This audio slideshow is a throwback to last year’s excavation at Clunia. I wanted to test out some software called Soundslides. So far pretty happy with it.
The song is one Steve and Joan sang a lot last year and I happened to record on one of the last nights of the dig. The photos are a grab-bag taken by students and supervisors throughout.
And what is a sigillata? Roman ceramic found in abundance throughout the empire and definitely at Clunia. See photos.
The cemetery in the final shootout of The Good The Bad and The Ugly is just north of Clunia, so we decided to shoot and edit a remake in homage to Blondie, Angel Eyes, Tuco, and the rest. If you go there, I recommend turning on the film soundtrack just as you leave Santo Domingo de Silos, the nearest village, for an atmospheric drive over the hills. Thanks to Iza for the photos; I was too busy assisting the director.
Joan took me bouldering. Next time we want to bring some ropes and technical gear to climb some of the bigger rock faces at the site, too. Though according to the New York Times, bouldering is in fashion now…
Our first excursion was to the Valle de los Lobos, where a chapel nestles among outrageous cliffs and caves. The guide showed us fossilized snails and remnants of ancient plankton in the stones at the foot of the chapel.
View from inside the cave looking at the chapel.
The students in medieval burial niches at the Necropolis de Cuyacabras en el Alto Arlanza (thanks Aixa!).
We returned by way of the Garganta de Yecla, a narrow canyon. I was there last year with my long lens so I can share photos of the buzzards which inhabit the towers above the canyon.
Looks like I set the ISO really high. Bummer. But that is one well-fed buzzard.
Caracena is another contender for most spectacular excursion. It’s out on a moor with cliffs dropping off one side and a canyon on the other. We visited the afternoon after the Tiermes lunar festival.
