Day Thirty-One

Today in Grid 47 we worked to answer a century old question.  In the 1920s a British archaeologist named John Garstang excavated in Ashkelon.  While working near the center of the site he found a large building which consisted of a basilica and a bouleterion.  He called it "Herod's Cloisters" and associated it with Herod the Great and the 1st century B.C.E.  The date was never confirmed, however, and the exact date of the building has not been established. 

Until, we hope, this year.  This year we uncovered more of the bouleterion including a room with a floor.  To the left, volunteers work to excavate that floor and the sealed deposits underneath it.  That sealed material should, for the first tim,e help us date the basilica and bouleterion complex archaeologically.  We should have the answer in the next few days.

In Grid 51 they worked on their tabun (an oven), some loom weights, an upside down amphora, and huge chunks of iron slag.  Grid 38 continues to work towards Phase 20 and the house which is their stopping point.