Today's post is by the now-expert traveler,
Kylie Ham.
July 26th, 2017
Today started like every other day, with a delicious chocolate croissant and cappuccino at the Poker Bar. Despite how great of a start that is to the day, nothing can compare to the amazing rest of the day that we had. The day that all of the students have been waiting for was finally here... It was finally time to head down to the crypt to see the mummies. However, before we could do that we needed to hear from a few of our teachers.
 |
| Dr. Piombino-Mascali gives his presentation on mummies and preserved human remains. |
Our first lecture was from our own Dr. Morrow. She lectured on taphonomy of human bodies and the causes of decomposition. Next, Dr. Piombino-Mascali, our field school teacher from Italy, gave an introduction to mummies and preserved human remains. It is always a treat when he lectures because of his experience and all that he has accomplished.
 |
| Dr. Morrow, ready to go down in the crypt with her equipment. |
 |
| Dr. Piombino-Mascali introduces the students to the crypt. |
 |
| Dr. Morrow gives the students instruction for today's activities. |
 |
| Picture of the crypt before it was restored. |
After a lunch break filled with pasta and lots of bread, we were ready to make our way down into the crypt. Dr. Piombino-Mascali gave a quick history on the mummies of Sicily and what we would be looking at when we got down there. We had some free time to explore and study the remains surrounding us. It was particularly interesting when I found a tiny skull with the cranial sutures barely
 |
| Students take a look around and observe the mummies. |
fused, meaning it was a young child.
Then we broke into groups of around 3-4 students to work on collecting samples for analysis later in the lab. My group had the job of using a small paint brush to scrape dust from the inside of the coffins into a centrifuge tube. After collecting our samples, Emily and myself took the exciting job of looking for insects and other specimens lying around the crypt. In the end, we had two petri dishes full of insects and other arthropods.
 |
| Students work on today's activities. |
 |
| Kylie and Emily gather insects from the crypt. |
 |
| Chase rocking the Optivisor. |
We then moved up to the lab to begin analyzing the materials we had collected. It started out rough when Dr. Reinhard blew the fuse after turning on the light on the microscope. In his defense, we did not have a surge protector when using our adapter. We made things work by using an alternative light source and our second microscope. Next, Dr. Morrow, our great archaeoentomologist, took the initiative to investigate one mysterious insect that we found. It appeared to be something encased in a white shell of some sort. At first we weren't even sure if it was an insect, but after closer examination we were surprised at what we found. Dr. Morrow began pulling at the white substance and discovered that it was a spider web. After freeing the insect, we came to the conclusion that it was a beetle in the Curculionidae family, a type of weevil (long snout beetle).
 |
| Kylie and Emily analyze their findings. |
 |
| Insects gathered at the crypt. |
 |
| Curculionidae (Weevil) extracted from a spider's case. |
After a small break in the afternoon, some students took the rigorous hike up to the castle, while
some of us stayed back to rest. When everyone returned we went down for a dinner together that consisted of zucchini roll-ups, bread, vegetables, and pears. The rest of the night was filled with relaxing and resting up for 9 AM class tomorrow. Ciao!
 |
| Dish of delicious peppers, onions, and mushrooms. |
 |
| Mini stuffed zucchini wraps. |
