We hear from Tori today.
Tori excavating Grid 51
Hi! My name is Tori Campbell. I am a rising senior at Yale University (only Yalie on the dig!), an English major who came here largely out of a sense of adventure. I’ve always wanted to work on a dig, and when the opportunity came up for me to spend a summer working at Ashkelon, I jumped at the chance!
I work on Grid 51, which has focused on excavating the 604 B.C. destruction of Philistine Ashkelon at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. Grid 51’s extensive size and clear temporal context make it a perfect place for a completely new archaeology student to gain her footing. I’ve learned to use a wide breadth of tools to help my team reach and excavate the contemporary surfaces, or “floors”, of the 604 destruction era.
My favorite tool is the large pick. I use it to remove layers of “floor”, to break up dirt from between the floors, and—my favorite—to take down walls made of stone or mudbrick so we can dig further, find more, and answer more questions.
Talking with a local Israeli student