The first week of excavation at Antiochia ad Cragum has officially begun! The majority of the Oles, including my two trenches, are based at the very top of the Acropolis. The Acropolis itself has been surveyed, but never excavated, so we are the first group to ever actually break soil. This is incredibly exciting, but it also means that we have a lot of hard work ahead of us before we can start opening layers of artifact-rich material. So far, this week has involved a great deal of shifting boulders, clearing brush, and trying to avoid any scorpions or spiders that have taken up residence in our trenches. We’ve also discussed how to take elevations, how to identify stratigraphic units, and how to recognize pottery and worked stone. Everyone has been working so hard, and we’ve made an amazing amount of progress in just a few days!
Although we’re only at a clearing stage, and therefore haven’t found a huge number of artifacts, my trenches have found several pottery sherds, including two amphorae toes, roof tiles, and even a loom weight. As we’ve cleared, we’ve also noticed a rounded section of wall in the southeast corner, which may be a bothros (a sort of waste pit). Finding all of these things so early in the excavation is intriguing; who knows what we’ll find as we dig deeper! Starting Monday, we’ll get to officially lay out our trenches and begin taking down a new stratigraphic unit (SU). We’ll also learn how to document our process and will discuss the best tools and techniques for the type of work we’ll be doing. I absolutely can’t wait to see what we’ll uncover!
Claire Yancey
St. Olaf Peer Educator