Dig Time Lapse

Lin, the dig artist, took this time lapse photo of the day we dug up the child's skeleton. I make a cameo on the top right so I can prove I play an archeologist on TV. Usually I just hang out in the kitchen.

Then and Now

Jonathan said, "If you want shade, dig deeper" and that's what they did. It's amazing how much ground you can clear with a trowel, brush and 7 weeks. This is part of the tower in the fort. As they dug deeper, and eventually found the floor, they uncovered pots and coins. On the north side of this wall they found the skeletons of two camels and part of a human. Who knows why. Maybe the 363AD earthquake. maybe not. That's the thing about archeology, there are never any answers, just more questions.

Among other parts of the dig, there were two more complete human skeletons, glass jars, pottery, coins (more coins than most sites find in years!) jewelry, metal bits, remnants of old seeds, grinding stones and more.

Now, we are done. Every find has been measured, weighed, cataloged and photographed. The trucks are getting washed and being returned. The house is empty. The stove, two refrigerators, all the tools, beds, cook ware and other supplies packed and locked into one room. People are leaving or have already left. It's over. I don't have to boil any more 20 gallon vats of water, or boil two dozen eggs every night. No more pots of soup so heavy I can't carry them.

Time to hit the road.

Digging

Digging tells a story if you wait long enough. The crew comes back from the field with more and more finds as they get closer to the floor. Camel skeletons appear, then human bones,coins, more pots, glass shards, and the story.

A child is crushed under a wall, apparently, coins scattered around her. There is a metal ring on the back of the head that could be a ponytail holder. She is face down. Was the 363AD earthquake the culprit? Only the pottery will tell.

Pottery is how you date most things and one can get a decently accurate picture of a site by aging the little sherds that they are bringing home. The newest pottery on site suggests the last date of occupation. They are meticulous with their paperwork and measurements, graphing everything. Labeling everything. It's tedious, but paperwork is king. Otherwise, we're just looters.

And looting they do. One site was compromised this weekend as some locals came in and starting digging. They took at least one complete pot that we know about. It's being passed around the back streets right now, like so many other antiquities, hopefully bringing in a bit of money for a Bedouin and ending up in a nice private collection. More likely, though, is they'll drop it.

Karak and Madaba

Well, half way done on the project so we had to drive up to the capital, Amman to pick up the newest volunteers. Road trip!


We stopped at the crusader castle of Karak, perched high above the town on a slope that would make attack very treacherous. It's a fine site, and fun to wander around, but nothing to make a special trip for I suppose. Maybe I'm just spoiled.

Then we took the King's Highway north to the town of Madaba where there is a Christian population and some mosaics from 179AD ( I think) showing a map of the world which now, in it's mostly destroyed state, shows Jerusalem (shown), the dead sea, the Nile, the Mediterranean and even Karak, where we just were. It's in a rebuilt church and it's like zipping back to Europe for a few minutes before you hear the call to prayer again.

Home the next day along the Dead Sea and back to the kitchen. Twenty-six more meals to go.