Fic: Principia Parva Sunt (Benjamin January mysteries, PG-13)

Title: Principia Parva Sunt
Author: Brigdh
Ratings/Warnings: PG-13/T. Kissing.
Disclaimer: The Benjamin January mysteries are by Barbara Hambly.
Notes: A million, million thanks to my betas, dhampyresa, egelantier, and Morbane. Written for the shipswap exchange, for somebraveapollo.

Summary: Little things, things that in France would have been unremarkable, but since he’d left January had had to lower his expectations. Sefton's conversation, the music, and the gin were like pieces of Paris returned to him – a Paris that hadn't been destroyed by Ayasha's death.
First meetings for Benjamin, Hannibal, and Rose.
(Set pre-canon, but taking off from the flashback scene at the beginning of Days of the Dead where Ben and Hannibal meet.)

5,832 words. Also available on AO3

( Principia Parva Sunt )

May meme - Archaeology

I'm doing that old talking meme, but for May! Feel free to ask me something here.

May 1st - what led you to choose archaeology as a career? for just_ann_now (I am already a day behind on this meme, go me!)

Ha, well, I didn't really choose archaeology so much as I fell into it. When I was applying to colleges, I– like most people, probably– had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I chose archaeology as a major because history had always been my favorite subject in school, and archaeology just seemed like a more hands-on version of it. It has really worked out for me, though.

In the US (and maybe Canada also?), archaeology is generally studied as a branch of anthropology instead of as a branch of history, as it is in most other countries. Whether or not this actually means anything for archaeology itself is up for debate (a lot of people will argue there are fundamental differences in the approach of American archaeology and, say, European archaeology, but in my opinion this is one of those cases where there are more exceptions to the rule than adherents), but as a student, it means you end up taking a lot of anthropology classes. Which was awesome for me, as I turned out to really like them! Anthropology in the US is called "four field"; that refers to archaeology (obvs), cultural anthropology (what most people think of when you say "anthropology": the study of cultures and people), biological anthropology (the study of the human body and genetic diversity, human evolution, and primates), and linguistics. I love all of these topics, but archaeology appeals the most to me, as it combines the study of people (who are endlessly fascinating) with those people being dead and gone, so it's not as simple as just asking someone "what are you doing?" (which cultural anthropology occasionally gives me the sense of, unfortunately).

Archaeology also has allowed me to do a lot of traveling, which I love. It's a different sort of traveling than being a tourist; the shortest time I've spent anywhere for an excavation is six weeks, and it's often been much longer than that. (This isn't true of all sorts of archaeology, but it is of the academic sort I've done.) Spending six weeks somewhere gives you time to settle into a routine, to shop for groceries and deal with annoying wifi or phone access, to make friends, to be bored, to write and receive letters, to be recognized. It's a much different experience than being somewhere for only a few days or a week, and I've been very lucky to be able to do it in many different places.

Once I started grad school, I also started to teach and, luckily, it also turned out I really love to do that. I think archaeology is a great subject to teach; it interests a wide variety of people (Indiana Jones! Pyramids and UFOs! Mummies!) but also is really relevant to modern life, and addresses some of the big questions that are fun to speculate on, even if you're not a first-year philosophy student: where does our food come from? How do cities work? Does technology influence society, or does society influence technology? Where did status- gender, race, class, etc- come from and how is it enforced? Where do you draw the line between human and prehuman, and what is the most important difference? Granted, I've always taught Introduction to Archaeology, where you get to touch on lots of time periods and areas; if I was teaching something more specific I'd have to cover less.

But it's all been a lot of luck! When I was 17 I would have said I didn't want to be a teacher, for instance, and didn't have any particular interest in spending time in India. I'm glad I have, though.