An integral part of being an anthropologist or archaeologist is observing fieldwork. The final week of the online class saw many students contemplating and asking whether the fieldwork was going to hold, where it was going to hold and what form the fieldwork was going to take. All these questions was what bothered many students of the department of archaeology and anthropology.
Fieldwork, Field trip, any name that you like to give it, the former sounds more like real hardwork, the latter sounds more exciting to the ears. Fieldwork, that project we always look up to (well not all of us though, some of us don’t like that hard work, arm chair archaeology/ anthropology ti wa okay, aseju ni field archaeology/ethnographic fieldwork(armchair archaeology/anthropology is okay, doing field archaeology/ethnographic fieldwork means being forward), anyways we all have to be a part of it notwithstanding a compulsory course that can’t be avoided or failed.
If you ask why the aforementioned questions are being asked it can’t be farfetched from the ravaging corona virus and the level of insecurity (i.e kidnapping etc.) being experienced in many parts of the country. This hindered the usual field trip and camping in a particular location pending the time the fieldwork was due to end.
If you are still wondering what we call “fieldwork”, it is the work done on a field, more like tautology, but at least we would even explain it same way if we were not familiar with the word too. Fieldwork offers students a stimulating, novel learning environment and it is central to teaching in several STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects, including biosciences, geography, earth and environmental sciences (GEES).
Our type of fieldwork is majorly based on archaeological and anthropological methods. For archaeology fieldwork, it is a body of scientific method for the responsible investigation through archaeological reconnaissance and survey, and management through excavation of a limited and endangered resource. Anthropological fieldwork on the other hand, is the use of ethnography, key informant interview and participant observation to holistically study a particular culture and the lifestyle of a group of people.
For the archaeologist, fieldwork require getting to the site, conducting archaeological reconnaissance, clearing, gridding, excavating (vertical or lateral depending on the level you are), etc. While anthropologist, see to the mapping of the fieldwork site, identifying of the strategic places on the field site, booking appointments with an informant or the key informant as the case may be, conducting interviews and transcribing the interviews conducted. All these requires one totally immersion in the study in other to learn something new and gain experience, which can only be achieved through participating.
To those who are quite familiar with how fieldwork was before the new normal we know, you missed the travelling and camping. The unending roll call and group discussion usually conducted by lecturers.
Fieldwork is over finally, you all need to regain energy lost back, U.I already resumed a new semester, you have a deadline to submit your field report if there’s one thing all these represent it’s the post-fieldwork experience. Even though, it comes with a sense of relief and great joy for some, It means work for others. Fieldwork, gives us various experiences and creates lot of memories for us. Although, it is not the most delectable experience for many of us, at least it fulfills its purpose of practicing outside the classroom.
Written by: ÌyanuOlúwa Fágbiyè T. & Okhipo Faith Ilamosi
AASA PRESS UI 