Ilan Sztulman/Ashkelon Excavations/The Leon Levy Expedition

Sweating but smiling, Wayne Palmer, a volunteer at Ashkelon, shows off the oil lamp he has just delicately extracted with the aid of a chopstick—one of archaeology’s more unusual tools. The Ashkelon digs have uncovered the remains of Canaanite ramparts and Philistine cities; this year volunteers will help excavate Ashkelon’s City of the Dead.