Gaining Experience

Amber Lacilla

This week, I spent a lot of time diving deeper into the specific Archaeology fields. I got the chance to work with my office’s Osteologist. She was excited to have me and willing to take me under her wing to do some osteological work. Osteology is the study of the human bones. This is the career I am going into after I graduate. When I heard my internship came with the opportunity to work with her, I took it right away. On Wednesday, I went to work with her for the first time. She had me lay out a skeleton in the correct anatomical position so we could analyze it. She was there for assistance but really wanted to see what I knew so I did all I could on my own. She was very impressed with how much I knew and was testing my knowledge along the way. I had to use a sheet to color in the bones that were present from the skeleton and leave out the sections that were not present. It was a good way to test my knowledge on what bones go where and matching them up with the actual bones I had in front of me. I learned about her and where she went to school, what she studied, and what exactly her job entails. She had to make a few corrections to the positioning of the bones when I was finished, but besides that it was perfect. This experience has taught me so much about what it is like to work in this field and how excited I am to do it professionally. I learned so much in that one day that I will remember forever. This experience has truly solidified the fact that this is the career I want to go into. She told me that there is no way I do not go into this field because it is clear it is my calling. I never felt so determined and happy in all my life. It was the most amazing experience ever!

This was in the Archaeology Museum. It was the skull of a slave. They were common in Dublin in earlier centuries.
This is the front of the skull from the skeleton I reassembled. I had difficulty putting the small fragments of degraded bone back together but I was almost completely correct with the facial reconstruction regardless.
This is a picture of the skeleton I reassembled with the Osteologist. It was a male from the early Medieval period.

I also spent some time on site excavating mounds in Clonsilla and at the Archaeology Museum in Dublin this weekend. I got to see some mummies and coffins. I saw skeletons and skulls from buried vikings as well. I learned a lot about Irish heritage and was surprised about the amount of information I already knew regarding specific artifacts. It really proved to me that I am learning something from this internship and that I am able to apply that knowledge to other aspects of my life. This was an overall amazing week!

This was my favorite part of the Archaeology Museum. I love learning about Ancient Egypt and putting my knowledge of the topic in to use. Mummies have always been fascinating to me.
This was a skeleton in the Archaeology Museum. It was of a buried viking.

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