East Again

In the Field Archaeology is sometimes called a 'science of destruction' - an apt name given that once we excavate ancient material you can never put it back just how it was. This is why taking thorough records is imperative. We record measurements, descriptions of soil consistency and composition, elevations, unique numbering etc etc, and take daily notes describing our excavation method and interpretations. Pottery is the primary resource for dating the material we are digging, and to do so accurately we need to record where the pottery is coming from. During excavation, we may have numerous "Units" existing at one time. A Unit is anything from a layer of sediment to a stone wall. We collect pottery from each unit in separately labeled buckets. At Shimron, we use bluetooth printers to create bucket labels. This is a clean system that eliminates all sorts of errors, like bad handwriting, typos and faded or bleeding ink. We print a lot of tags over the course ...

Excavation is in full swing! For pictures and updates about what we're finding and doing on-site, look at Shimron Excavations' Blog . It captures the atmosphere well! Digging at Grid 92 Lunchtime at the Pottery Compound This is our pit...where we threaten to put people who don't behave ;) Last Saturday, rather than joining the volunteers for the guided tour, I ventured to Beat Shean and the Harod spring with four other staff members. My traditional photo at Bett Shean I had never visited the Herod Spring. Today it is a campground and picnic area, quite popular for Israeli families, and particularly for the kids who can play in the numerous pools filled by the spring. We visited, however, for historical significance of the spring. Judges 7 describes how God selected 300 men to fight with Gideon against the Midianites, based on how they drank from the Harod spring. Judges describes how the Midianites were camped near Mt. Moreh. It was great fun to see...