IWD 2020 In her own words… Alex Kisielewski

30Mar 2020 by TMHC

Hello everyone, my name is Alex Kisielewski and I am a Field and Mapping Technician at TMHC. My journey at this company started in 2015 while studying at the University of Western Ontario. In 2016, I graduated with a double major in Classical Studies and Bioarchaeological Anthropology. It was my interest in the Classics (the study of Greek and Roman history) in high school that led me to pursue archaeology academically and as an occupation. The discipline is a combination of my love for the outdoors, and fascination with the patterns of people from both the past and present.

While in university, I was privileged to be a part of the Vindolanda Field School, where a group of 8 students participated in an archaeological investigation of a Roman Fort along Hadrian’s Wall in England. This experience fuelled my love for archaeology and gave me a hands-on, and physically draining, glimpse of what a career in archaeology would be like. This experience also showed me the significance of all artifacts at a site, not just the most priceless or most shiny. What I find most interesting about archaeology is the story behind the objects. Including the mundane and normal artifacts most people do not notice. In 2019 I published an article on a 19^th/ 20^th century glass bottle, called a Codd bottle. To most, it is just an antique glass bottle. To me, it is a glimpse into different class structures, children’s games, factory and industrial advancements, and the emergence of new immigrant neighbourhoods in Toronto.

Cultural Resource Management (CRM) has come a long way through the years in its appreciation for female field crew. There are now more equal numbers of both men and women practicing archaeology. However, it is still common for men on sites to offer their aide in completing some of the more difficult and physical work on archaeological sites. It is our role as women to promote one another and create a work environment in which everyone can work within their skill levels and not feel uneasy about it. TMHC fosters an encouraging and challenging work environment that produces very skilled and confident women in a male dominated field.