The first full week of excavating is now behind us. Muscles are sore and our trenches are becoming deep. A few interesting features have been uncovered in the last few days, which I will talk about later. We have settled into our work areas for the reminder of the dig and so far I am very happy with my assignment. Lizzy, one of the class TAs is my direct supervisor, she is already very experienced in archaeology and a good boss. Which counts for a lot because work is no picnic. More often than not I am hauling or 30 and 45 pound buckets filled with dirt, or rocks the size of my torso, then tossing them of a cliff. Then you go back again and again, hundreds of times for more. Thankfully the weather has been for the most part cooperative, only a few days have been scorchers. Little things like having Serial (the podcast) on in the background or having some tasty chips helps the time go by quickly and agreeably. Even more although I am working harder than ever before, I don’t mind it. The constant intrigue produced by unraveling a mystery under your feet is an experience unparalleled in my life, as of yet. The area which we are focusing on at this point is complicated, and a little confusing.On Monday we made the trek up the Acropolis after a delicious breakfast of a pinch and cheese bread. We had the intent of finishing up work on our trench and then moving on to a new area after taking photographs and documenting the entryway of the church we had uncovered. Instead promptly we discovered there was an original wall dating from the forth century underneath the area we had been excavating. Directly to the west of this wall another, later wall was located, and to the North another smaller wall came across to the West at a strange angle. All together the information we were finding was useful, although it was hard to determine why construction had gone about in this way. In the rectangular trench situated between the three walls. A fair amount of pottery was found and other more exciting artifacts as well. A column base was discovered which had been used as spolia when constructing a wall. Towards the end of the week a small amount of glass and bones were found. Centimeters above the foundation of the first church I found a small white cowry shell pierced on one end so it could be worn as jewelry. It was the first found on site I was told.
The 4th century wall that was found enabled us to determine the original church has an east west orientation, slightly angled to correlate to the rising sun. The pottery found near the foundation could be used to date the construction possibly. Additionally a whole new area that was previously unknown had been uncovered. While it has only been a fortnight and there is much more to come I can say I am all in. Archaeology has been everything I hoped for, and more. The combination of fulling work and experiencing a foreign culture is immensely fulfilling. I go to sleep feeling exhausted but also overwhelmed by the experiences that have come my way.