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Pet Name: Glimtipper
Owner: pixierelish
Breed: Meerca

*A muddy faerie Meerca flies onto the stage, followed by a tall, lanky girl, who is also covered in mud. The Meerca hesitates and looks to the brown haired girl for reassurance.*

"Go on," the girl encourages.

"Ok..." The Meerca shifts and then steps forward, swallowing. "Well, my name is Glimtipper, and I'm a Faerie Meerca. This-" here she pauses to flick her tail at the girl "-is my owner, Pixierelish.

"I'm here to tell you all about me. Well my favorite thing is something really fun and amazing, something Pixierelish and me both love. I'll give you a few clues first. It's a thing you do, it's very important to history, you have to be willing to work in any weather and at any time of year, and be very strong. It involves spades and wheelbarrows and mud, and trowels and brushes and mud, and dirt and soil, and if there's no mud, there's usually something else equally mucky or smelly involved."

The audience watch in silence, mystified.

"No guesses? Well it's not gardening! It's Archaeology! It's my passion - I want to dig forever and ever. Archaeology is when people who call themselves Archaeologists will go to a place they think or know was used by ancient people in history, and they will dig it up looking for evidence to prove it was used as Historians say it was.

"They don't just dig it up like a flowerbed though, it is all very carefully planned. First they take off the top layer, called the topsoil, and then they can begin digging properly, with a trowel. That's right - no spades unless they are digging out a filled in hole, because otherwise they might destroy the evidence!

"Every layer of soil is different. The soil where a fire is might be blackened or orange, or where there was a floor there might be lots of crushed stone. Every single layer is given a number, and all the items discovered in that layer, called finds, are labeled with that number. Pixierelish and I went on an excavation in the Lost Desert, and the layers we worked on were numbers 3016 and above! Just think how many layers in the soil there were! Lots of the things we found were great too, Pixierelish found an Ankh, and a few Coltzan's Gems, and I found an Ancient Eyrie Power Wand!

"Then they examine what they have found. Pottery is very common, and there are specialists who can look at the broken pieces and say what the pot was used for, and how old it is. Then the Archaeologists know the pace they are digging must be at least as old as the things they found. Sometimes skeletons are found, and lots of grave goods that people buried with them, or bits of buildings or ancient weapons. Archaeology can tell us lots about the people in the past, and that is why Neopia is so great. Just look at all the different lands there are!

"The Lost Desert is FULL of Archaeology just waiting for me to discover. There are pyramids and pots, Coltzan's Shrine, and who knows what is concealed in the sand? Meridell is stuffed to bursting with Medieval Archaeology, the Lost Desert is a brilliant place to look for sites to dig and explore - just look at the Concert Hall - made from giant prehistoric stone megaliths! The Coco Heads on Mystery Island are interesting too� In fact, I'm wasting time talking to you all now! Pixie, where's my trowel?"

*Before Pixierelish can reply, Glimtipper is gone, presumably heading for one of the places she just mentioned. Pixierelish shrugs and smiles*

"What can I say that she didn't already say? I suppose I'd better go after her. Thanks for listening. Bye!"

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