Back in the Field!

Phwew.  The last few days have been quite a whirlwind.  We had a semi-productive half-day in the field on Saturday, and spent the afternoon reading pottery and working on cataloguing.  No surprises from our reading—most of our pottery buckets came back as mixed and not datable.  What was datable was early Islamic or late Byzantine.  No mysteries solved from M11, but we were expecting such an outcome from our square because of the evidence of later disturbance we found as we dug.

Sunday, our off day, was very interesting.  We traveled south to Huqoq, Prof. Jodi Magness’s new site.  She is a big deal in the archaeological world and it was great to meet her and see her excavations.  She had just started the week before our visit and it would be nice to return in a few years to see what the place looks like after a couple of seasons. 

Later that evening, disaster struck.  Almost the entire excavating team came down with a horrible 24-hr bug.  The night passed miserably for most of us, and yesterday we spent still sick and recovering.  However, today we were back in the field and morale is high!  Linsday found a great glass shard—it is a bottle base, and Jodi Magness and her team returned the favor of our visit.  Now, some Tel Hai students are coming to the Kibbutz for dinner and discussion.  We are all very tired, but hopefully the meeting goes well.

In the field - Square N13

In the Field - Square H8

Gnat protection offers a wide range of fashion accessory options.  Some opt for the classic and rugged bandana wear-- Machal G ('12) shows how to apply her triple-bandana protection below.  Complex, yet elegant.

Bandana one wraps around in the typical "biker" fashion

The second bandana is applied using an innovative, reverse wrap-around technique.

The third and final bandana is applied "bandit style,"to allow maximum facial coverage. As long as one doesn't wander into any Israeli convenience stores sporting the triple-bandana coverage, it is effective, fashionable, and safe.

Tour of Square M11

Howdy.

Today, a tour of my square, M11, with supervisor Kate Peterson ('11).  Includes a special guest appearance by site architect Prof. Michael Nelson of CUNY Queens.  Enjoy!

Omrit Fashion Blog

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd supplement the regular updates with some shots of excavators in action and their field gear.  Today, myself and squaremate Kate P ('11) wearing some matching MUSA biking pants.  Super comfy and great for excavation in the field as well as biking.

Day 21

Today was a toughie.  The gnats were unbearable and the sun was hot.  Too hot.  We started our square extension, dubbed the "penalty box."  It is east of M11, and is technically 1 and a half meters of N11.  The surface was really tough, just like the top layer in M11.  However, we worked hard and got through locus 1 by the end of the morning.  We also spent some quality time moving our shade and complaining about the heat/bugs.  Phwew.  They were so bad.  We went in early again, and went back out in the afternoon to do more preservation work on the temple.  We moved lots of rocks and buckets of gravel.

This past week has gone by really quickly-- we've been working so hard and wading through packs of gnats.  I am looking forward to a break this weekend.  Maybe hit the kibbutz pub-- named Henrietta's after Henrietta Szold, who gave her name to the kibbutz.  Our pottery expert, Debbie, is coming this weekend and we will get our pottery "read."  That means she'll examine all of our pottery and date it and maybe tell us what type of vessel it is.  This allows us to date and interpret things we find in our square.  Super cool!

Here are some action shots from the past few days-

Machal ('12) shooting some elevations.

Director Dan Schowalter of Carthage messing about in our square.  Helping us move lots of large rocks.

Well stay tuned!  I hope to have some more video tours of other squares coming soon.

Day 20

Today the gnats were so bad that we stayed out in the field only until 10.  However, we got a great deal done in M11 and the square is pretty much completely excavated!  We cleared out all the fill and have beautiful pavers all the way from the base of the steps to the south baulk.  Here is a picture of Lindsay, Kate, and I napping on the pavers yesterday (right).  Actually, we weren't napping, we were trying to escape from the gnat onslaught.

After we came in from the field, we relaxed until 4, when we went back out into the field.  We spent the afternoon moving rocks and buckets of gravel to fill in a part of the temple in order to preserve the foundation of the beautiful frescoed temenos in the western side of the early shrine.  It is where Grace's square was working earlier.  Tonight is Nanette's last night before she returns to Minnesota to play in the Ordway's production of Guys and Dolls, and we will miss her greatly!

Here is our square yesterday, before we pulled the last fill rocks.  Tomorrow, we'll probably start heading out from our eastern balk.  We're hoping to find evidence of a propylon, or monumental gate.