Tel Dor, Israel

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“Get tough or die,” as Dor veteran Merrill likes to say, is the best way to describe my first day working in Area D5 at the new Tel Dor expedition. At the start of the dig, we all naively thought we were going to be able to stay clean. What were we thinking? The diggers from D4 were shocked as they watched our bucket chain toss full buckets of dirt to each other. They said things like, “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” and “Are they crazy? Someone is going to get hurt.” Their area supervisor later told us that she and the other supervisors were laughing to themselves, since D4 was about to start its own bucket chain. Despite some cuts and bruises, however, we all came out a little stronger and much more coordinated.

For the past three years, I have been pursuing an undergraduate degree in anthropology through the University of Manitoba in Canada. Having been fascinated by the world of archaeology since childhood, I decided to register for my first class in the anthropology department. Attending that first lecture on physical anthropology and archaeology, I realized I had a real passion for the subject. I quickly decided to pursue it as my major. When I signed up for the 2008 season at Tel Dor (under the direction of Ilan Sharon and Ayelet Gilboa), I had no idea what to expect. For the first time since I had begun studying anthropology and archaeology, I was going to have to apply the knowledge that I had learned.

I’ll never forget my confusion those first few days of excavating, hearing all the archaeo-jargon that was being thrown around. For example, a term that is utterly unique to Tel Dor is “twilight zone.” I remember looking over at my friend Mallory and asking her what they were talking about. As I soon found out, a “twilight zone” is the periphery of a locus where confusion or contamination with another locus can easily occur.

During the fourth week of excavation, I was lucky enough to find an amazing artifact. I had been excavating what was presumed to be a Hellenistic pit for a few days and was cleaning up the “twilight zone” surrounding the pit when I suddenly came across an amphora handle. Normally, an amphora handle wouldn’t be a very significant find, but this particular amphora handle had been stamped with strange lettering. I knew as soon as my area supervisor began jumping up and down and yelling to the other supervisors in Hebrew that this was no ordinary find. After the handle’s stamp had been scanned in 3-D and the resulting image cleaned up, the mysterious script was identified as Cypro-Syllabic. Once translated, the stamp may provide important insight into the contents of the amphora, its origin and destination, the potter who made the vessel, and so forth. However, because of the nature of the script and the fact that only two people in the world can read Cypro-Syllabic, a final reading for the text is not yet available.

For me, working at Tel Dor was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that was filled with so many new and exciting sensations! One day you might find yourself excavating Hellenistic pottery, and the next you might be finding the top of a Persian wall. When you really think about that, it’s pretty wild! At a deeper level, the field school provided me with knowledge that will follow me through my academic and professional career. The ongoing excavations and research at Tel Dor are vital if we are to learn and understand more about the past; and hey, isn’t that what archaeology is all about? Another benefit of such a project is that it brings together people and scholars from all over the world for a common goal: a love for archaeology. Every day I had the pleasure of working with people from Israel, Canada, America, England, Ireland, South Africa, Germany and Japan (and I’m probably leaving a few out). All in all, Tel Dor was one of the best experiences of my life, and I would love to go back someday!

“Get tough or die,” as Dor veteran Merrill likes to say, is the best way to describe my first day working in Area D5 at the new Tel Dor expedition. At the start of the dig, we all naively thought we were going to be able to stay clean. What were we thinking? The diggers from D4 were shocked as they watched our bucket chain toss full buckets of dirt to each other. They said things like, “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” and “Are they crazy? Someone is going to get hurt.” Their area supervisor later told […]