Mosaic Floor

I'm on a field trip for the next few days! I am north of Ashkelon visiting different archaeological sites. Today I was in Caesarea and saw this beautiful mosaic floor. Check it out:

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you find mosaics in your community? Are they floors? walls? public art? Take a picture and send them to me at nmoos@cps.edu

Question of the Day (actually, today there are 2 questions!)

Why do you think we have not found floors like this in Ashkelon? and Using what you have learned about why people decorate objects with different pictures, why do you think the floors here include pictures of people and animals?

Update

on 2012-07-15 13:43 by Nichole Moos

Hi Smart Class!

I am back in Ashkelon now. I went to north Israel for 3 days last week and south Israel for 2 days, and the temperature was about 95-100 degrees each day. Today is the hottest day it has been in Israel all year; it's over 100 degrees. I heard it has been really hot in Chicago, just like it is here!  

I drove to the towns I visited on my field trip. The places I visited were: Nazareth, Tiberias, Ban'ias, Capernaum, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and Ein Gedi. I learned LOTS and have many things to share with you.

I talked with Ms. Tracy about the mosaic floors I saw in Caesarea and she said the fancy name for what they are made of is tessera. Tessera can be marble, glass, stone, or ceramic. So, the floors I saw were made of all of those different materials. What were the mosaics you found made of?

Negev Desert

Saturday's are our rest day here in Ashkelon.  Instead of resting yesterday, I went on a hike with some of the archaeologists in the Negev Desert. I thought it would be really hot, but it was actually breezy, so it was not too bad to walk in.  Remember, a desert is a place that does not get a lot of rain. While walking the desert we found a really old place where people use to live. We call the time they lived the Neolithic time or the stone age. The time that you live is called modern time. During the stone age people used stones and rocks for their tools. At Ashkelon, we don't have stone age items. We have items that came after the stone age, when people started using metal for items (remember the neat jewelry archaeologist Adam taught us about). Dana and David thought you might like seeing a video of how people lived during the Stone Age, and wanted to show you some of the neat things that they found.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you find things in your home used to grind, mix and prepare food? Are they made of stone? Can you find things in your house that are made of stone or could have been used in the Stone Age? Take a picture and send it to me at nmoos@cps.edu and I will post it on the blog.

Question of the Day

Most of our tools in modern time are not made of stone. Why do you think we don't use stone tools anymore?

Post your wonders, questions, and ideas in the comments section. I can't wait to share them with Dana and David!

Waffle Day

Today was Waffle Day! We actually made waffles right next to where we dig. It was quite fun, and a very special day. Our friend, Sam, brought a waffle maker from the United States to Israel for us to use. How cool is that! Here is the staff enjoying their waffles.

waffle day.jpg

This is a video I have been saving since I got here, but thought today might be a great day to talk about teeth we find. We find all kinds of teeth animal and human!  Here Alethia tells you about a tooth we found here in Ashkelon.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

We use different teeth for chewing different items. Can you find something that you use your back teeth for? How about our front teeth? What is something you need to use your pointy teeth to eat? Post what you find in the comments section!

Question of the Day

Why are human and animal teeth shaped differently?

Update

on 2012-07-08 15:56 by Nichole Moos

Right on Iris! We use different teeth to eat soft and hard foods. Some of our teeth grind, while others rip and tear.  The same is true with animals, some animals eat only meat and need sharp ripping/tearing teeth.  This animal, the sheep goat, needs grinding teeth because it eats mainly grass.  Today Ms. Tracy found a LION'S tooth!! How exciting is that!? I am going to visit the bone expert tomorrow to talk about it. Why do you think I visit the bone expert to talk about teeth?

Finds Display!

Last night was the finds display. During this special event the archaeologists from Ashkelon share all of their best finds! At the finds display geologist Dave was excited to see the alabaster jug we found. Alabaster is a type of rock, so as the rock expert he really wanted to teach you all about it.  

