It’s been an exciting week at the northeast temple. We seem to have hit a particularly rich layer: although the soil color and consistency have not changed, in recent days we’ve seen an uptick in exciting finds, including a small amphora, two small lamps, and quite a few nails. Those kinds of finds invigorate us: it seems to me that we move with more energy but also with increased care, as we have become acutely aware of the precious objects that may lie just a few centimeters below our picks (there has been a corresponding increase in trowel usage).
At the same time, many mysteries remain about the history and usage of our trench. We first believed it to be a structure, then rejected that notion, but now find ourselves considering it anew. The west wall, which forms an acute angle with the north wall, is clearly a later addition, but what purpose did it serve? Does the presence of burned pottery suggest that the building itself (if it existed) burned at any time? And what is the relationship between these walls and the temple to which they are adjacent?
In these elements of our excavation I see two distinct and yet interconnected motivators for our efforts. On the one hand, it’s tremendously exciting to find artifacts. Pulling that little lamp from the earth was thrilling: my excitement truly exceeded my expectations. The same excitement appears when any one of us finds something notable. There is both a scholarly and a childlike delight in uncovering these buried treasures, and doing so makes our day that much more exciting.
And yet another motivator drives us as well: we would love to help unravel some of our trench’s mysteries. The motivator there is broader: we dig not just to find individual objects, but so that the objects and the soil and the walls can give us clues. We dig to learn, not just to find.
The one builds on the other: we need not feel like bad archaeologists for our excitement over each artifact. But exciting and motivating though they are, they are only one part of what truly drives us: obtaining greater understanding of what our trench is and was, and ultimately, what role it played in the context of the site as a whole.