Student Notebooks

Blackfriary, Ireland: Katherine

August 5, 2015


Hi! I’m Kitty and I am from McClain, Virginia. I attend Washington University in St. Louis and I am actually studying and working my way towards medical school. I knew that I wanted to attend a field school as my minor is archaeology. My friend Sharon Han, was looking at field schools so I coordinated with her. I came through the IFR program which I heard about from Dr. Michael Frachetti. I chose Blackfriary because I really wanted to visit Ireland and I would love to gain experience with human remains. I was honestly just looking for an opportunity to get involved with the excavation process. This is the first time I have done anything like this and I am really looking forward to my rest of my time here.

I have been here a total of three weeks and it has been an amazing time! My peers are really fun and the staff are really patient in their teaching approach. I have been working a lot in post excavation but while I was working in Cutting 2, I uncovered two cranial fragments, which turned out to be disarticulated human bone. Since I am interested in medicine and working with people, I find it really interesting to be able to work with deceased bone. I have also really enjoyed the classroom aspect of the program. I feel like it is helping me get more out of the experience. I came to this site really knowing nothing about medieval archaeology or religious orders. The field trips and lectures have helped given me a better perspective on the work I am doing here.


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