I was thrilled to see some of the things I helped find on the table.  Here is a video of all the neat things I helped to find. (Archaeologist Mark was acting silly when we made this, so be sure to look for him!)

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you find things in your home that come in bottles? Are they in the same sorts of the bottles as this? What types of things come in bottles like the one we found? Take pictures of different bottles you find that you think have an interesting shape and e-mail them to me at nmoos@cps.edu.

Question of the Day

Why do you think the bottle is made of rock? Do you have any rock bottles at your house?

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT

Geologist Dave thought you all might like to see how alabaster is made, but instead of making a rock bottle you get to make rock candy! Here is a link for you to visit with your parents with directions on how to make rock candy. ROCK CANDY RECIPE Make sure to take pictures and e-mail them to me!

I am looking forward to seeing your photos and geologist Dave cannot wait to hear about the bottles in your house. Remember to post wonders, questions, and ideas in the comments section.

Update

on 2012-07-08 16:02 by Nichole Moos

Thanks for the great photo Nathan! I will post it on the blog later today.  How cool is it that things we are finding here you have at home?! Good work hunting for different types of bottles at your house. We don't find any plastic bottles here, but on Friday we did find some different colored glass (blue and green). The pieces were teeny tiny, and we are not quite sure what they are from.  We know they are not from a bottle, though! As for the temperature it is about 95 degrees every day. 102 is SUPER hot for Chicago. Make sure you wear sunscreen and drink lots of water, that's what we do to stay safe in the hot weather here.  

Snail Floor!

Today when excavating the condo Jessica, a dig volunteer, found something strange on her floor.  Check this out!

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Look for snails in your community. Where do you find them? Are there any in your house?! 

Question of the Day

Jessica said that we have never found snails in a group like this before. Why do you think that on this floor there were so many snails in one place? 

Thanks for all of your great comments on the last 2 posts! We have enjoyed reading them.  Tonight is an important night for the dig, we are having the finds display. The finds display is when we put everything we have found out, eat yummy food, and talk with important people for the dig like the mayor of Ashkelon and the woman who makes sure we have money to dig. What a special night for us!

What am I?

Today while digging I found something very curious. Watch the video and let me know what you think I found.  

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

What do you think this was used for?

Question of the Day

Is there anything in your house that looks like what I found?

Post your answers, wonders, and questions in the comments section. The archaeologists can't wait to hear what you think!

Update

on 2012-07-05 14:33 by Nichole Moos

Great ideas regarding what this little figure is. The interesting thing about this piece is that no other piece like it has been found ever! This is neat because it is something new for everyone, but also a little troublesome because there is nothing to compare it to. Most of the archaeologists agree that it is probably a piece to a game, but we might never know what it is.  How cool is that!  

What's on your floor?

Hi friends! Today in Grid 51 we found a super cool floor. Archaeologist Dana wanted to share it with you.  Enjoy!

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Dana wants to know what is on the floor at your house. Is it the same or different from the floor we found? What room in your house has the most interesting stuff on the floor? 

Question of the Day

What room of the condo do you think this floor is? Why do you think that?

Update

on 2012-07-05 14:22 by Nichole Moos

Great ideas for where the floor is in the condo. We are still collecting materials from the floor, but it looks like it was for sure a space where people walked and lived.  The white bottle on the floor likes a modern milk bottle, but I think you will be surprised when you hear what it is. Check out geologist Dave's video on it today! (Hint: Geologist Dave is a rock expert so it has to have something to do with rocks...)

Important Pieces from Pottery

Last week for a Junior Archaeology Assignment, you all looked at important parts of cups, bowls, and pots in your home. Today I have a super cool video from archaeologist Kate (she is the boss of where I work each day!). She is going to tell you all about how we know what pieces of pottery we find are important and how she can use those pieces to decide if it was from a bowl, cup, or pot.

Junior Archaeology Assignment

Okay friends! Kate wants to know if you can find things in your house with handles, bases, rims that curl out, and bumps on the side. Can you find things in your house that are painted?

