Blog
Day 31
Our patron Shelby White spent a second day in the field with us today. In Grid 38 she helped excavate a metal tool with a bone handle.
In Grid 51 work continued as Kate tried to find parallels for the scarab they discovered today.
In Grid 44 the Islamic/Crusader material was fully exposed and tomorrow more walls should come down.
Grid 38 continued to work on interpreting the relationships between the Egyptian wall and Philistine material.
Day 30
We had a special visitor in the field today. Thanks to Lucy and her Dad who helped us dump a wheelbarrow.
Busy week as everyone is gearing up for the Finds Display and party on Thursday. Ahead of that, we are all working hard though, even now, thoughts are turning more and more to end of season goals.
Day 29
It was more of the same today: sand, sun and lots of fun. Oh, and plenty of work too.
Grid 38 continues to explore the world of the early Philistines.
Grid 51 continues to work through the Persian period which, as proved to be the case in other grids, is dense and very interesting.
Grid 44 began dismantling Phase 1 architecture which is looking ever more Crusader with each wall taken down.
Attached, a picture of Shimi cleaning marble fragments in the hope of finding something really interesting.
Day 28
Quiet Saturday at the hotel. Mostly work, work, and more work accompanied by children's music from Magic Land.
Tomorrow we start week 5. We will also welcome our patron Shelby White and her guests for a week of excavation. It will all culminate in a special lecture, Finds Display and party this Thursday.
Fun picture of the day, the careful excavation of a store jar.
Day 27
Masada/Dead Sea trip for volunteers today. For everyone else, time to catch up on work and do a little relaxing. The hotel is, as anticipated, full of families and the nightly shows have started...
Walked the site today with some visitors. I'm including a picture of the southern half of the site as viewed from on top of the fortifications by Ashkelon's main gate, the Jerusalem Gate.
Day 26
As promised, some pictures from Grid 38 today. One is of everyone working, the second of microarchaeologist Meg taking a sample.
Starting to get hot finally, just in time for the 4th! Have a great day everyone!
And today, a bonus post from Harvard Summer School student Shlomit.
***
Hi! I’m digging here in Ashkelon with the Harvard Summer School. I’m excavating in Grid 51. I’ve actually been digging in an ancient street that was also used as a sewer, as evidenced by the greenish soil we found in several layers. It seems that people were throwing interesting things into the street during the Persian period (roughly 6th – 4th century BCE), based on some of our finds so far. Some of the most exciting of these are at least five puppies and an adult dog buried in pits along the exterior walls of buildings facing the street, as well as a dagger handle of metal and bone carved into the shape of a lioness head. There has also been an abundance of pottery, but some truly exceptional sherds have turned up, including some beautiful pottery from Greece (Attic red-figure), one piece showing a Maenad and others showing a wreathed man playing a harp with a nude cherub hovering overhead.
I am currently studying ancient history, and possibly will add anthropology with a concentration in archeology. Although I’m more interested in history than the actual act of excavation, I think it’s fascinating to see the process that uncovers the physical evidence that modern scholars use to construct as detailed and accurate a picture as possible about what ancient cultures were like and how their people lived.
Excavating is hard work, but it is necessary to see what lies underneath the dirt. It’s hard to realize how much we dig when I see it happen in gradual steps, inch by inch, over many days, but when I notice that the level we began at is now somewhere above my head, it’s incredible. Within all those varied stratigraphic layers of dirt were buried pottery, bones, metal, and architecture that, when taken together help us literally construct an image of the road that the ancient inhabitants of Ashkelon walked along on a daily basis.
***
Day 25
Another great day in the field.
In Grid 51 they have a sunken jar on a shell pavement. They found an Eye of Horus today. Make that two, Kate reports!
In Grid 38 they continue to expose more of early Iron Age Ashkelon. I need to photos of both these areas. Kate has promised one for tomorrow and I'll see if I can't get one of Grid 38.
