The team.
We are a small field team at the moment. Magnetic gradiometry survey requires a minimum of three people to run efficiently. One person carries the machine and the other two move a rope painted every meter with marks guiding the operators as we walk our 20m transects.
The gradiometer is set to take eight samples every meter along the transect. Rather than having to press a button for every reading (160 readings per transect!), the FM-256 automatically takes a reading with the trigger set on a timer. The machine beeps at a regular pace on the first of every eight readings. So, as the operator walks, the key is to make sure the machine beeps at the painted marks on the rope. Thus collecting readings at regular intervals. It sounds tedious, but after a few dozen miles of walking at exactly the same pace, it becomes routine.
Ali, Refeeq, and Ahmet at Site 292.
Our crew for this project is Rafeeq Bradosti who, along with me, carries the gradiometer. He is pictured in the center above. Rafeeq is an archaeologist with the General Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage. I’ve worked with him since 2023. Ali Banisharani, on the left, is an archaeologist from the Erbil Directorate and is new to the team. We also have had two drivers for the project this year. Ahmet, on the right, has just joined us at Site 292 a few days ago, although he has worked with me before. Below is Salar who switches off with Ahmet. They both work at Korek Private Hire and are invaluable members of our team fighting both the traffic of Erbil and the rutted tracks of the countryside to get us here and home safely.
Salar at Site 292.