As we are nearing the end of the season, we are breaking from the usual routine more and more. Yesterday the last day of excavations at Békés 103 turned out to be second to the last and the most atypical we’ve ever had. It started with a rain. Crazy rain and howling wind woke many of us in the middle of the night. Justine and Katie both were out of beds saving our pottery and bones left to dry on the terrace the day before. Not surprisingly, people were slow to get out of their beds for the breakfast. As the rain kept pouring, all but Julia, Monique and Russell, who selfishly volunteered to check on our blocks, stayed at the lab until the weather calmed down a little. When we finally got to the field, it was almost 10am, and we were significantly behind our schedule. Although Blocks 40 and 36 were closed as planned, Block 41, our one and only settlement block, remains work in progress. But the grand prix for the most unpredictable block goes to Block 38 where we found another burial. Milady (so far the only well preserved urn cremation burial in the block) now has her Milord. There were so many things to do that we only got back to the Panzio around 7pm, exhausted and unmotivated. Lab was unsurprisingly canceled, and people disappeared to their rooms right after dinner was finished. Once again, the most atypical day we have had here at BAKOTA. So you might ask what is our standard day. Here is a somewhat generalized version of one of them.
We wake up at 5:45 to make it to the breakfast at 6am. Except for Kalyan who is never on time at the breakfast table.

It is hard to look cheerful when your breakfast is at 6am

Right after we have finished our breakfast and loaded our cars with the equipment, around 6:30, most of us go straight to the first unofficial naptime aka half an hour drive to the site. Seven is when the real work starts. We unload our equipment and carry it to the blocks, take the covering tarp off the blocks, set up the screens, sharpen our pencils, put on our war faces and get down to the trenches.

Alisa has her war face on. Why..?

Because that is what is expecting her and everyone else in the field

At 10am or 10:30 we have our second unofficial naptime, Györgyi’s and Alisa’s favourite time of the day: coffee break! Also cheesy biscuit break (I stand corrected).

While everyone is enjoying their food and coffee, Katie is taking a nap

After the break is over we get back to our daily duties.

Eniko and Anna screening the soil from Block 37. Zsolt on a bucket duty

Justine and Katie micro excavating “Big Mama” in Block 39. Dori drawing a burial

We start cleaning our blocks and loading the cars around 1am and go straight to the lunch at the local restaurant in Veszto. Between about 2:30 and 4:30 we finally have an official nap time (Hooray! Yes, we do nap a lot, we also do not get enough sleep, so it balances).

Time to take down the screens

“Closing time, time for you to go out
To the places you will be from
I know who I want to take me home

The second part of the day known as the “lab time” begins at about 4:30 when we all work on a range of different assignments. It goes up until dinner at 8pm, and sometimes even longer as there is always more to do than we can actually manage.

Monique washing pottery, Russell digitalizing maps, Amy working on a database

Materials from the field sorted and ready to be processed; Anna going through the daily photography; Laci and Martin working on the osteological remains

So this is our usual day in sketches and pictures. Stay tuned for the more unusual ones. There are plenty of them now.