Yesterday I asked you all what you thought the floor I found was made of.
To answer this question we had to give small pieces of the floor to the microarchaeologists. A microarchaeologist looks at teeny, tiny pieces of history like dirt and flecks of paint. They work in a laboratory and use microscopes and special machines and computers to tell them what small pieces of things are. Here Michael and Bridget, the microarchaeologists on this dig, tell us what the floor I found is made of.
Most of you said that it was stone or dirt and you are right too! There is stone and dirt under and around the floor, but the white stuff was plaster.
Yesterday the Smart Class asked me several questions. Here are some answers!
What does it look like there?, Did you find the wall?, What did it look like?
Great questions! Here is a video that shows what it looks like in and around the area I am digging. At the end of the video I show you the wall we were looking for and the spot where I found the floor.
When are you coming back?
I will leave Israel in 5 weeks, how many days is that? It is so far away that it will take me 12 hours of flying to get back to Chicago from Israel!
Junior Archaeologist Assignment:
In the video you saw the volunteers taking the old stairs down so that we could build a new set of stairs to climb in and out of the place where we dig. I had never built a set of stairs before today. Can you build a set of stairs out of something you have in your home? It could be lego stairs or stairs made out of sand in a sandbox, really whatever you can find at home. Make sure that mom and dad say is okay to use whatever you choose to build your small set of stairs. Take a photo and send it to me at nmoos@cps.edu, and I will post it on the blog.
Question of the day:
What other sorts of things do you think a microarchaeologist might need to look at?
Post of your answers, questions, and thoughts in the comments section. I am loving all of the wonders, questions, and responses. You sure are making my trip very meaningful.
Update
on 2012-06-22 13:20 by Nichole Moos
Hi Friends!
Thanks for your great ideas about what microarchaeologists look at. I am working on making another video of them in their lab to show you how they do their job with the microscope and the computer. I will also check with them on the beads. Smart Class, I had not thought about them looking at fabric, I think you may be on to something. Annabel, we are doing a video on toys children play with for next week. I will check and see on the cars.
Smart Class:
There is not a rough on the building we are working on. We do have shade clothes over our heads though. It is REALLY hot here and the shade clothes make it so the area we work in does not get as hot. While you did see trees in the video I made, there are not a lot of big shade making trees by Grid 51 so we have to make our own shade.
Miss Kerrie:
I will do a day in the life of Dr. Hoffman video for you. I think you will be surprised as to what she does each day! (Hint: She and I don't do the same things all the time!)
Thanks for all your great thoughts! Have a super weekend:)