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Want to read the New York Times exhibition review of 'Masters of Fire': Copper Age Art from Israel co-curated by excavation co-director Daniel Master? You can find it here. The exhibition runs at ISAW, New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, through June 8th.
There is great article out today on the Huffington Post about a new exhibit at ISAW (NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World) on the Copper Age. Excavation co-director Dr. Daniel Master was a co-curater of the exhibit and interviewed extensively for the article which you can find here. Take a look and learn about the creation of the "original 1%."
Hard to believe the start of the season is a little more than four months away. Volunteer numbers are running ahead of last year which is great. There's still time to submit an application so get yours in today! Join us this summer as we open several new areas in addition to moving ever closer to the 604 B.C.E. destruction of the city in Grid 51. It promises to be another fantastic season.
Speaking of Grid 51, today's picture is a stamped handle found in that grid. This handle, along with a second, tells an interesting story about a man taking over a business from the first proprietor -- maybe even a son taking over from his father.
One of the great things about archaeology, and there are many, is that you never know what you are going to find or when you'll find it. Case in point, the always infamous "last day of excavation." Archaeologists joke that the most amazing finds are always discovered in the last hours of the last day(s) of excavation thereby putting excavators under extreme pressure to "get it done." We had such a day in Grid 44, albeit on a minor scale, at the end of the 2013 field season which, as it turns out, was the last day of excavation in the grid which is now closed.
All summer long we had stared at the corner of a large building just extending into our excavation area. The majority of the building, of course, remained under the grass. All we could see of this building were two cemented walls forming a corner and a very small space contained within that corner. We decided to dig it. At the top, the space contained a large amount of ash and burned material from nails to cooking pots. Once we got below it, however, we seemed to encounter a large fill that kept going and going as did the walls. We were instructed to keep digging until we hit something. Why? Well, the remains of the building, though fragmentary and not well preserved at all, were indicative of the type of architecture we expected to find on the top of the South Tell. (It was, in other words, not like the residential buildings we actually found.) In the end, we didn't reach the bottom and we never discovered the function of the building. We did, however, start filling in one of the gaps in Ashkelon's history.
Missing from much of the archaeological record of ancient Ashkelon? The Roman period. The 1st- 3rd centuries CE more specifically. As we dug in our little corner, a corner that really didn't look like much, we started finding many large pieces of restorable Roman period pottery; 14 whole or nearly complete vessels to be exact. In addition, we had a number of small finds including the horse head you see above, thought to be part of the handle of a large vessel. It was a great discovery and as we spend more time studying the ceramics it is likely we will know a bit more about Ashkelon in the Roman period. And we owe it all to some last minute digging!
The nature of preservation at Ashkelon is such that it is rare to find expansive architectural material that is visually coherent. In other words, architecture about which people can look at and say, "Oh, I know exactly what that is." This pattern is due, in part, to various destruction events throughout the city's history as well as its use as a stone quarry for building projects both near and far. For those reasons, the street in Grid 51 is all that more impressive and, frankly, visually interesting. The picture above is looking roughly north-east at a sidewalk lined street on the far side of which an insula is clearly visible. Three doorways lead towards interior spaces. There are no plans to investigate that interior but there is still much work to be done in Grid 51 during the 2014 season. I, for one, can't wait to see what they uncover next.
It's been a busy offseason for the members of the Ashkelon staff from participating in the ASOR, SBL and AIA conferences to planning for the 2014 season.
At the ASOR conference, held in Baltimore this year, Dr. Kate Birney presented on Hellenistic Ashkelon, Dr. Ryan Boehm presented on the transition from Achaemenid to Hellenistic rule in western Asia Minor, Dr. Dana DePietro presented on Canaanite lamp and bowl deposits, Dr. Deirdre Fulton presented on feasting and former staff members Dr. Michael Press and Janling Fu also gave papers. In fact, the ASOR program was littered with scholars who have spent a season or two at Ashkelon or are in some way affiliated with the expedition.
At SBL, Dr. Daniel Master, co-director of the excavation, gave a talk entitled "Philistine Religion at Ashkelon."
At the AIA in Chicago, Shimi Ehrlich co-moderated a workshop on fieldwork and the processes involved in trying to work abroad and Janling Fu presented a talk on aspects of state formation in the Iron Age. Other staff members attended, in fact I've almost certainly left people of this recap of who presented on their research, and then they all got stuck in the Windy City a few extra days as Chicago was slammed by 10 inches of snow and record cold temperatures.
