June 29, 2010

Today i am sick! digging with diarrhea is really shitty (haha) and i'm not about to let my body do that to me again. i forgot to say in a previous post that on the way back to amman from aqaba i got to hold the cutest baby boy!

Pottery Pails

The wake up bell sounds at 4:15 am and breakfast is at 4:30. The buses leave for the site at 5:00 and we're beside our squares by 5:30. Second breakfast is at 9:30, so far, however, this time has been fluid. At 12:ish field supervisors meet with square supervisors to write the day's reports. At 12:30 we return to "camp" and lunch at 1:00. But the day is not over yet. Quiet time follows lunch from 2:00-4:00 with pottery reading at 4:00. Tip top archeologists find their way to the pottery tables before 4:00 to count and arrange their finds. Then Kent Bramlett, the chief archeologist, moves along the tables determining the period represented by the finds. "Distinguished" pieces matter for this, these include rims, any signs of paint, handles, or bases. Based on his experience and training he then identifies and counts these pieces for record. Today, my square included lamps, bowls, and jars from Early Iron 2 and Early Iron.

While pottery readings are in session, soaked pottery from the previous day is scrubbed and sorted. This takes quite some time due to the ubiquity of pottery pieces. After just three days I'm developing pottery pail hands!

Along with pottery we sort bones, teeth, and objects. Jillian found a hammer stone that pleased our chert-focused student, Nikki.