Last year I wrote a blog entry titled “Ah ha!” – describing the moment when the connections between our site, the sites we had been visiting, and the information gleaned from our lectures came together – this was the moment in which I realized the significance of everything our group had been working on. We were taking what had once been a cliff covered in rocks, bushes, and dirt, working to excavate it and to learn what lay beneath. Now, as our students settle in to the daily routine of working on that very same “cliff”, I wonder when that same moment will hit them. Already, energy levels are high. This might just be the magic of Turkey working its wonders, or it could be the romanticism of working among ancient ruins as archeological students. What I hope is that this is the start of that “Ah ha” moment. As a TA, I want my students to learn, I want them to grow and to come to have a comfort in and understanding of the ruins that they are exploring. The art of archeology is one of destruction – we are destroying soil levels in order to learn more about those very soil levels. The “Ah ha” moment was when I came to understand the significance of my work in relation to this destruction. Now that the students have joined us in Turkey and begin to settle into the site, I hope that through their own work, their visits to other sites, and through their learning from readings and museums – they too will have their own “Ah ha” moment – when they are no longer just moving dirt to find more dirt but excavating soil to open a new locus.
