The archaeologist - image rich.

[Manfred M]

The king's compound at Hampi had some archaeological work being done at it, so I recorded some of the work and workers. It looks like they were doing some site stabilization and possibly some restoration work.


1. The archaeologist - this seems to be the guy in charge and he gave direction to the work team.





2. The archaeologist and some of the workers at the site.





3. Water tanker - the work on the Hampi site is being done by the Archaeological Survey of India.





4. Mixing some mortar





5. Close up of man feeding materials into the mixer





6. Getting water





7. Keeping the new mortar wet while it cures





8. Where workers store their lunch and clothes at an archaeological work site. The carved stone statue is an elephant, but somebody knocked off the trunk in the past.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured, the archaeological work looks very similar to the construction activities I've seen while visiting India.

[rpcrowe]

Very interesting series. As a young man, I wanted to become an archaeologist but, didn't have the money for the education. Archaeology is a great career for someone who is interested in history and who has decent photographic talents...

[John 2]

Interesting series Manfred. I'm guessing that they are adding colour to the mortar in Image no. 5 so that it blends with the rest of the site?

[Manfred M]

Very interesting series. As a young man, I wanted to become an archaeologist but, didn't have the money for the education. Archaeology is a great career for someone who is interested in history and who has decent photographic talents...

I can relate to that too, but there is an abundance of people graduating with masters and doctorates in archaeology and there are very few actual positions available in the field, so not heading off in that direction was probably the best move I ever made.

I actually have done some formal studies in underwater archaeology and have a Level 2 certificate from the Nautical Archaeological Society (Portsmouth, UK). This means I can participate and supervise others during an underwater archaeological survey. I did work on one survey to get my certification, but frankly there is virtually no funding for this type of work so opportunities are extremely limited.

[Manfred M]

Interesting series Manfred. I'm guessing that they are adding colour to the mortar in Image no. 5 so that it blends with the rest of the site?

The construction of that period was quite interesting. The buildings all had stone foundations and the higher parts of some of the temples were clay bricks covered with a coloured stucco. So yes, the mortar was coloured. Most of the residential buildings were stone and wood, so only the stone foundations survived in this part of the complex.

One of the people we chatted with at another nearby site was making mortar to do some restoration work and one of the ingredients in the mix was molasses. I don't know if it had any other chemical properties that were useful, but they did give the material a brown tint.

[Cantab]

Manfred, as others have said, an interesting series of photos. I especially enjoyed the last one: the damaged elephant sheltering peoples' bags.