With the conferences out of the way, attention now turns towards planning for the 2014 field season which is shaping up to be particularly interesting with two new areas opening up. On the North Tell, Joshua Walton will be opening a step trench in an attempt to get a complete Bronze Age through Crusader, 12th c., sequence. And, near the city center I will be opening a new trench to look for one of Roman period Ashkelon's main streets: the cardo or the decumanus. As these two areas get going, everyone's attention will be on Grid 51, under the direction of Kate Birney, which is fast approaching 604 B.C.E. and what we hope will be more evidence for the destruction of the city by Nebuchadnezzar.
Cooking Pot restored in the offseason
Volunteer applications for the 2014 season are now available. Go the the "Join us" tab on this website to learn more.
Check back often. I'll start blogging more regularly now that planning for the 2014 season is under way.
Just wanted to bring everyone's attention to an interesting article about the site of Tel Hazor which some of you may have visited this summer while in Israel. You can find the article on CNN here.
Do you have a favorite picture from this summer, or even past summers, that you would like to share with the entire excavation? Something we haven't already seen? Send one in and we'll post it on the blog. We'll bring a little of the sun and fun of Ashkelon stateside as everyone heads back to school.
23 hours later most of the staff is back home. It was a fun staff week, lots of projects keeping everyone busy as we shut down the compound, cleaned up the lab, prioritized off-season projects and generally unwound from a really great season. And everyone I spoke with was in agreement, it was a great summer! Thanks to all of you who made the season wonderful, productive and exciting!
One last treat left to share. I have a guest post from Harvard Summer School student Emily. Enjoy! And don't forget to check the blog periodically. I'll keep posting news and sundries though with less regularity.
***
Hey, everyone! I’m Emily from the University of Oregon here in Ashkelon for my second season as a volunteer with the Leon Levy Expedition. Last season I came to the field to see if archaeology was a career that I wanted to pursue, and I immediately knew that I had to come back for more. It has been an interesting mix between new and familiar this season compared to last. I am involved in field archaeology with new people in a different grid, creating a whole new and unique experience. This season I’ve been in Grid 51 with Dr. Birney excavating a mid-late Persian neighborhood which has yielded some impressive finds. There always seems to be some degree of grid competition when it comes to who has moved the most dirt by the end of the season, and this year I think Grid 51 has won by a long shot.
I’ve had the privilege of staying for staff week after the season is over and the rest of the volunteers have left. It has been a dramatic shift from the digging side to the publishing side of field archaeology. Gone are the days of waking up at 4:30 in the morning and putting on partially clean clothes to go play in the dirt. No more wheelbarrow naps during fruit break and scrubbing pottery until your hands have turned into prunes. During staff week, everyone finishes up their bookwork from the season (things like logging artifacts into the computer program, drawing sections, entering data, taking inventory, etc.), sleeps in until 5:30, and eats breakfast at the hotel where we are served scrambled eggs and pastries every day. Loose ends have to be tied up before everyone can leave, and things have to be prepared for next season.
This year has been yet another great experience that I’m sad to see end. I’ve made some great new friends, learned more about myself and what being an archaeologist is all about, all while helping write the history of Ashkelon and the Middle East.
***
Day 42
It was yesterday, true, but as we all know the hotel Internet can be overwhelmed on Saturdays.
It was a quiet day with everyone working on the final reports and catching up on books. Fun stuff.
Today, we will finish closing up the compound and then head off to Jerusalem for a party hosted by the IAA. An easy day to ease us into the last week.
Day 42
Night is falling on a quiet day. Most supervisors spent today working on their paperwork. Tomorrow, we will finish closing down the compound and then head up to Jerusalem for an IAA party. A few more days of work and then we'll all be heading home.
Day 41
The final photos have been taken. The last few volunteers in the field are working to prep the grids for the winter. In the compound people are working on inventory, bones and registration.
Hard to believe the six weeks are over. Needless to say, for many of us it passed in the blink of an eye. For others, it undoubtedly felt much longer. We'll keep blogging through Wednesday so check back. And then make sure you drop in periodically during the offseason as we continue to update the blog with Ashkelon news. In the next few days we'll also try to do more of a season recap. For now, I leave you will a picture of each grid on the last day of the season. And, in the case of Grid 38, the last day of excavation as the grid, which opened in 1985, is closed for good.
Day 40
Grid 44 is in from the field. Grid 38 is in from the field. Grid 51 is finishing its sweeping. The pottery compound is busy with washing, marking, floating, sorting and all sorts of fun activities.
Yesterday we had our final tell tour (I'm including pictures from 38 and 51) followed by a BBQ in the park. It was a late night (by which I mean a 9:30 bedtime for many of us) but a lot of fun. Tonight we'll have our final, final party with special (meaning really funny) presentations recapping the season's work.
