I am thrilled to be returning to Antiochia ad Cragum as a peer educator this year and share my experiences with all of you! Now that the first week has come and gone I thought I would tell you a little bit about what we have been up to at the site and how we are adjusting to life at Antiochia.
The first week of excavations is always the hardest and this season is no exception. Because I am stationed with my two trenches on the acropolis we are presented with a set of problems unique to our location. First, the acropolis has never been excavated before and, consequently, there is an immense amount of brush and large boulders (anywhere from 50-200 pounds) that need to be moved before we can access the soil. We also happen to be excavating on the highest point of the city which means the sun and 95 degree heat is magnified as we work. Lastly, we are working on a very steep 300 foot cliff, overlooking jagged rocks and the Mediterranean coast. While this gives us a beautiful view during excavations, we have to make sure not to fall over the edge with our rocks! We have instituted a policy that if you turn your back to the cliff, any peer educator that sees you has the right to make you sing to the mountains. It has been a quick and effective deterrent. Needless to say the work is grueling, dirty, and seems endless. But I have good news, we have reached the end of our clearing layer and will be opening trenches on Monday!
Everyone is in high spirits and are starting to get used to the 5AM wakeup call (OK, I may still be having a little trouble with that one) and working in the heat. Each day everyone is covered in more soil, sweat, and blood (every bush in Turkey wants to kill you) than the day before and we all take pride in our battle wounds and the sorry state of our clothing at the end of the day. It is a steep learning curve for all of the field school students, but I am constantly amazed at the work ethic and enthusiasm of everyone involved. Thus far we have covered the basics of excavation including stratigraphic units, elevations, and the basic topography of our site. Tomorrow will be the most overwhelming day with information ranging from how to hold a trowel to how to identify a floor layer – and everything in between. Despite the fact that we haven’t officially started trenches yet, we have uncovered some intriguing finds including a marble door frame, statue niche, and Byzantine cross. I think I speak for all of the peer educators when I say we cannot wait to start excavations tomorrow and begin to put some of these finds into context! Until next time!
Lizzy Bews
St. Olaf Peer Educator 2014
Learning about the plumbing underneath the bath mosaic
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