drive.google.com/open?id=1XHNKaW08IsD…
(Will update more as I go.)

Dr Harriet "Harrie" Ryanne Chester looked behind her to check on James’ progress as they made the trek to the dig site. The dig site was on the side of a steep hill some 300 feet above the surrounding terrain. There wasn’t a whole lot of clear, level ground. The trek up was downright dangerous. The site itself was in a cave and was a gold mine to the archaeological world. This site was in eastern Turkey, about 50 miles south of Batumi (Georgia - the country, not the state). Had Dr Chester been any less experienced James would have been annoyed. He did ask her not to get any further ahead and remain attached to a safety line attached to him.

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James had a backpack that had to weigh a good 125 pounds, but moved as it it was light as a feather. The man was built like a Greek God. But that isn’t why she had hired him. Well, it was in a way. The job had called for someone in excellent condition, and trained for rugged terrain. And … James spoke Turkish.

There were other grad students and another professor, though they would rotate out. Most would work at Base Camp or make brief trips up. There were two grad students who would be at Base Camp for most of the dig. One was Greg Larson; the other was Susan Thompkins. Greg was wheelchair bound from a car accident with a drunk driver. His job was on site lab work. Susan was there for making molds and packing up specimens for transport. Susan and Greg had good chemistry working together. Oh it wasn’t a romance. Just plain mutual respect.

At the dig site they found stakes put in place on the first trip up. That one had been made with very little gear, mainly just the stakes. A path was laid out to ascend and descend. A Safe Zone was laid out to be the camp. And a path to and from the dig was laid out. Heaven help anyone who violated the canvassing of the site. That was Archaeology 101.

It took James about an hour to get the tent up so they could start setting up the data link to base camp and the outside world. Once he was done with that he set up the “kitchen and garbage dump.” No campfires, smoking, etc was allowed at the dig site. Trash was always collected and removed. James had joked about archaeologists messing things up by trying to leave a zero footprint.

Once done James finally spoke. “Finished set up. Anything else you need?” There was no question he would have read the synopsis of the dig. He had a basic idea of what they would be looking for. The first day, while exciting for an archaeologist, would be boring for most to go through. There would be a lot of sectoring, photographing, note taking. The real fun would come later, after they had begun to unearth enough to argue over.

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It was an old cave. Early testing had shown the age of the find to be around 2 MYA. That was in line with estimates of the earliest migration out of Africa. That wasn’t what excited the professor. It was evidence of fire use. She would be looking for signs of use of fire for cooking. Cooking was only known to go back less than 1 MYA.

James nodded, uninterested in a finger bone that had been reported. He didn’t get excited like the usual grad student. He was slow and methodical, patient. It was another great quality for an archaeologist. “First piece of the jigsaw puzzle?” He smiled. “Estimated time for solution 2 million years. I suppose that is going to make this harder than 51 days.” He was referring to a blonde joke in which a group of blondes go celebrating at a bar chanting “51 days”. They had solved a puzzle in 51 days, but the box had said 3-4 years - referring to the typical age the puzzle was intended for..

What they were looking for were discrepancies in the ages of the artifacts and fossils. Dr Chester was after the Pathfinder, sort of a mythological first explorer among ancient humans. It made sense. Someone had to be first. Most respected archaeologists argued that the first explorers would be groups. But she supported a theory of single human explorers. The problem was, there were never any fossils records - except of animals. She also had a theory that her explorer was inventive, being a member of the species that used more advanced technologies than his fellow humans - such as early use of fire to cook.

This cave had all the earmarks of having been used by such an individual.

James shook his head. “The fossil dated newer than some of the rest of the cave. Someone inhabited this cave before him - by a geologic difference in time. But then that is why you wanted this site. You want to find evidence that this cave was reused. What has you confused is why the newer fossils and artifacts are more primitive than the older ones. You want to know what some of the theories are being batted around by your students back at the university?

“I think my favorite is the Neanderthal time traveller. He travels back to the times of Erectus and lives it large. But here is what I think about that theory. If such a man existed he’d be an outcast, if not hunted. Or he might be regarded as a god. Imagine it. Some guy shows up in clothing with you in your birthday suit. He is gnawing on a bone from some medium sized animal, but is rending through it easily. After all, cooking does that - makes meat easier to digest. He is a stranger, not part of your clan. He is eating food from YOUR hunting grounds. Do you tolerate him? Or do you kill him?

“Of course, I don’t think much of the time travel notion. But what if he is just an early arrival of the next evolutionary state? He’d be viewed in much the same manner. His ways are strange. He’d be an outcast, likely banished or killed. Such a man would fit into your theories. He would be the first explorer out of necessity.”

