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Looks like I forgot to post this one.  Thought I did. Oh well, here it is now.

So after last weekend's fun it was time to get back to work.  This week wasn't all work.  In fact, I got some very cool news!  Sadly, I cannot share it with you quite yet.  I am still awaiting confirmation from the powers that be.  I will tease you with this little nugget: It was found under the floor boards of the university.

Classes this week were nothing special.  Just the same old lectures, readings, and discussions.  Friday was a bit different.  We spent the day examining the skeletal collections here at the university.  There are quite a few collections from various regions around Ireland and from time periods ranging from the medieval to the 19th century.  The collections are from both urban and rural populations.  It is from these collections that we will be producing our master's theses.  We might be able to work on material that is held in the national museum in Dublin, but our adviser has recommended that we work with the collections here on campus.  This will prevent us from having to constantly travel to Dublin (about 3 hours by bus) and we will have access to the material when we need it.  Since my original idea about studying the bog bodies is dead, it looks like I will be studying one of these collections.  I am going to try and examine musculoskeletal markers (MSM) as indicators of activity patterns.  Its boring, but very easy, and will make a nice thesis.  I did learn one interesting fact during the tour of the collections: Crosses Green (where I am currently living) was excavated by UCC several years ago when they were building this apartment complex. While excavating, they discovered at number of burials dating to the 18th century.  I would choose the only apartment complex built upon a partially excavated cemetery.

So that's it for this week.  Short update for a short and uneventful week.  I will hopefully have a very exciting update for you in the near future!  Just need to get final confirmation before I get my hopes up too far.  One more little hint for you all:  I am waiting for experts from another country to say 'OK'.  If you have a guess as to what the project may involve, let me hear it!