Photos at first light tomorrow and then everything will get put away before the volunteers head home. Crazy to think another season has almost come and gone. One week to go for the staff and then we'll really be all done.
Day 39
Today we have guest posts from Alex and Laura.
***
Shalom from Ashkelon, Israel! My name is Laura and I’m a rising sophomore at Harvard University. I haven’t decided what I’m going to major in and ventured here this summer in hope that getting some field experience would help me decide. I’ve always been fasciated by archeology and ancient civilizations and upon discovering this program, I knew I wanted to come. As with many of the other volunteers who have posted on this blog, I didn’t really have a clue what I was getting myself into. I thought small tools like dentists’ picks would be involved and we’d be finding fabulously glamorous relics and entire vessels. Little did I know I’d actually have calluses from pick axing by the end of the first week. And that I’d absolutely love it.
These past six weeks have brought me a greater appreciation of the field of archeology, the excavation process, and all the sweat that’s involved. I was placed in Grid 44, this season’s new excavation area, so I’ve been able to see the process from the very beginning. The first two weeks we pick axed our way through so much dirt, it seemed like we would never get to any architecture. But patience and optimism are a huge part of the field I’ve discovered. Our patience has paid off and this season we’ve made some incredible finds on the tell, such as a mosaic floor, some dog burials, a jasper scarab bead, and a series of drains that make up a larger water system. It’s also the small finds that, while they don’t seem as glamorous, are highly significant in shaping the greater picture of what life was like for people who inhabited the space hundreds, even thousands of years ago. A single shard of pottery can date the construction of a wall and completely change the interpretation of a building. It’s actually happened in our grid a few times.
This season has been incredible and while I haven’t definitively decided on archeology as a major, I’ve definitely enjoyed my time spent here. I’ve become so invested and attached to my grid. I’ve come to love sweeping it and defining the architecture, even feeling wiped at the end of the day only to wake up at four thirty to do it all over again the next day. So I guess this summer wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be, I didn’t see a single dentists’ pick all summer and most days I’d reach up to rub sweat from my face only to smear it with a layer of dirt. But despite these things, and maybe even because of them, it was so much better than anything I could have expected and I’ve loved every second.
***
Hello. My name is Alexandra. I am a second year graduate student studying under the tutelage of Dr. Heather Walsh-Haney at Florida Gulf Coast University. I am working towards obtaining a Masters in Criminal Forensic Studies with a concentration in Human Identification and Trauma Analysis. I came to Ashkelon with little archaeological experience outside of a few classes I took throughout my academic career, but I had not yet experienced something to this magnitude.
I did not know what to expect upon arrival. I came here thinking this would be a little bit more similar to the tourist Dig for a Day activity I participated in at other sites. Boy, was I wrong! By the end of day one working in Grid 51, I was completely worn out and the sweatiest I have ever been. The following day, tired and sore, I went over to Grid 44. We had to wait until they finished digging with the backhoe before we could start working in our assigned area. From there, we hit the ground running and haven't looked back! Architecture has been popping up since our first week in the grid. Five and a half weeks later, we have uncovered a mosaic floor, a vat that has possibly been used for wine production, complete oil lamps, bone dolls made from animal bones, and many drains. All of these drains in conjunction with the amount of ceramic slag and burnt pottery we have uncovered is painting a picture of our area being the location of an Islamic workshop area that was producing worked bone and ceramics. We may even have a kiln located in the area outside of our 10mx10m grid! Hopefully we will be able to expand this area next season.
Over the past five and a half weeks, not only have a made new friends and learned about archaeological methods, but I have put them into practice and gained respect for those who currently have and are pursuing archeology as a career. Field archeology is hard work! It is physically strenuous and involves extreme dedication and precision in some areas, but the hard manual labor makes the joys of uncovering artifacts even more rewarding. I have caught archeology fever! I am now looking for ways to tweek my current study to focus more on an archaeological aspect the to the forensic anthropology world. I will be back here next season! It is a wonderful feeling to experience something and realize it is about to change your entire world. I can truly see myself working in this field. Who doesn't want to have a little fun and get a little dirty for part of a career!?
Day 38
It's not over yet! What a fabulous day in the field.
Grid 44 finished excavating today. Tomorrow we will start cleaning in preparation for final photos on Friday. Our dump was visited by the expedition today as we looked for a good place in which to take our group photo. I'm going to include a picture of us milling around for everyone to see and enjoy. See if you can find a familiar face.
Grid 51 is dropping their baulks and the street looks fabulous. I think they are finishing off a few floors and then they'll be in the compound helping with inventory.