Danger was her middle name.

Not literally of course. It was Ryanne. But, if she were to choose, Danger would be in there somewhere. Careful hands grasped along the stone. She was attached to multiple other lines, but she feared not the fall. This was her life’s work and if she passed in pursuit of it she would be quite pleased. Her brown eyes checked back to the form behind her to ensure he could keep up.

Well-muscled and intelligent, she had chosen this intern to accompany her. She had felt, through the test scores and his questioning attitude, he could ensure that she did not get too carried away regarding their finds. He could carry things like a mule and could reach all the things in the up high places. The perfect intern. While she was wont to get carried away, he had a magnificent ability keep a level head. He would help ground her.

Mountain wind whipped through her hair and tore at her clothes. It attempted to remove her soft waves from their bonds and succeeded in freeing only a few shorter locks around her face. It was exhilarating and made her feel as if she were flying. Soon enough they reached their destination and she began to help set up the tents and equipment necessary. She also ensured that her smaller travel pack had all her essentials – digging supplies, notepad, sketchbook, pencils, and her camera. Harrie was jittery with excitement. She could hardly wait to climb up into the cave. And when, finally, everything was set up she found herself pushing James toward the spikes.

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The cave was beautiful. Cool and dry. The earth was well compacted but appeared as if it might be easy enough to dig. There was some clay like spots which concerned her. It just meant Harrie had to be extra careful. She wore knee and elbow pads to kneel more easily in the dirt.

As James spoke to her, she hardly paid any mind. She was much too excited by the prospect before her. Her brain was already mapping things out and looking for promising places to start. He mentioned something about time travelling and she snorted in response. “Sounds like it would make for a great novel.” Students could be so silly sometimes. Though his 51 puzzle joke went over her head.

As she wandered the inside of the cave, she came upon a spot where, as she looked up, she could swear there was a darkened patch. Perhaps from ancient fire smoke. She gasped loudly and ran toward James. “Come take a look at this,” she said - almost too quickly to understand. Harrie grabbed his hand to drag him with her to the spot.

Pointing up she looked expectantly at his features. “What do you think?” He had a very short time frame in which to answer before she continued, “We’ll have to get some scrapings to test. I wonder if I could reach it if I sat on your shoulders, oh giant one,” she teased. And then she was off again, searching deeper into the cave. Unfortunately, the light from outside did not quite penetrate this far which would mean bringing up equipment. It was a tedious task but her annoyance was overpowered by thrill.

She came back toward the lighted area. “So, how should we section this out? Where should we start?” Harrie was now speaking in her teacher voice rather than her excited, child-like jumble. She cocked a hip, placing a hand there.

James looked up at the ceiling of the cave. He had set his fire so that the smoke wouldn’t gather inside the cave, but drift out. That was about 2 MYA ago if the tests were accurate so far. He really didn’t know. But the initial discovery had indicated two sets of artifacts from completely different times.

“Well, I can lift you up. But to be honest I’m not sure you will be able to reach the ceiling even then. I think you’ll still be a couple feet short. I don’t suppose you were ever a cheerleader and feel brave enough to stand on the shoulders of a giant?” He smiled. I can probably just do a lift. As to the canvas, this place appeared to have relics from two very different eras spanning a million years or more. The older finds are going to have been trampled on repeatedly. I wouldn’t get your hopes up. But I would just checkerboard the site. Leave no land unsearched.

“If you want to go for strategy, then we need to walk a mile in the shoes of our subjects - not that they actually wore shoes.” He walked around the cave carefully sniffing the air and examining the ceiling of the cave with intelligent eyes. Then he pointed. “The fire was over there. See how the ground dips. Natural pit. This is where he slept. That rock,” he pointed at a large landscaping sized rock. “He laced his spear and gear there.”

James walked to the cave exit. “Out there was a small lake or large pond. A stream ran through it. He probably made natural fish traps made with stones. If to, we might find some fish bones …. “ he pointed again, “down there. Just dump them over the side of the hill away from the cave.”

The way James described the scene it was as though he understood how a cave man thought.

“By the time the second set of finds made their way here - the second group of nomads - the first one was long gone. I believe you called him the Pathfinder? Sounds like something to make a movie about. You know, I doubt he thought of himself as an explorer. He was just surviving. He was also alone. I notice that in both of the finds you attribute to him there are only signs a single individual was there. He was an outcast - unlike the rest.”

The only time Harrie had been a cheerleader was in college. For a Halloween party. It had made for quite an energy draining night as she remembered. And all of the free booze. She shook the lewd memory from her head and watched James walk around the cave, pretending himself the first person who had lived here. She considered each spot, already mentally cataloguing what sort of objects she would find were his assumptions true. It also meant going to dig by the lake might be a great idea. Of course, that meant mud and sand. She wouldn't get it out of her clothes for weeks.

