So here we are! The Waterloo Uncovered team of 2016 has found its way back to Belgium. We’ve got people from all over the place, including France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, all with different backgrounds ranging from students to military veterans.
For some, like Phil Harding and Professor Tony Pollard, it’s their second year and we are glad to have them and their expert knowledge with us. Others are here for the first time and can’t wait to learn all about archaeology. Lewis Smythe is a self-confessed history geek who can’t wait to put down his books and pick up a spade, and John, a Falkland’s veteran, told me last night, “We’re never too old to try something new”.
Our team of supervisors
So what’s new?
Today we got to learn all the theory and the do’s and don’ts in the field in mini training sessions. Satski Harris taught us about how to lay out “the grid”, Sam Wilson taught us about photography, Emily Glass demonstrated levelling and James Early showed us how to draw a section. Phil Harding then talked to us about stratigraphy and ended his little talk by saying that the best way to learn is in the field. People couldn’t wait to get started.
We opened up more trenches in the killing zone to the south of walled garden and found loads of musket balls showing evidence of the fighting. Yet, although we’re looking forward to finding more exciting objects, Tony made clear in his introduction to the project that “it’s not just about finding cool stuff, it’s about answering questions”. So who knows which answers our project will reveal within the next two weeks…
Musket ball found on our first day