In Grid 44 we found, surprise, more drains. You can just see Jeff poking his head out of one of them and then Julia holding a pot she found in a second drain.
Day 24
Wow! We're we are at the halfway mark for Week 4 which ends Thursday. Friday, the volunteers head off to Masada and the Dead Sea. The season is just flying by and it is hard to believe that next week is already Week 5.
In Grid 44 today there were more walls and drains. Another bone comb popped up and I'm including a picture of Julia holding it. (She also found a figurine making it a very good day for her.)
In Grid 38 they also uncovered more walls although from which phase remains unclear.
And in Grid 51 they worked on uncovering Phase 7 floors a process which included exposing a hearth that covers a sunken vessel installation.
Day 23
Special edition today. We are fortunate enough to work in one of Israel's national parks/nature preserves. Today we watched as they released two sea turtles back into the wild. Both Johnny and Negev were found injured and nursed back to health by a program which aims to save the turtle population in this area. It was fun to watch and I'm pleased to report that both turtles had an appreciative audience as they made their way out to sea.
Day 22
The second half of the season has officially begun! It was another beautiful day in Ashkelon, overcast and cool for much of the morning.
In Grid 51 they welcomed two new volunteers. Well, new to this year. Both Justin, a returning volunteer, and Nichole, the National Board Certified teacher heading up our educational outreach program, have been to Ashkelon before. They were able to join the crew in tracing floors, floors and more floors.
In Grid 38 they continue to expose more of Phase 20B and the floors on which they can see monochrome pottery. Go ahead, ask someone in Grid 38 and you'll see why they are so excited.
In Grid 44 we started dismantling the latest architecture and discovered a wonderful floor. It was a great way for our four new volunteers to start their season. One of the walls we removed was made of three column drums laid down horizontally over an earlier floor. And one of those column drums was used as a doorstop before it was used in the wall.
Day 21
Sitting in the lobby which hasn't gotten too noisy yet. In a hour or two it will be packed with people and the pool even more so! Summer vacation has started for Israel and the hotel is filled with families.
We have finished our third week of excavation and are bidding a fond farewell to our part-time volunteers who joined us for the first three weeks of the season. Bon voyage to all our friends! It was a productive half season with each excavation area making great progress. Grid 51 continued to move deeper into the Persian period and while doing so discovered some amazing objects including a museum worthy carved ivory knife handle. Grid 44 opened with a bang and over the course of the first three weeks uncovered a house with a mosaic floor, paved courtyard and plaster lined drain. Special finds included a bone doll, a bone comb and a large riveted piece of iron. In its final season Grid 38 continued to surprise as they uncovered more of the Philistines. Some of their amazing small finds included worked ivory, a puppy in a pot and, as always, wonderful pottery.
One of the highlights of the third week was, as I've mentioned, Tell Games. Another was the opportunity for the volunteers to see all the excavation areas and learn about what other areas have been doing while on a Tell Tour. I'm including pictures of each excavation area do you can see the same things they did.
Grid 38 had some great news yesterday. Just when they feared they would find no more of Phase 20B, the earliest Philistine phase on site, they uncovered a wall and some floors that belong to that phase. Great news and the work continues.
Have a great Saturday!
Day 20
Super fun day yesterday as we celebrated Tell Games. This year Adam needed to select his general for the invasion and destruction of ancient Ashkelon. Don't ask, the rules of the game are often lost in the abyss long before Adam is done explaining them. Pictures for everyone to see. Two are of volunteers playing the game and the third is some volunteers watching the game.
Day 19
Today is a short day in the field. We are all done with work and now it is on to Tell Games and Tell Tour after which we'll head back to the hotel for lunch. Then at 2:00 the volunteers will be off on their field trip.
Yesterday we hosted a group of about 24 middle school students for our third annul Community Day during which they had an opportunity to learn about ancient Ashkelon and archaeology. Fun was had by all, many of the students had been here before, and new friends were made.
Stay tuned for pictures of Tell Games...
