Expeditions with Ajdin
By: Ajdin Ahmetspahic, Foundation’s guides coordinator
After an extraordinary 11 days spent in Visoko, our participants of this year’s Expedition completed the third shift in July.
The great atmosphere prevailed during the whole shift and the group synchronized very quickly so that laughter and good mood were prevailing during the hard hours of the excavation on the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun.
Under the guidance of the coordinators of Tariq and Marie-Sophie, and geologist Richard, volunteers finalized excavations at Probe 6, which is now ready to welcome many tourists who will visit the northern side of the Sun’s pyramid during the summer. A lot of materials and clay layers have been carefully removed especially at a depth of one and a half meters where the concrete slabs of the pyramid are located. A geological analysis was done, and volunteers found some interesting cracks in the concrete.
On the other side of the Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids, in the Park ‘Ravne 2’, the rest of the volunteer team worked on an experiment to try to make a replica of the geopolymer concrete of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun. Only material that was available a few thousand years ago was used, which is a conglomerate, gravel, clay and limestone. The recipe for making concrete was brought by David Pilsworth from England, according to the book by Joseph Davidovitz. The results of the experiment will be known soon, as it takes a lot of time and heat to make the material in the molds completely dry.
Participants of the Expedition visited the park of stone balls in Zavidovići during the weekend, where they spent excellent time. The second day of the weekend was reserved for a tour of Sarajevo and Baščaršija where they had the opportunity to listen to the presentation of the interesting history of the city that is at the juncture of the East and the West and taste the excellent Bosnian pot.
The volunteers had the opportunity to listen live Dr.Osmanagic, as well, who devoted his time to present the latest research, discoveries and plans on Ravne complex.
On Tuesday they also visited the Bijambara caves, stećci and the poorly-known location of Obelisk near Olovo. There they learned a lot about the mystical past of these parts through the fictional stories of a little-known medieval Bosnia.
Everyone agreed that Bosnia and Herzegovina is truly a country with deep roots and a tradition of megalithic civilizations and mysterious spiritualism, a land of fairy-tale nature, rich history and cultural heritage.
As always, instead of “Goodbye” volunteers greeted with “See you again”.
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