The blimp arrived, pictures were taken and the real fun began. In Grid 51 they worked to take down Phase 4 walls with the help of some Grid 47 volunteers. Needless to say, everyone was quite happy to be working in the field instead of the compound.
That isn't to say there was nothing going on in the compound, there was plenty.
All the body sherds collected over the course of the season, those sherds which don't tell us much about the vessel from which they came, were dumped into a wagon and carted off to Grid 23 which is being backfilled.
There is still a lot of work to do even after the volunteers leave tonight. Next week during staff week, we will work to sort through much of expedition's bone collection. A number of staff members will also work on their individual research projects including Islamic glass, Persian pottery and the Roman odeon.
And speaking of volunteers, the bulk of the group leaves tonight. On behalf of the entire excavation I'd like to thank the volunteers who joined us in making the 2012 field season a spectacular sucess. Thank you and bon voyage!