Pathfinder. A man on his own.

Harrie approached the mouth of the cave and looked out over the horizon. Her lips were pursed and eyes had a distant, far away look to them. She was uncharacteristically deep in thought. At least uncharacteristic when others were present. She sometimes wondered if the Pathfinder had really been alone. Was he chasing something? Running from someone? Hiding the presence of another individual he wished to keep safe? (That would be an extraordinary feat.) Was he so very different from his brother kin of the time? Had he been alone the whole of his life or did he eventually find a lady love? Start a family? Become a part of a tribe? She rubbed the butt of her palms against her eyes before turning to look inquisitively at James.

The guy was a bit robotic, to be sure. Perhaps he was shy. Maybe her presence was intimidating. She hoped he would come out of his shell a bit more as the day went on. Afterall, a person could speak a hundred languages but it would get him nowhere if he didn't show a bit more personality. She allowed a feral grin to spread over her lips. Of course, there was always whiskey to get a man to show his true colors.

"Now, you've told me what I think. You've told me what other students think. What theories might you have, James? Tell me about your Pathfinder." She crossed her arms under her chest and leaned against the wall. Amber brown eyes searched him up and down as if his body language might tell him more than his mouth. He was great and parroting facts. Now she wanted to hear what he thought though of the Pathfinder.

James thought for a minute, then shook his head. “It’s too early in the day for that. How about we finish setting our canvas and set the sectors we want to work this trip? Then maybe we can talk about it over dinner. I am afraid my theories are the stuff of novels as well. But I have a few facts to back them up - just enough to get us in trouble if we wanted to write a good sci fi.”

But he smiled faintly and walked over for a sample bag and a coated rod for taking a scraping. He brought it over and handed it to her. “But how about we get that scraping first? Sooner we get it, less chance of contamination.” As soon as she had a good hold of the bag he grabbed her by her upper legs just above the knees and lifted effortlessly nearly as far as he could lift. It was plenty. He had been right. Just sitting on his shoulders wouldn’t have been quite enough - short by a couple feet. When he lowered her he let her drop a few feet catching her effortlessly under her arms. He smiled again faintly. His eyes had rested on her key feature that attracted most men for just a moment.

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He was all business for the next few hours, a hard worker, professional. Perhaps the woman had gotten more of what she bargained for than she hoped. But the truth was James was just a private man. He had to be. There was noone else like him on Earth. Finally it was time for dinner. Their sectional tent had one compartment each for the pair, plus a common area as well as a portable privy. To James it was overly luxurious, but also a necessity as it offered a protected spot to study finds.

James started up dinner, something else he found amusing. Times had certainly changed. In his youth the woman would have done all the cooking. But he was trying to blend.

“So my Pathfinder. First, let’s make a timeline.” He had opened up his laptop to a timeline he had already created.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Human_…

4.0 MYA stone tools comparable to those found in the 3.4 MYA find of the Lower Awash Valley in Ethiopia were discovered in the 18th century . The records were lost but Charles Darwin once mentioned them in a letter to a friend. This letter is no longer on record.

3.2 MYA Fire use discovered at a site. But the age of the site was largely contested. The oldest confirmed site of fire use is 1.5 MYA. Mentioned in the journal of the Egyptologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie but lost to time.

1.5 MYA Cooking use. Here. If the tests confirm that cooking was done. The earliest confirmed cooking is 790 kYA.

750 kYA Clothing found - furs laced together. But clothing has only been confirmed as old as 72 kYA.

A few other sites were also mentioned. Two were the sites Harie had referred to in her research. One was one she had yet to see. Most of the ones on the list were unknown locations lost to time. But it was very clear that James had done his own research. But much would never be accepted in a dissertation.

“Before you say it, I know. Lack of substantiation. I’d be laughed out of any university if I tried to use this list for anything BUT a work of fiction. But do you see the pattern. And look at the path through time.”

He traced his finger along the path up out of Africa. Tool use during the time of Australopithecus. Then his Pathfinder uses fire on his way out of Africa along the Nile - over a million years ahead of his time.

“Are you seeing the pattern. He is behaving like Homo Erectus during the time of Homo Habilis. It is as though he is a step ahead along the evolutionary ladder. Clothing over half a million years ahead of the rest of mankind. So it begs the question: is he one man living forever like Methuselah? Or does ever generation produce an evolutionary progenitor? Or is HE the progenitor somehow?”

James shrugged. “You asked. Like I said. It makes for an interesting fiction.”