Since we left Costa Rica a lot has happened. The semester has seen most of the students back in class, busily working on papers and participating in new field projects, but that does not mean Expedition Costa Rica has ended! Report writing and public outreach have continued. In January, the majority of us will present … Read more
We would like to thank our followers for reading all about our field work in Costa Rica. Today is, sadly, our last day in Cahuita, but that does not mean the project is over! While we pack up and head home to North Carolina, we would like to share our amazing trip with you! Please, … Read more
Sometimes archaeologists get to feel like CSI sleuths. When attempting to research sites and understand the site formation processes and histories, oftentimes we must look to the locals and pick through the stories to pull out the answers. We sat down with Luis and his brother Minor to ask a few questions about the sites … Read more
Today was our last day of work on the sites. We had to clean up the cannon site and take final GPS points and, of course, it was raining. We woke up, walked to pick up our tanks, and met the boats in a complete downpour. After having two wonderful weeks of great weather, the … Read more
Sunday marked the end of the first week of our field school here in Costa Rica. For most of us, getting on the plane a week ago feels like the distant past. A lot has happened since we arrived in this beautiful coastal town. On any given day, we are up at 7am for breakfast. After … Read more
Nine days in and the team continues to roll right along. Work on the Cannon Site was nearly completed today after Hannah, Kelsey, and I donned our SCUBA gear and slipped beneath the surface to complete a few trilateration measurements. Our goal for the morning: map in some of the larger coral heads that dot … Read more
Today we only had two boats available to take us to the wreck sites. The snorkel group, which included Dr. Harris, Dr. Richards, Kelsey, Wale, and I, elected to hike through Cahuita National Park to get to the brick scatter near the Cannon site. This brick scatter was only recently discovered when Dr. Harris and … Read more
Today, two groups basically finished working on the cannon and anchor site. My group was in charge of taking the compass bearings for each of the cannon and taking the distances between certain features on the site, including; three cannon, the two anchors, and the shore. To do this, we used a data scope which … Read more
Today, we saw first-hand the dangers of the ocean that we might encounter any given day on a job site. While on the boat, monitoring divers and recording data sets, a distressed snorkeler came crying out of the water on the Brick Site. Luis, one of the local boat captains, brought the woman and her … Read more
After a successful day of diving and rectifying the spatial distances between each cannon yesterday, my team was confident that finishing the last of these measurements would go smoothly. While we were working on the first measurement, an un-numbered cannon was discovered. It seemed as if the cannon had been previously found on the free … Read more