MY DAY ON TEL AKKO听
Megan Ashbrook, 2017 Platt Excavation Fellowship Recipient
4:45am: Wakeup and 1st breakfast
Well, sometimes I get up later 鈥 it鈥檚 hard to get out of bed before sunrise in Israel. But I always have to get a little something to eat before working on the tel. My favorite is a plum and bread with peanut butter on it. Then it鈥檚 off to excavations with the rest of the Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project.
5:40am: Arrive at Tel Akko
The first thing we all do in the morning is grab our supplies and sweep the park path around the dig site. Our supplies include black buckets for dirt, colored buckets for pottery and small finds, a brush, a trowel, and a patiche. A patiche is almost like a smaller, thinner hammer. This isn鈥檛 the most fun part of the day, but I find it gives me some time to wake up before excavation.
5:40-8:30am: Excavation
In the morning, we give our square a general sweep to collect all the loose dirt that blew in overnight. Then we get our plan of the day鈥檚 dig from our square supervisor. Then finally we start digging! Mostly, I have been excavating around tabuns (Arabic word for oven) until they are floating and then removing the tabuns. There were four tabuns in my square at the beginning of the season and we are working to remove them all this season.
2017 Tell Akko group
Throughout the day, the tel is filled with music, talking, and conversations. Our excavation has such a great atmosphere and I love it. One professor always goes around and asks everyone, 鈥淲hen was the last time you drank water?鈥 It’s a helpful reminder to stay hydrated in the hot 80-90 degree weather.
Questions and conversations are all around the tel. I have learned to embrace asking questions, every single one. I want to soak up all the knowledge I can while I鈥檓 on this excavation. There are people on the dig with their special interests/expertise like metallurgy, lithic tools, Munsell Charts, or ceramics. My interest is in ceramics, though I don鈥檛 know the chronology of pottery on the tel very well. I feel really honored, since it is only my first excavation, when someone brings a ceramic sherd or item over for me to look at.
8:30am: Tel Breakfast, also known as 2nd Breakfast
9:00-11:30am: Excavation
After breakfast we all reluctantly get up from the tables and get back to work. Sitting and relaxing for a while makes it hard to get back to work. I usually pick up where I left off before breakfast. For example, if I was trimming a baulk before tel breakfast, I would go back to doing that. A baulk is the half meter section of dirt left on each side of a square. Baulks are helpful to see the stratigraphy of the square. When trimming it, the idea is to make the baulk straight and at a right angle with the floor of the square. Plus it makes the square look clean and nice.
The best part of my day is excavating. Excavation includes so many parts I didn’t know before coming to Tel Akko, like trimming baulks. I also have learned how to use a dumpy level to take elevation points in our square. I find it easy to use and a nice change from digging all day. We take elevations when something significant or special is found, like a unique artifact. In my square, it鈥檚 usually a slag cake. Also, elevations are taken at the end of each day not only in my square but every square being excavated at the site. Taking end of the day elevations tells us exactly how far down we excavated that day.
Sherd found on site
I have learned how to identify so many things from digging the past three weeks like bone, vitrified earth, and tabun pieces (which look like really thick clay). This really helps when sifting all the dirt that is pulled out of my square (another skill I have learned). It’s a great feeling when I ask my square supervisor to double check my identification and I got it right!
11:30am-12:00pm: Cleaning and Closing the Square for the Day
Just like at the beginning of the day, we do a general clean sweep of the square to get all the dirt we kicked up throughout excavation. Then I usually help my square supervisor check all our finds for the proper tags and fill out end-of-the-day paperwork.
12:00-12:30pm: Find of the Day
Now that all the squares are closed for the day we can see some cool things people found! Fun or different finds are put up to be voted on, by cheering, for the 鈥渇ind of the day.鈥 Some items that have won are an Egyptian scarab, a ceramic figurine, and a modern bullet.
12:30pm: Walk to the Bus
My day on the tel concludes with carrying all the pottery and soil samples found that day down the long steps to the bus. We need to soak and wash the pottery so it can be studied by the ceramic experts in the lab. I also like to see all the cool pottery found on Tel Akko!
Now there are only a few days left on the tel and I鈥檓 wishing for more. I think I wish for more because I have fallen more in love with archaeology (if that鈥檚 even possible) and I truly enjoy the people working around me.
Sunrise from the tel
Megan Ashbrook is a senior undergraduate at Miami University of Ohio. She is a double major in Anthropology and East Asian Languages and Cultures with a minor in Archaeology. Archaeological ceramic technology and trade is her current area of interest.
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Tel breakfast is one of the best meals of the day! Every morning I have hummus, green olives, and tea. Depending on what else there is I also have fruit, vegetables, or a peanut butter and jelly pita sandwich. Breakfast is also nice because it is served family style with all of us siting at one long table. I really enjoy passing the food and talking to my friends and finding out what is happening in their squares. I get to hear about fun things like hearths or almost complete vessels.