive future research questions and excavations to increase our knowledge and understanding of the habitation and use of Arma Veirana by Neandertals, modern humans, and other animals.

One of the most valuable things we've learned here is the power and strength behind a tightly knit community. We experienced some truly spectacular days here, but each day was not a day in paradise, there were hard days too- days we dealt with sickness, days our group was hit by sad news from home, and days homesickness crept in. The respect and compassion our group holds towards one another helped keep our little field family looking towards the positive and our gratitude for this amazing experience has buoyed us throughout our journey. We could not have done it alone.

Nothing speaks to the power of community more than the special people of Erli, who cleared trails of brambles and brush throughout the valley knowing we were coming, who housed and fed us for over a month, and who shared their joy and love freely and openly. We did not come here to simply collect data and return home unchanged. And we don't do anthropology and archaeology for ourselves, it is not a field that can exist in a vacuum. We came to dive into a culture and place new to most of us, to interact with people who are different from us and in so doing gain perspective, empathy, and respect. We do anthropology and science for those very people who continue to live where their ancient ancestors once did, the people who find joy and pride in sharing their culture and language with us, and the people who continue to ask questions about where we all came from. We will return home to continue working on analyzing this data set, but beyond the hard science, we will work towards creating something we can give back to the people of Erli, a piece of their own history. Be on the look out for our work and future news/publications!

To everyone who helped us get here, for reading our updates, and for supporting us on this journey- grazie mille and arrivederci!