Question of day

Were you able to choose the important pieces of pottery from the video? How did you know they were important?

Ashkelon Volunteers

Tomorrow is the last day for the volunteers who are at Ashkelon for 3 weeks of digging. One of the families that volunteered to come to Ashkelon this season is the Felker family. Here is a video about why they came to Ashkelon.

Junior Archaeologist Activity

If your family were to come on a trip to Ashkelon what sorts of things do you think you would have to pack? Make a list and share it with me in the comments section.

Question of the Day

Do you think your family would like to come to Ashkelon? What would like most about coming to the excavation?

Post your wonders, questions, and answers in the comments section!

Update

on 2012-07-06 13:17 by Nichole Moos

Great list Claire! I brought all of those things...heart Ms. Nichole!

Hi Brandon!  We do lots of exploring and finding things and we get REALLY dirty!  I think your list is right on. When we are digging we drink almost a gallon of water a day.  It's a lot!

I have been to the beach Oliver! I will make sure to do a video the next time we go. It is really close to where we dig:)

Jewelry

In my first post I asked you all what you thought we might find in Ashkelon, and Nina said jewelry! Her idea made me curious if jewelry had been found at Ashkelon.  I went to the metal expert on the dig, archaeologist Adam.  He was able to find lots of things to show you! Check out this video to learn about some of the jewelry here at Ashkelon.

Junior Archaeologist Activity

Archaeologist Adam wants to know about the jewelry you find at your house. Ask your parents if you can look at some of their jewelry. Can you sort the things you find by color? shape? type? Does any of the jewelry look like the what Adam had in the video? Take a picture of your favorite piece or a piece that looks like what was in the video and tell me why you love it. I will post your replies to the blog on Saturday!

Question of the Day

Adam showed 2 pieces of jewelry that he said were silver, but they are very dark. Why do you think the silver jewelry wasn't shiny?

Post your wonders, questions, and thoughts for Adam or me in the comments section. If you want us to make a video about something here in Ashkelon for you just let me know; these archaeologists love making videos!

Update

on 2012-06-29 09:36 by Nichole Moos

Hi Friends!

Thanks for watching Adam's video. You are right about the jewelry, it is dirty! The science word for it is tarnished. Silver that gets dirty like that is called tarnished. Can you find any tarnished jewelry in your parents jewelry box?

Charlie! It's tricky to find someone to hold the video camera so I have to hold it and video all of the archaeologist. Holding the camera also makes it so I can show you all the special stuff.  I would love for you to visit me! :) Have fun digging in your new yard!!

Nathan, we loved the picture and we will be posting it on Saturday!

Smart Class-

We have found lots of jewelry like the pieces that you saw. The ones in the video were Adam's favorites. We find lots and lots of beads in all different colors and shapes.  My favorite piece was the gold ring, I even got to put it on the end of my finger. It was very fancy. I like the gold ring because it had me wondering about what use to be on the top of it.

Oliver! I think you have to wait a few years to get those ears pierced:) We are all LOVING being outside in the summer. It is really hot here and very sunny so we have to all wear lots of sunscreen. We are outside 10 hours a day every day and have to drink lots of water and wear hats so we don't get sick.

Bones

Today as an archaeologist was digging he found bones! Check out the video to see the type of bones he found.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Alright friends, archaeologists Dana and Alethia want you to find bones in the food you eat at home.  Ask your mom/dad to make you a meal (or even better, help them make a meal!) that has food with bones.  As you are eating see if you can feel the bone? Can you see the bone as you eat?  What part of the animal's body does the bone support? Can you find the same bone on your body?  Send a picture of your bones to me at nmoos@cps.edu and I will pass them on to Dana and Alethia so they can take a close look at them for you.

Question of the Day

What other sorts of bones do you think we will find in Ashkelon? Post your thoughts in the comments section.

Is there a part of the dig you want me to explore? Do you want me to make a video about something in Ashkelon for you? Do you want me to ask an archaeologist a question for you? Remember to post your questions in the comments section! I love making videos for you all!

