by Catriona McKenzie
This week we had the first workshop with the creative writers in Bristol. It was the first time that Emma and I had met the writers, and it was clear that everybody was feeling a bit, nervous, anxious and uncertain about the project, and also about the collaboration and how exactly this process would work. Prior to the workshop, Emma and I had put together two presentations, one on Newton Plantation, Barbados and the second on Finca Clavijo, Gran Canaria. From each skeletal collection we had selected four individual skeletons that had been previously examined by bioarchaeologists and collected information about the age, sex, stature (height), and any pathological lesions identified in the human skeletal remains. As both of these skeletal collections have also published isotope data, we were able also to collect information about the likely diets of the individuals and whether they had been taken to Africa during their lifetimes. We were worried and apprehensive that the writers would be disappointed about the small amount of information that we were able to provide about the individual case studies.
The morning started with introductions, and it was clear from the start that people were coming to the project from very different places. The workshop provided a safe space, or haven, in which we could talk about and explore a very difficult and often personal subject. Having time in the morning to express our fears, banished some of the worries and aided each of us in talking in a very open and honest way. Josie, started the morning by taking us through the process – and reassuring all that it was not all about the end result, but about the journey along the way. Phew!!! Emma and I then spent time talking through the case studies. We had each bought objects and bones which could be handled, to aid our explanations about the nature of the material that we work with. Following the completion of the case studies there was time set aside for us to discuss in groups a range of questions, about the process and how we can work together effectively breaking down some of the disciplinary boundaries.
From a small amount of information, the writers responded with interest, depth and feeling. We had been concerned that this was not very much information to work with, but from these sparks of archaeological information the fires of creativity grew. It was amazing to watch the writers interact and deal with the information, each in a very different way. It seemed that the information that we had provided had created a wide variety of ways into thinking about and responding to the data. At the close of a long and tiring day, the writers treated us to some of their thoughts about the process and where it may take them. I felt privileged to be in a room of people who could exercise and stretch their imaginations in so many different ways. I for one cannot wait to see what happens next…