Ossamenta

Today I had the day off, not spending time in the sunny outdoors, but sitting in the university library for about eight hours reading Medieval German guild regulations. Unfortunately not all books complied with the Bodleian's photocopying regulations so I had to do a lot of copying by hand. It's a pain in the ass, particularly when you have to go back and check for spelling errors. It's not just the changes in spelling over 600 years, there are also changes within Germany. Today I've gone through regulations for Cologne and Lüneburg, and tomorrow I'm back at the library, going through bibliographies to see which other guild regulations are available. I know that the university library have some digitized, which means I hopefully can read them at home, if the log-in works. Others I will have to order from the stacks, and some I will have to read at the British Library in London. Hopefully I will find some nice patterns, or some exciting details that can be of use for my tanning Ph.D. idea.

Today I sent off my fifth Ph.D. application, to Lund University in Sweden. I hope this one will have more success than the other ones. But all is not rest and quiet now - there are lots of things happening this spring and summer, and that's excluding my actual job.

Ahead of me are:
- Making a poster for the European Association of Archaeologists's annual meeting in Helsinki this August.
- Writing (and giving) a talk on animals in Roman Britain for the university's Roman discussion forum sometime next term.
- start working on the university diet article.
- help with the organisation of the Oxford Lindy Exchange. Possibly doing a guided tour of Oxford.

Somewhere in all this I will also have to work on the New Year resolutions (well, technically I don't make resolutions, I make plans, as these feel more flexible and can easily be postponed to next year if circumstances warrant), i.e. reducing my pile of almost finished craft objects.

One week at work and I'm already feeling quite knackered. Although, to be fair, that probably has more to do with the Ph.D. application for Uppsala University that's due on Monday than the work situation per se. And it's getting chilly too over here: just a few degrees plus for the next few days. I have to go to the fabric shop tomorrow to see if I can get hold of some good wool to make leg warmers. I swear there is a small but persistent draught from the window in my office and all the cold gathers below my desk.

I've also been asked to do a talk for the university's Roman discussion forum this term. That will be fun! Admittedly it will also mean work, since I have no base to build the talk on. And in contrast to the medieval period there are no pretty manuscript images to catch the audience's eyes and interest. On the plus side, if they're not interested in animals, then they won't come. It's not like a conference where you have to sit through uninteresting talks to get to what to you is the good bits.


And to finish this post: an example on why collaboration with science and archaeology is good: "To the naked eye, the white, powdery substance appeared to be plaster. That’s what the professional and volunteer archaeologists at a dig in Israel concluded. To be certain, though, they subjected the chalky dust to spectroscopy and a petrographic microscope, only to discover that it was not a manufactured substance, but decayed plant life and fecal matter." And that's how you turn a house into a stable...

Life's been an absolute whirlwind lately. Not only have I registred for the Urban Environmental Archaeology conference and started writing my talk/abstract, but also sent off a job application as animal bones specialist at the National Board of Antiquities in Sweden. In the midst of this, Stockholm e-mailed me for an interview for the Ph.D. in laborative archaeology! So tomorrow very early, I'm off to the airport. The interview is not until Thursday, but with short notices I'm flying budget airlines, and they don't fly as regularly as British Airways or SAS. Still, it means another day in Stockholm, which can be put to good use. Probably general sightseeing, as I'm forbidden to buy any even remotedly bulky items (see: budget airlines: luggage restrictions, luggage fees).

Keep your fingers crossed for me, please.

I've just been told that there are three Ph.D. positions coming up at Stockholm University: two in archaeology and one in laborative archaeology (read: osteology etc). Nothing for it, here I go again with application writing and printing suitable reports. The archaeology application needs to be tweaked, but I can hopefully use the osteology application for Lund more or less as is.

Compared to working in Dublin, working in Oxford is fantastic. In Dublin, I had practically no access to university libraries, as they gave access mainly to their own students and alumni. Now, you could apply (and pay for) for a week’s access (no borrowing though), but it took c. three weeks between posting the application and getting the result. And in commercial archaeology, three weeks were rare occasions. By the time I realised I needed the information, maybe I had one week left before my deadline. Often it was quicker to email my mother in Sweden, and ask her to go to the university library* in a nearby town and photocopy the relevant article, and then post it to me.

In Oxford, I have access to the Bodleian library (Oxford’s main university library) and through them some of the individual department libraries, thanks to my job, as they think reader’s cards are necessary for doing proper research. And if Oxford doesn’t have what I need I can go in to London for the British Library. Admittedly, you need to apply for a reader’s card there, but it can be done on the same day provided you bring the necessary papers. So wonderfully convenient.

I’m so glad I have access to these two libraries. They have a surprising amount of books and journals from all over Europe, not only the big ones, but smaller regional journals too. Today I’ve been looking up potential sites and background information for my Ph.D. application, mainly using the big Medieval urban craft book (yes, I caved in and invested - it was worth it). I’ve been focusing on northern Germany and Scandinavia, looking for site references in the bibliographies. Often these are only published in local journals (if they get published at all), which are easy to find if you’re at a well-stocked library in that country, but not so easy if you’re elsewhere.

Thanks to online catalogues, such as COPAC (university and research libraries in the UK) and Libris (university libraries and some larger council libraries in Sweden) I’ve managed to find all the relevant articles and books. Some are in Oxford, some at British Library. One is technically at the British Library, but has been mislaid. My other options are University College London (one week reader’s card: £7 if it’s for private research) and the archaeological department’s library at Lund University (postage costs and train ticket).

I’m so grateful for these online catalogues. Instead of checking individual university libraries (only choosing universities where I know people) I get several options at once and can pick whichever is most convenient and hopefully be able to get hold of the book at once rather than waiting several weeks for an interlibrary loan. Now I just need to find the time to head off to London - thankfully the library is open late at weekdays if I don't want to go in on a Saturday.


*: University libraries are public in Sweden - you only need to be connected to the university if you want to borrow the books.