July 30th, 2018

Joey

A view of Santa Lucia

Hello! My name is Joselynne Macias. I’m an Anthropology, Spanish, and French undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Today was July 30th and, like most days, we started it off with a few early morning lectures to give us some background on what we might be finding on the mummies, as we get ready to enter the crypt situated below the convent here in Santa Lucia del Mela.

Dr. Karl Reinhard gave an interesting lecture over taphonomy, reflecting on some of his work with the Chinchorro mummies from Peru. The Chinchorro mummies were found in fardos (in fetal position, bound in cloth with a variety of tools). Many mummies had previously been destroyed by huaqueros (grave robbers).

Lice

We also got a little intro on parasites today, too. We put some samples collected by Dr. Reinhard of pieces of scalp and hair from the mummies in Peru under a microscope for examples of nits and lice.

Alessandra Morrone, a student of Dr. Dario Piombino-Mascali, gave a lecture on an overview of paleopathology, particularly things that we may find on the mummies in the crypt. It was a good refresher on previous osteology courses I’ve taken and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as a fan of bones. Good job, Alessandra!

At lunch today, we had some priests visiting to have lunch with us so that they can personally meet all the students taking part in the field school. I felt very privileged to meet them, and it served as a reminder that the work we’re preparing to do with these mummies is important to the community here in Santa Lucia. 

The crypt

Today was also our first time going down to take a look at the crypt located below the convent.

We were told a little bit about the history behind the crypt and the terrible flood that left much of the crypt in disarray and damaged the mummies within. Luckily, a lot of work has since been done to restore them and the appearance of the crypt. I’m incredibly excited to officially begin our work in the crypt, and I want to learn as much as I can throughout this field school. I’ve already learned so much from everyone, and I hope to be able to contribute to this project.

The sunset from the convent

We’ve been in Sicily a week now and each day it seems to get more beautiful. The weather has been in our favor and though it’s a bit of a climb, I’ll never get tired of the view.