Day 18
Today we have a blog post from Miranda one of the Harvard Summer School students. Later this afternoon or tomorrow I will post some pictures of Community Day.
***
Hello from the Harvard Summer Program in Ashkelon, Israel! I’m here as a student in the field school, working in Grid 51 to uncover the settlements at ancient Ashkelon. Grid 51 has been open for a number of seasons, so this year we’ve exposed and begun to excavate Persian period walls and surfaces. This ancient architecture lies several feet below the ground surface and was built well over two thousand years in the past.
Early in the excavation season, a supervisor described archaeology as the "science of destruction," a description that has come to feel very accurate. We disassemble everything. There have been few times in which we're carefully picking at a wall with delicate instruments to excavate an artifact. More typically, we’re wielding pickaxes and handpicks, trying to remove as much dirt as possible from the remaining architecture, and sometimes, we’re dismantling the walls themselves. The ground is studded with pottery sherds, so many that we actually can't record each individually, but everything of interest gets carefully documented. This week in my gird, we've been trying to reach "Phase 7," an informal site-specific name for the early Persian period. We frequently find sherds from cooking pots and amphoras, large vessels that were used in the trade and transport of goods. Recently, we also uncovered a small pit, about a foot in diameter, containing large, partially worked slabs of basalt, a type of stone that was historically used for grinding.
Some of these finds are anticipated, but many are unexpected, as each day we uncover stories and questions that had been buried for thousands of years. As a new student of archaeology, this dynamic between the known and unknown is particularly fascinating to me, and ancient Ashkelon, as the site of a critical port city along an ancient trade network, offers many surprises and answers to those willing to dig.
***
Day 17
Kate and I are on the hunt for a couple of whole vessels they pulled out of the ground this week in Grid 51. Once we find them we will either blog or tweet them for everyone to see.
Today Grid 38 went in search of the famed Egyptian wall as they work towards the earliest Philistine occupation levels and the end of excavation in this area.
In Grid 44 we took pictures of our mosaic floor, worked on exposing some more walls and features and generally had a good day. Tomorrow is Community Day and I will try to post lots of pictures.
Day 16
In Grid 44 today we cut back our full 10 meter north baulk 30 centimeters and, surprise, uncovered more walls! We then spent much of the day cleaning those walls.
In Grid 51 they excavated more Phase 7 floors and in so doing found a piece of ivory inlay. They also found some worked stone and another puppy burial in the street.
In Grid 38 they continued digging in search of Phase 20B which is proving to be elusive. Attention is turning to exposing more of the Egyptian wall to learn more about its construction.
It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of Week Three. It's a busy week. On Wednesday we will welcome a group of Israeli school children who are coming to learn about archaeology and the history of Ashkelon. On Thursday we will compete in the annual Tell Games, go on a tell tour and then the volunteers will be off on an afternoon field trip. Friday we will work before heading off to the weekend.
Day 15
Lets see if the picture of the walls will post this time.
Day 15
Busy day on the tell. In Grid 44 we spent the day finding walls, walls and more walls some of which you can see in the photo I've included.
Grid 51 had a super busy day digging out pits, excavating the street and articulating drains.
Grid 38 continues to move through Phase 20A in search of 20B which is proving to be quite elusive.
And for fun, I include a picture that I wanted to tweet but couldn't make happen... It was cool car day at the hotel yesterday.
Day Fourteen
Finally, a day off though many supervisors are spending the morning working as you can see in one of the pictures I've included. After eating breakfast, most of us will hide out in our rooms, go to the beach, or find a quiet cafe somewhere.
I'm also including a picture of the building and courtyard, with drain running through it, we've uncovered in Grid 44. We are busy uncovering a second building to the west and it looks as if we have a very interesting late period, probably Byzantine, Islamic or Crusader, occupational horizon with hints of even bigger things below. I can't wait to see what we uncover next week.
Speaking of next week, on Tuesday we will have a tour of all the grids so expect lots of pictures as we highlight everyone's work.
