O Muses, go forth and continue to spin your golden threads and weave us the continuing tales of the Filthy Five; tales of such resounding strength that would liken the raging Achilles to a docile housecat; tales of such discovery and adventure that the conquests and revelations of Alexander the Great are nothing more than the petty parades of a playing child in his parents’ backyard. Spin us these tales O Muses of Ellie the Beast, Mara the Ferocious, Ben the Stalwart, Joseph the Keen, and their merciful leader Kirbus the Great as they uncover perplexities that would confound the all-knowing mind of Zeus himself. As the sons and daughters of Gaea (rocks) continue to roll down the slopes of the acropolis, with the students’ following mentality as that of Sisyphus and his unyielding burden, enlighten us students and parents with the continuation of the Filthy Five’s accomplishments in Antiochia ad Cragum.
It was on the 24th of July, a blistering morning brought forth by a ravaging Dawn, when the Filthy Five reached the floor of their two trenches AC5A and AC5B. This floor was a surprise to them all for it had come sooner than they had expected but later than they had hoped, and even Kirbus stepped back in shock as the bedrock from which the floor was leveled by those of antiquity peeked its unmovable head up from the densely packed soil. The Filthy Five determined that they had hit a new locus (or “place” in Latin which means a new arbitrarily set location in a defined trench that possesses qualities that make it different from its surrounding loci [i.e. soil color, soil composition, features like doorways or hearths, etc.]). The packed dirt that surrounded the peeking bedrock yielded the consistency of clay and sand and was composed of heavily degraded pottery sherds and charcoal. Kirbus had seen floor before, but he was blessed the previous year with the beauty of cobblestone flooring, and the charcoal (and the lack of ash that usually accompanies it) brought forth a flurry of questions before Rumor had a chance to spread them furiously. What could this mean? Why does this charcoal lack ash? Why does it exist in such large amounts? Why is it located all throughout the northern half of both trenches? As they put their minds together (with the mostly always helpful help of Howe) the mystery soon molded itself into an interesting theory. Firstly, the foreboding ash covered both trenches, and since there were no hearths or pits for cooking uncovered, and since copious amounts of pottery was found burnt all along the northern wall, the presence of charcoal was interpreted as the result of a large scale house fire. Wood does not survive for long in the open environment, especially if it’s burned, and it was commonly used for ceilings or benches. The lack of ash (which is a result of prolonged burning) indicates clearly that the fire was smothered out by something (probably by the walls that it supported as they crashed down). The Filthy Five were baffled by the apparent truths that could arise from simple and everyday material remains, yet it all made since. After clearing the trench of the charcoal, black as the cloak of Hades, the heroes reached floor level, took ending elevations, sketched their work, and took closing pictures (as every good hero does after a victory). Their two weeks of searching for the floor had come to an end; an end that seemed to produce just as many questions as it did answers, for they still did not know to what end the room was used! They knew for sure that the room stored pottery and that there was a blazing fire that burned the ancient Tupperware we call pottery, but it could not have been used as storage only, could it? They would have found more pottery and glass vessels if that was the case. Just as Hercules returned from each of his backbreaking labors with the disheartening knowledge that his tasks were not yet over, our heroes found themselves dwelling before another series of grueling tasks: create two new trenches due south in order to finish the AC5 structure by the 5th of the month of Augustus. Maybe there our heroes could unravel the mysteries of their building and find some indication that their structure was something other than a storage area. Only the Fates know the truth in things, for it is by the hands of the Filthy Five and them alone that their quest can be fulfilled and their questions answered.
But before the Fates could sing their quivering songs, the waves parted, the sands rose, and the walls trembled as the omniscient and omnipotent Hoff emerged from the Eastern wall of AC5B. His words came sparingly like a hesitant philosopher, but when he spoke he spoke with a voice of kings, a voice that commanded respect, and his words, though quick and sometimes witty (if you have the humor of a 5th grader), gave either confidence to those who pleased him with their questions of ancient architecture or shame to those who have deconstructed that which was never meant to be deconstructed. He lumbered into the trench and shouted to the heavens with the voice of Confidence and the tone of Mumble, “Here, where I, Hoff, stand before you, was a dormitory; a place in which those who require sleep sleep to their hearts content. Furthermore, this structure on which you stand was a monastery complex.” With these words of his truth, he scooted his way back out of the wall and disappeared into the misty clouds, having given no explanation or proof to back his prophetic words. The Filthy Five were bewildered, as most heroes are when they ask for certainty but are given tantalizingly vague words from an oracle. “If this is a dormitory, why are there amphorae everywhere, and why are there no hearths, nails, bedding remains, pits, or any religious symbols that could possibly connect the structure to a monastery?” They asked each other. The Hoff had spoken, yet none were sure of what to even expect to find in a monastery complex. To settle the commotion, Kirbus lifted his right hand and proclaimed “In time we shall find our answers, but for now we must continue or labors. In the end we shall know the truth of things, and though the Hoff has proclaimed his wisdom, it is us who shall find the meaning of our mountainous home.” Their southern trenches might hold the glorious key to understanding the truths of our complex. What does the fill hold for them between its large rocks? What might they find on top of the packed floor? The Muses grow silent for now, thus our adventure shall continue in a week’s time when the Filthy Five have met their heroic goals. As for now, the journey repeats itself, for the work now is limited to picking, shoveling, and hauling stones off their mountainous home until the bedrock peeks its many rough heads.
