Self-Introduction | Musings of a Buried Cultural Property Excavator | My First Note

Nice to meet you.
My name is "Tai no Tai," and I work as a "Buried Cultural Property Excavator."
I spend my days facing the ground (and people), working on excavating ruins, recording findings, and preparing reports.

In this article, I would like to take a relaxed approach to introducing myself, explaining what my job is, why I started this note, and what I hope to write about in the future.

■ The Job of a Buried Cultural Property Investigator

My main profession is that of a "Buried Cultural Property Excavator."

The primary role of this job is to conduct "preliminary surveys" of ruins on a piece of land before road or building construction begins.

For example, it is a very steady, meticulous process of digging up and recording the "traces" that lie dormant in the land, such as settlement ruins from the Jomon period, square-moated graves from the Yayoi period, or the remains of wells from the Edo period.

■ Why I started this note

One thing I feel while doing this job is that "the world of buried cultural properties is insular."

I don't mean "insular" in a bad way. Even if news about ruins appears on TV, there are few opportunities for the general public to know what kind of work is actually being done on-site, what is being found, or what the investigators are thinking, which means there are few chances for people to feel close to "cultural properties."

I think that's a bit of a shame.

An "excavation survey" is not something that only experts can do, and even a single piece of pottery is packed with information—its shape, pattern, texture, and so on—so there are many parts that can be considered "interesting" even without specialized knowledge.

I decided to start this note with the hope of conveying that cultural properties are close to us through my actual experiences as an investigator.

■ What I want to write about in the future

In this note, I plan to write in a relaxed manner from my own perspective about what I have felt at excavation sites and the current state of cultural properties. I hope to deliver content that is not too technical, while not forgetting the realistic sensations I have as an investigator.

I am aiming for content that even those who are not familiar with archaeology might find "a bit interesting." I also hope to include common occurrences at excavation sites and some small anecdotes.

Since this is a note, I won't be too formal and will just write down things as they come to mind, so I hope you will read it lightly, not as a "professional in buried cultural property investigation," but as "someone who has a slightly unusual job."

This post is just a self-introduction and doesn't have much content, so I will end it here. I hope to increase the number of articles little by little from here on.

If you'd like, please feel free to come and read.
Thank you for your support.

Next time, I plan to write about "What do investigators actually do?" (if possible).