Literally.
Which isn’t a bad thing, actually. Bedrock and I have become very good friends. For you non-geologists out there, bedrock is the lowest level of rock you can hit. Bedrock is the El Dorado of trench excavation. When you find it, you know that you’ve dug as much as you can, and can work to close your trench having successfully excavated an area. And apparently I would have made a very successful conquistador, since I have found a lot of bedrock.
This is not to say that this week hasn’t been fascinating. The things we have found are enough to blow your mind. Half an amphora, the head of a statuette, bronze, coins, jewelry, pottery sherds- the list goes on. How many people can point to a cut and say, “Yeah, I speared myself with some Roman glass today”? I can. And I’ve learned a lot as well. Like what is bedrock and what is compacted dirt, which is a more difficult distinction than it sounds for Trench North East Temple 2014.1 North. But, if I hadn’t been aiming for bedrock, I would not have passed by the plethora of objects that I have been lucky enough to help uncover.
A lot of this week has been about patience. Sometimes work is slowgoing; sometimes you need to take a knee and take care of yourself. But it is better in this work to be thorough while efficient, and patient while productive. Even when it takes you to bedrock.