About a month ago I asked archaeologists on Facebook and Twitter about their dig house experiences living in a dig house.
What kinds of “dig houses” have you lived in while doing archaeological field work? Weirdest? Dirtiest? Most amazing?
I’ve been putting the finishing touches on a fairly overdue article about a contemporary archaeology of dig houses, an elaboration of our short buildings report on the Chicken Shed at Çatalhöyük. It’s a subject that I enjoy and will probably revisit over the years. Anyway, as expected I received some great responses. All of the authors will be anonymous unless they choose to reveal themselves.
Weirdest:
Modern monastery in San Ignacio, Belize.
Monk’s quarters in Vescovado di Murlo, upper floor, with bathroom window onto the Tuscan hills.
Ounces Barn at Boxgrove. My room was an old bull shed with mating contraption in the corner
Bush camp in Kruger Park, South Africa, next to river…crocodile eyes at night & woke up to find leopard tracks outside the tent.
Air cadet base on Jersey – woken up by post plane, & nearest drinking hole is the airfield club bar.
Elementary school gym & classrooms in Vescovio.
Recreation hall of an old leper colony
Dungeon of a château in Alsace
Best:
The Princess Room at Giza. Carved king-size bed and two chandeliers.
A very large house backing on to the Thames at Wraysbury.
Rooms above the bar, Stymphalos
Tent in the Alps at 2400 meters
Swiss dig house in Petra
Chan Chich Jungle Lounge and nature reserve, Organ Walk, Belize
Chateau d’Aramont
Historic Commune north of Taos, slept in tipis and tents, used communal spaces and helped garden.
Two-story mudbrick compound in Dahkla, Egypt…except for the gigantic termites living in our dirt-floor bedroom.
Luxury high rise in Downtown Riyadh. Personal dare devil for a driver. Machine gun escorts. Office in the Embassy.
Townley Hall – a 200-year-old Georgian mansion.
On the Circus, Bath, two doors down from Nicolas Cage
Saqqara dig house before it was demolished. Amazing, but still quite colonial.
Worst:
Some kind of adobe mud house halfway up a mountain in central Madagascar. Cockroaches everywhere, dozens of them crawling up the walls, falling from the ceiling into my cup of wine. Didn’t notice at first, took a swig….
A newly redone B&B, no facilities, and owner couldn’t cope with people coming home dirty (cream carpets, floral bed coverings, etc). Constant stress, high additional costs and no comfort.
The infirmary of an orphanage, constantly feeling sick….
Bog in Tipperary, abandoned, rat infested farmhouse, we suspended shopping baskets from roof to store food….
Colleen Morgan 
When we worked at PFB, we got to spend a night at the Chan Chich Lodge at the end of the field season (at a discounted price) as a reward/treat. The field schools that stay there are so spoiled.
Re: worst dig houses, all I’ll say, is at least you had a cup of wine Brian Boyd…
I remember taking that photo, but had totally forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder. The Chicken Shed is still dearly missed. A name for the new “recreation room” has never really caught on. Lisa and I thought maybe the Wreck Room could work.