I Volunteered for This?! Life on an Archaeological Dig
and the same group ascends the hill again to its excavation area. The professionals now give instruction in recognizing levels, pottery dating, smoothing balks, and
identifying finds. “What did you find in your area?” is a
common question throughout the day.
The finds seem to make it all worthwhile, and they
are numerous. Buckets of pottery may be found in a single day; a new wall, bones, charred logs, cult objects,
and home utensils are the most common finds.
Everything must be photographed, drawn and recorded
for future reference. It is exciting to discover a missing
piece in the puzzle of man’s history. A small ostracon (a
piece of pottery with writing on it) may give an important
message, date, or battle datum that adds to the story of
the people who once inhabited your tell.
The big meal of the day is at two, and the now ravenous diggers descend upon it as if it were manna from
The mound of Beer-Sheva rising in the wilderness.
heaven. This meal contains the meat for the day, vegetables, salads, and drink. One does not always know what
the food is, but the nourishment is there. Although there
is a juice break at eleven, eight hours of digging, searching and emptying buckets give the phrase “by the sweat of his
brow shall he earn his bread” new significance.
The afternoon brings a welcome rest or study time. Since this tell has been designated as an educational dig, half
of the camp is taking classes in archaeology and historical geography from outstanding Israeli archaeologists like
Professors Aharoni and Rainey of the University of Tel Aviv. Professor Boyd of the University of North Carolina also lectures on Biblical history. Techniques of archaeology, pottery dating, restoration, and the geography of Israel are taught
with slides, objects, and years of accumulated expertise.
The oppressive heat, making the mind sluggish and the eyelids heavy, is slightly relieved by a westerly breeze. As
the breeze builds, so does one’s spirit. By late afternoon, most volunteers are ready to wash pottery and learn the secrets
it can reveal. Piece by piece, each find is cataloged. Those showing promise are sent to the restoration lab for rebuilding. The student feels satisfied when at last, he can identify the correct age, type, burnishing, and culture of his piece.
Evening lectures, usually including slides, are given several nights a week. Whether one is religious or not, the
Bible is a textbook that must be constantly referred to in this land and in these lectures. As other excavations are
explained, more pieces of Israel’s historical puzzle begin to take their place. (Comparisons and contrasts of tells, Biblical
sites, and finds are frequent topics of camp discussions as a result of this field training and lecture method.) Weekend
field trips to neighboring tells and other historical sites offer additional insights. Few leg muscles will let you forget
climbing the snake path to the top of Masada.
Tell life is not all work. There are moments of
humor too. As you descend the hill each day, you see
beside the path a headstone with a squash on top. The
epitaph reads “In memory of the unknown diggers, 19—
”. Tired at the end of a day’s digging, you cannot help
but chuckle with each glance.
A yearly tradition on the tell is the annual group
picture. At the end of the day, just before dinner,