(Photo: Bob Miller, Uni. of Canberra)
Those of you who might be concerning that I've abandoned the 'big pick, small plan' approach to archaeology in favour of brushing can rest assured - it was purely for photographic effect.
That said, I did feel a bit guilty as what I'm cleaning is a 12th C lamp, which probably had a bowl placed above it as a foundation deposit... until we did a pick run through. Ah well, Wendy did a great job sticking it all back together, after I'd retrieved the pieces from the pottery bucket.
Wherever I went in the UK, there was a noticable police presence - purely coincidental, of course, that the Old Bill was waiting to arrest a squaddie off the plane from Amman... and out in force on a Fri night in Leeds train station... but I did start to feel a bit paranoid. And then customs took unusual interest in my backpack here in HK, kindly giving it a gentle swabbing (presumably to remove some of the dust attached to it) and giving the hardback copy of Warwick Ball's Monuments of Afghanistan a good prodding. No, it doesn't originate in Kabul, just the photos... honestly, do I look like a drug-runner?!
Siblings and one of my nephews in Leeds - three's trubble, four's a riot?
