In the Field and at Home

-

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 of one day!

This is one of my buckets. It has a includes barcode, the excavation license,
the date, the Grid, Square and Unit number, and my initials.

Sunrise over the Tel, as seen from the top of our dump-pile.

Grid 94 and the spring as seen from atop our dump pile.

My Square :)

The excavation directors and my Grid supervisor pondering the complexities of stratigraphy.

A lizard scampering across the shade cloth.

I learn a lot while excavating...including a lot about bugs insects and beetles!
Nature is so cool, I love the opportunity to spend all day outside.
Blue skies and sunshine! Walking back to our Grids after breakfast.

At Home

During the excavation we stay in Nahalal, a nearby moshav. In fact, Nahalal is the first moshav in Israel. A moshav (as I understand it) is a cooperative community, focusing on agriculture. So, the population own their own land to farm, but there is some element of shared resources and self-sustaining community. We stay in the dorms of the high school, since the kids are gone for the summer. There are pros and cons to the situation, but overall it is very nice. We have a pool, a grocery mart and a post office in easy access. There is also a lovely courtyard with palms and fig trees.
What a beauty.


The courtyard outside my dorm.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

-
Image
Gathering GPR data at Cane Notch, TN. I certainly learned a lot about GPR while in Tennessee! The first day we gathered data, we only did one 20x20 Grid. By our last day, however, we finished four grids in about for hours. Hopefully we will be able to cut the time down a bit more at Shimron, and we will be working full days. The red box is where the antenna are, sending and receiving radio waves. The results show up on the screen which I am carrying. This control is also what we use to start and stop data collection, as well as set certain factors, like how deep we want to record data etc. Today I received my student visa for Israel, which means I am all set to fly in a week! Now if I can finish the mapping assignments due upon arrival, I will be golden. I am glad to have a chance to learn about the land a bit more before going there though, it is an enjoyable assignment!
Read more

A Day in 'The Holy City'

-
Image
It's been two years since I visited Jerusalem, but after living here for a semester in 2016 the city is familiar and feels like home in many ways. I'm staying at a hostel inside the Old City, the same place I stayed 5 years ago when I first visited Jerusalem. You always meet interesting people at hostels. My bed is on the roof, the nights are balmy and there is a beautiful view of the city. View from the Hostel Rooftop; Domes of the Holy Sepulcher  The Hostel's Common Room Before the Shops Open Streets of Jerusalem Day 1: I woke up at 3:30, partly because thats when the cool breezes hit and partly because of the call to prayer sounding across the city. At 5am I heard bells ringing at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, signaling that its doors were opened. This was first on my agenda, since I've never actually been inside the sepulcher itself. Unfortunately, the chapel was being used in services, and was not open to the pubic until 8. But ...
Read more