Great things happening in Grid 38 where they are finding lots of wonderful things: a complete ivory Pyxis, an ivory "wand" (it looks like a long needle/pin but we'll see what the specialists say) and a piece of jewelry. Everything is from the Late Bronze Age. One thing is for sure, 38 is planning on going out in style.
Day 37
Remember that really amazing street I mentioned in Grid 51? Thanks to Melissa I have a great picture of it today. Later in the week I might even have one with the baulk taken down.
The noon shift has started in Grid 38. I'll follow up with them soon to see how it is going.
In Grid 44 we have uncovered a vat -- larger than a basin but not as big as a pool -- of unknown purpose. What we do know is that it was later put out of use by the construction of a mosaic floor. We also continue to find more sewers/drains. They are seemingly everywhere!
Summer school students are off on a field trip this afternoon. Everyone else, myself included, will be in the pottery compound working furiously to process pottery and get things ready for the end of the season. The fun continues!
Day 36
We had some Internet trouble yesterday. My apologies. We have officially started the last week. It's hard to believe time has flown by so quickly. Lots of exciting things to report.
In Grid 44 work is winding down. We have removed most of the latest architecture which belongs to the Fatimid/Crusader period and are now working to more fully expose the Byzantine period building which lies underneath. We keep finding fragments of the building's mosaic floor and can now see that the building is much larger than we first thought.
Grid 51 is AMAZING with its street, sidewalk and insula wall with three doorways leading into the interior of that building. It is really a sight to see and I hope to have pictures on Wednesday after it is all cleaned up. They are finishing some floors, drawing sections and preparing for the end of the season.
Not so much in Grid 38 where they are gearing up for doubles starting tomorrow. That means the supervisors, Josh, Wylie, and Joel, will be working 5:00 am - 6:00 pm as they run two shifts of volunteers. Crazy good times! Why you ask? The earliest Philistines, Phase 20B, have arrived with a vengeance and there is quite a lot of work to finish before the end of the season.
Get easy! It's going to be a crazy week!
The pictures today are from Grids 38 and 51.
Day 35
No special posts today which, I suppose, might be a disappointment. I've been very impressed with the quality of the guest posts we have been sharing this season.
It is the last full Saturday for most of the group. Yesterday the grid supervisors walked the tell with co-director Daniel Master and planned the strategy for the last full week of excavation which promises to be jam packed with work and maybe even a new project or two.
As always, the Finds Display was a great celebration out by the pool. Some of our favorite Middle Eastern foods -- pita and hummus, falafel, shwarma, and Moroccan cigars-- were served. There was a fabulous dessert spread and a pleasantly cool evening during which we could enjoy it all.
The night actually began with a fabulous lecture by Harvard professor Michael McCormick who used archaeology, history and genetics to explore a variety of subjects in different historical periods. It was a fascinating lecture full of interesting possibilities.
For the staff, it is a work day as we make sure the books are updated, phase plans are planned, reports are started and baulks are prepared for drawing. At least we get to do it in the comfort of our rooms, with background music provided by the pool or Magic Land, with a good cup of coffee close at hand.
Day 34
Today we have a guest post from Harvard Summer School student Christian. Enjoy!
***
My name is Christian and I am part of the Harvard Summer School program in Ashkelon. I am a rising junior studying business at Boston College in the Carroll School of Management with minors in French and International Studies. It might be a little confusing to you why a student of business would travel halfway around the world to be involved in an archeology dig but I assure you there is a reason. I am about to start a minor at Boston College in International Studies with a concentration in the Middle East and North Africa. This region entices me in way that I cannot yet fully explain. I always find myself reading, watching, or talking about this region via ancient texts, news, or just everyday conversation. In order to get a basis of this region I know that I must learn the history, and wow what an amazing history this region has.
I didn’t have any experience in archeology before this expedition and I thought I had an idea of what I was getting myself into. My presumptions were wrong, but in a good way. I thought archeology was a little more laid back, slower process using small tools to articulate ancient surfaces and treasure. This is of course true at times, but this careful process of articulating fragile items that are thousands of years old is supplemented with a fast paced analysis of architecture and excavation of countless potsherds mixed in floor material. If you are wondering what this means, lets just say if you went through a full session of excavation you would fall asleep on the one minute bus ride back to the hotel. It is my fifth week here digging in Grid 51 (square 75). For those of you not familiar with this, it is a street in the middle of the city used throughout multiple time periods. Currently, we are nearing the end of phase 7 dating back to the fifth century BCE during the early Persian period, or in other words we have moved a ton of dirt. Fortunately this year, we have come up with some extraordinary finds ranging from a lion head hilt carved in ivory, dog burials, a jasper scarab, endless amounts of pottery, sheep/goat bones, a rams’ horn, and plenty of architecture. It is hard to describe the relief and joy of these finds, but once you realize what archeologist go through to bring history’s mysteries to life, you will understand.
