Hot. Sweaty. Chucking rocks. That pretty much sums up our first few days here at Antioch. Since we are the first group to be excavating the upper acropolis of the Antioch site, there was still a lot of brush, roots, and big rocks that needed to be moved before we could actually start excavating. We have spent hours and hours clearing this first layer of debris and its amazing how much work our group can get done in a day. That acropolis has changed drastically in just the last few days and I am so excited to see the kind of progress we can make in the following weeks. I’m impressed with the groups work ethic and did not expect us to be this far after seeing the amount of brush and rocks scattered everywhere the first day. I’m also impressed with the amount of sweat that has been pouring out of my body. I dont think I’ve ever drank so much water in one day and have it all just sweated right back out. But the incredible view we have from our site makes it all worth it. Seeing the crystal clear blue water of the Mediterranean is a great way to start every day. Even though clearing brush and rocks is very satisfying and you see results pretty quickly, it will be nice to start excavating in trenches and begin to participate in some aspects of archaeology that we have only been learning about up until now. We have already made some interesting discoveries which gets me pumped about digging deeper. I’m very hopeful and excited about what these next weeks will bring.
