Thursday 5 January 2012

A toddler and a spoilheap

Now it is a New Year and one can look back to 2011. Number One Son travelled to Canada with us and saw his Canadian great-grandmother. He also was at his first ever dig. Naturally, we hope he will take up banking or go to the Bar in order to have a decent income. However, we cannot totally keep him away from our own interests – archaeology and museums. Even if we wish him a prosperous career, we hope he will grow up appreciating heritage and understanding the value of the past.

During the late summer we helped a local history PhD to dig two trial pits in the village. Normally, it is not advisable to have small children at the voluntary digs – not that one would not like them to be there to start with but the insurance most archaeological groups have covers only adult participants. However, this trial dig was only a stone through from our home and we took turns to go home, keep him happy and away from any mischief. When at the site, one was encountered with the reality of trying to keep a toddler away from one of the parents when one of us was recording or digging. Luckily, a tree stump and Number One Son’s beloved toy car kept him momentarily happy.

AnsteyPits (26)

The best part of the trial dig for the small observer was the spoil heap. There was no better place to play with one’s toy cars and through dirt around. If one ever has to repeat the exercise, it would probably easiest to bring out a beach bucket and spade and create a small sand pit for our young explorer.

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