Adventures in Archaeology

goodbye week three volunteers! we’ll miss you muchly. welcome second-half dig volunteers!

things to look forward to this week:
Monday: National Geographic arrives to film!!! (ohhh yeahhhh)
Thursday: Community Day…where 40 high schoolers/parents/teachers arrive to dig for the day. mass chaos will inevitably ensue.

SO. Updates. Life has been insane - I really didn’t anticipate the sheer amount of work I would have as the excavation’s photographer - but after spending all today in the lab rather than the field and having MORE work after the day than when I started, I’m starting to get an idea.

Anyway, many an adventure has definitely been had - though I don’t actively excavate much myself anymore, I do get to help sweep and dig the best finds. Win. Last week, an excellent mosaic…wine vat? foot bath? hot tub time machine? came up in Grid 51, and that was pretty sweet. Thumbs up to the excellent volunteers who managed not to dislodge any of the tessera!

Last weekend I went to Jerusalem with some friends - and it was QUITE the adventure (in both good and bad ways), but I’ll save the stories for a separate post.

Last week, I had the wonderful time of celebrating my birthday. I can truly say it was the best birthday of my entire life, and celebrated with the best group of people I could ever ask for. I was sung to multiple times by the grid and by the entire excavation - and Grid 47 bought me popsicles at fruit break :) Also, they granted me the honor of excavating the treasure pit! The treasure pit is this AMAZING sewer system that simply has no bottom (yet) and leads to a mysterious tunnel. We remain convinced that the tunnel houses both the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. Obviously. While I, unfortunately, didn’t find these things, I did pull up a large (10cm) piece of an intact glass bowl, an immature chicken with complete long bones, and a worked astragalus. Best. Day. Ever. Of course, the evening included about 20-30 people, a local bar, and much merriment and general debauchery. There also may or may not have been a birthday waffle involved.

Anyway, back to the lab…I’m starting my publication project tonight! I get to author or co-author it with some of the leading Israeli pottery experts, and I’m SO excited to get my name on such an incredible collection. More to come… :)

“Camels are like Jewish velociraptors!”
-the pirates

The noun “narwhal” being used as an adjective for “cool.”
used in context in the following manner: “Guys, this pottery is totally narwhal.”

Exhilaration.
Excitement.
Pressure.
Ticking clocks.
Whispers and quick grins.
Salvage archaeology.

The best day I have ever had on the dig, in three seasons.
One of the best afternoons of my life, no question.

Typically, day three is one of the worst of the entire season, excluding the dreaded week five, which features Drama and Lack-of-Energy as its key players. On day three, the jet lag from day one has caught up and turned into pure exhaustion. The sore muscles first felt on day two were worked more and turned into pure pain. Cleaning is still happening, so most of the day is spent doing nothing except carrying bucketloads of dirt.

Instead, today reinforced everything I have ever loved about archaeology and turned into one of the most incredible dig experiences I have ever had. Win? Yes.