Update

on 2012-06-26 13:45 by Nichole Moos

Hi Henry and Annabel!

Thanks for watching the bone video and for thinking about the bones in your food. Henry, yes we will make a video of chicken bones if we find any, and I bet I can get one of the bone archaeolgists to make a bone video for you of all the different bones we find. Did you know that we have the bones of over 1500 dogs at Ashkelon!? 

Annabel, I will let Robyn and Jon know that you want a video on more Roman stuff. Robyn is the Roman pottery expert, and I know they would both love to make you a video.  

Update

on 2012-06-29 09:25 by Nichole Moos

Hi Nathan!

My name is Alethia. I am the bone expert here at Ashkelon. Ms. Nichole showed me your bone picture. Wow, what a great find! I have to look at one of my bone books to decide what type of bone it is. I will have Ms. Nichole e-mail you when I do. Thanks for the great question on storing bones. Keeping bones safely is a tricky task.  The bones need to be totally dry so they don't grow mold. If you want to keep the bone, I suggest leaving it in the sun but be careful another animal doesn't come steal it.  When the bone is totally dry you will be able to see that it is white and feels really dry.  After that the bone can be played with.  Remember, don't put the bone in your mouth because you can get sick! 

Bone is 80% mineral (like calcium) and 20% living material.  The inside of the bone has lots of nutrients when it is alive. When the bone is dead you will see lots of lines and cracks.  That is because the living stuff in the bone dries out and leaves the mineral parts of the bone. 

I will work on a seashore video. I went to the seashore last weekend and found sea glass!! I will make sure to show it to you when I get back. Aaron and I collected sea glass too!

Hi Smart Class!

You are right on with the sorts of bones we are finding. The only ones we have not found are dinosaur, bear, ducks, and deer bones. We find LOTS of donkey, sheep, pig, and goat bones, though!

Taking Down Walls

Today we were back at Grid 51, but instead of finding pots, cups, and other special things, we took down several walls!  Something interesting about where we are digging is that sometime people built things on top of other things. I said earlier that we were digging up a condo building, but after people moved out of the condo building other people came and built a new building using the walls of the condo building.  We get to take those walls down because we just want to see the condo build walls.  Here is a video of geologist (a rock expert!) Dave taking the wall down.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment"

Today I want you to practice putting new walls on top of old walls. Here's what you can do: build a building with blocks.  Then, without taking the building apart, use one of the walls from that building and make another building! When you are done you should have 2 buildings and they both should have 1 wall that is the same. Tricky assignment, I know, but you can do it! Make sure to send geologist Dave a picture.

Question of the day:

Why do you think it was so easy for Dave to move the big stones off of the wall? Have you ever tried to move big stones from a wall? Was it easy or difficult?

Post your answer, thoughts, questions, or wonders in the comments section and I will be sure to read them and write you back.  

Update

on 2012-06-26 13:43 by Nichole Moos

Hi Friends! It's archaeologist Dave. Thank you so much for all of your comments. You are all right, I am a lot stronger with the pickaxe.  In fact, I took down another wall today with it! I really enjoyed making the video for you and wanted to know if there was anything else you wanted to know about the dig, in particular rocks.  I saw that Ms. Nichole told you I am a geologist (a rock expert), and I love sharing rocks with you all. Did you know that I started collecting and looking at rocks when I was in preschool!  I even dug a moat (what you see water in around a castle) around the sandbox at my preschool when I was 5.  I really love rocks and digging!  Ms. Nichole didn't tell you, but she found and broke open a geode (a rock with pretty crystals inside) yesterday. I was very excited for her, and it was really neat to look at.  I would love to answer any of your rock questions and help you figure out the names of the rocks you find. You can post your questions in the comments section on the website and e-mail pictures to Ms. Nichole at nmoos@cps.edu.  Rocks rock

DSCN3248.JPG

Ms. Nichole's geode! It's super cool...

Junior Archaeology Assignments!