I have grown so much respect for the field of archaeology. Although I am not sure if archeology will be the field I study for the rest of my life (not counting it out, I will let my curiosity lead me), it will definitely be a part of it. Archaeology has opened my eyes to a diverse history that affects modern times. It is my view, probably many others’ as well, that in order to understand the present, the past can tell you a story. Waking up a 4:30 am might sound crazy, and it still does to me, but this has been an experience of a lifetime. The only way we will learn more about our past is through dedication and time. This dig has allowed me to see another side of history, history that many just read in textbooks, look at pictures, or just talk about. Ancient civilizations literally come before your eyes. Most people learn history through books, archeologists put themselves in history’s shoes and live it.
Day 33
Today we have a special blog post from Harvard Summer School student Jeff. Enjoy!
***
I can still remember the second day of the dig and seeing the birth of Grid 44. I stood with Tracy and watched as the bulldozer began to screech across stone, and I could almost sense the excitement in the air. Tracy explained to me that the expedition had been trying to gain access to this sight for years and, only recently gained permission. Looking around I saw the breath taking, waterfront view and camping locations all around me. This location had a special feel to it. I closed my eyes and the sea breeze took me back through the centuries and I could feel the energy of this space. I was about to peel back the pages of time and come face to face with the cultures that called this grid home.
It would be an understatement to say that grid 44 has been a productive location in just a short five weeks. Massive architecture crowds the entire grid and the artifact finds have been numerous and quality. I’ll focus in on a few things that I have worked on during the dig to help paint a picture of just what this sought after soil has to offer, though I wish could cover it all. One of my main projects I have been working on is a large drainage pit in the north west portion of the grid. This pit lies at the low point of a huge water installation that characterizes our grid. This installation was only discovered after articulating and removing a layer of rubble fill that covered almost all of the grid after the agricultural layer of soil (lets just say the wheel barrow and pick ax became good friends of mine). From the north an open air drain flows south towards the pit. From the south a covered drain flows north towards the pit with a stone line basin at its high point, and a crusader cross carved into the stone. From the east yet another open air drain flows towards this low lying pit. With all of this attention on this point, I chose to investigate the pit and “dive in”...literally I would find out. I followed a stone lining of pit down to a depth of almost six feet. It was a lonely, dark place but exciting at the same time. After days in the pit I found myself almost understanding the language of mosquitoes as they discussed how they would attack me. At its clay bottom I discovered an extension/tunnel leading off to the north, exactly under one of the open air drains on the surface. I discovered bone and pottery ranging from the Roman period all the way to the crusader age. The pits discovery in conjunction with large amounts of slag found in the grid leads us to believe that the water installation might be used for industrial pottery production. While it was damp and dark, I must say I will never forget my pit and my mosquito brethren who got me through the long dig days.
Secondly, our digging has amazingly helped us to uncover the possibly purpose of most of grid 44. We have, as I stated before, discovered a lot of pottery slag and mis-fired pottery. There have also been many discoveries of isolated burning spots. When pieced together with the idea of a huge water installation, the finds point to pottery production. We hope to find a large kiln with future excavation. Worked bone has been the other find that has popped up across the grid. Everything from bone combs to bone dolls (looks like a pre cursor to Gumby) have been found. Worked bone was one of the local industries of Ashkelon and we think we have discovered a workshop of some sort. Both of these attributes leads us to believe we have found a work shop area in grid 44.
Looking back on the last five weeks truly amazes me. I look at the balks and the massive grid 44 mountain of dirt outside the fence and stand in awe of the what we have accomplished. From soil, to rubble fill, to actual architecture; the journey was long (especially when you start at 5 AM) but well worth it. I can only hope that the work that we did this year ensures many more years of digging in this beautiful location. There is a reason why so many campers and picnickers flock to this location. Who doesn’t love the sea view and ocean breezes, however just below the soil lies a truly amazing story waiting to be uncovered. So to next years diggers: bring your pick axes, trowels, gufas, and of course your almighty brushes and delve deeper into what Grid 44 has to offer.
Day 32
Check out the article on our excavation and the city of Ashkelon in Haaretz's English edition yesterday. You just need to search "Ashkelon" and "Haaretz" and it should appear near the top of the results list.
A bit thank you to Josh and Wylie who made pancakes for everyone this morning. It was a tasty way to start the day!
It was another great day of digging. I need to get updates from the other grids but in Grid 44 today we began dismantling the Phase 1 architecture in Square 2. I include a picture of it before we got started.
