Well, I should now be safely ensconced in the bar at RAF Brize Norton, but due to a family illness, I've had to postpone going out to Cyprus until tuesday (hopefully). So, a slightly delayed start to the blog, but assuming all is well, I'll get under way then. Watch this space.....
 Another chat on the phone today with Diarmaid (that's Sgt Walshe of 1st Battalion, the Rifles to you, soldier), who as well as being a serving NCO, has a degree in archaeology and is directing the project. He is also one of the people who got Operation Nightingale set up in the first place. Diarmaid is on the left in the picture (from 2012) with MOD archaeologist Martin Brown on the right. The bloke in the hat looks vaguely familiar too...
The bad news is, I can't borrow one of the base's motorbikes at Akrotiri as they haven't got the right insurance. The good news is we'll have an off-road vehicle as well as all the other flying, floating and wheeled stuff at our disposal, so some bouncing around on rough ground will still take place. I've also linked Diarmaid up to a very familiar face to many Time Team viewers, who has expressed a strong interest in the project. They're probably not going to be able to come out this year, but it's still a possibility, and they're almost certainly going to be involved with ON at some point in the future. No, I'm not telling you who (no, not Phil, he's been involved since it started pretty much). You'll find out if they turn up. Yes, I am a rotter :) My parking permit for my bike at Brize also turned up today, so I appear now to have all the paperwork in place for the trip. It also turns out that the wi-fi on the base that we'll be using is in the bar in the Sergeant's mess, so that's where I'll be blogging from. It's a hard life..... Eleven days to go. Welcome to my blog page. In two weeks' time I shall be heading to Cyprus, courtesy of the Defence Archaeology Group, to take part in this year's Operation Nightingale on the island. This tremendous project is designed to (and does) utilise both the technical and social aspects of field archaeology in the recovery and skill development of soldiers injured in the conflict in Afghanistan (http://www.dmasuk.org/), and I'm delighted to be part of it. My role is to be the pottery analyst for this year's field-work, the survey and excavation of a Byzantine monastery, supposedly once the resting-place of holy relics including a fragment of the True Cross. We're not anticipating finding the said relics, and it's unlikely we'll be troubled by Nazis during the excavation, but it's a bit more Indiana Jones than my usual day-job, which mainly these days concerns looking at pottery from excavations in England and Wales, and supervising school-kids digging archaeological test-pits. Needless to say I'm really looking forward to it, having not worked overseas for over 20 years.
The project starts with us all flying out from RAF Brize Norton on 1st November, to what will be our base at RAF Akrotiri. I'll start the blog proper on 31st October when we all meet up at Brize for the project briefing and a few beers and a catch-up before flying out the next day. The project lasts two weeks, so the intent is to blog the day's events each evening, along with a few pictures, in recording what is potentially a very special project. It will also hopefully at least keep me away from the duty-free airbase bars for a hour in the evening. With the amount of military infrastructure we're going to have at our disposal, it won't be like a standard shoe-string-budget archaeological excavation. Power-boats and helicopters appear to be involved. I'm going to make enquiries to see if they've got any off-road motorbikes stashed away anywhere.... Today is two weeks to the off, and today the inevitable military paperwork - printed out flight ticket, sent off for a pass so I can park my bike at Brize for the duration, and booked a room in the hotel at the air-base for the friday night before departure. I've also had to buy a couple of polo-shirts, as we're not allowed in the sergeant's mess without a shirt with a collar! All I've got to do now is print out the mountain of papers on Cypriot pottery I've downloaded off the internet. More soon.... |
AuthorPaul Blinkhorn
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