***This was yesterday's post, but internet at the hotel was a little spotty, and I couldn't get the photos to load.  So today you get 2 posts! Woot!***

Saturday is our day off here in Ashkelon.  Today I bought some goggles and spent some time swimming in the Mediterranean Sea looking at old Roman columns and walls underwater!  It was super cool.  

I've decided that on Saturday's I will post the photos of your junior archaeology (JA) assignments.  Here are the one's I received this week. If you did a JA Assignment this week and didn't send me a photo please do so I can share your awesome work!

Annabel Water Park.JPG

A stair case, slide, and pool built by one of our Junior Archaeologists! 

Oil Lamp.JPG

After seeing the Roman oil lamp video, Annabel sent us this picture of her Roman oil lamp. Looks great Annabel!

Sorting and sorting and sorting!

Today was an interesting day in Ashkelon. Instead of going to Grid 51 to dig, everyone here went to a place called the pottery compound. This is where everything that is found in the grids (pottery, beads, bones) comes. We wash it and then sort it. Today was a big sorting day. Most of the pottery we find here is broken. So we have lots of little pottery pieces, kind of like a puzzle.  I sort important parts of pottery from less important parts. An important part of pottery is a piece that can be used to tell what the object was before it was broken. I'm not going to tell you what I sorted right now, but I will tomorrow!

Several days ago I posted a video about a lamp we found in Grid 51. Annabel wrote back to me wondering if it was a Roman lamp.  It wasn't, but we do have Roman lamps here in Ashkelon!  So, just for you Annabel (but all my other friends enjoy it too!), a video on Roman oil lamps!

Junior Archaeologist Assignment:

Okay friends, archaeologists Robyn and Jon want to know what you would put on an oil lamp. Remember, designs can be about the place you live, a favorite story, or something that is pretty to look at.  Once you are finished you can take a picture and send it to me at nmoos@cps.edu. I will post it on the blog!

Question of the day:

Look at a 3 different bowls and pots in your house. What do you think the important parts of the bowls and pots are? If the bowls and pots were to break, what about the bowl or pot would help you to know that they were bowls and not cups? 

I look forward to reading your all you have to say.  Remember to post any questions or wonders in the comments section and I can make a video just for you, too!

Update

on 2012-06-26 14:15 by Nichole Moos

Hi Annabel, Iris, Nina and Ms. Kerrie!

Thanks for watching the Roman Lamp video. Jon and Robyn had a great time making it for you. You are all right we look at handles, rims or tops of the bowl/cup, bottoms of pottery, and color/painting on the pottery to determine what kind of object it is.  What you looked for and the differences you noticed were just what archaeologists look for.  Great thinking! We have found lots of pieces of bowls, cups, and pots. 2 of the archaeologists, Kate and Mark, are working on finding bowls, pots, and cups to make a video for you tomorrow about how they can look at pieces of the pottery and know what it is.  

Ms. Kerrie the archaeologists are mostly 23-42. Most are studying archaeology, biblical history, or geology.  All the archaeologists are either working on their master's degrees of PhDs.  They are a super smart bunch! 

And the floor is...

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:)

Tracing Floor

Check out what happened while I was digging today! 

 

 Junior Archaeologist Assignment:

When we are tracing the floor we look for clues, like the white rocks going in a certain direction, to decide what direction we should go.  It's like doing a puzzle. It's important for us to know when the floor stops or bumps into a wall because that is how we know how big a room is.   Your assignment is to take a close look at the floor in your bedroom, is there a pattern on the floor? Can you tell when the floor in your room stops and new floor or a wall begins?  Is the floor in your room the same/different as the floor in the hallway?

Question of the Day:

What do you think the floor I found is made of? wood? carpet? 

At the end of the day today the archaeologist who look at what floors are made of took pieces of the floor to look at to decide what the floor is made of.  I wonder if your answer will be the same as theirs?!

Remember to post what you find about your floors at home and your answer to the question in the comments section.  Also, if you have any other questions or want me to explore something special post that in the comments section, too!