A cacophony of alarms sounds at 5am. Calming guitar riffs interact with foghorns, as the sound of 12 people collectively scrambling to stop the noises can be heard throughout our little apartment. Immediately a line forms in front of the small bathroom that we share, as groggy and disoriented people struggle to avoid walking into each other as everyone goes about their morning routines. At 5:30am we filter out of the door and collectively collapse on the roadside as we wait for the crowded bus to pick us up. After a brief, wasp filled, breakfast we march to the top of the acropolis and begin the day’s work.
The work begins with setting up the hole-filled umbrella that will provide the meager, skin saving, shade to combat the hot day’s sun. In the absences of some more specific objective, the main task of the day is to level the dig site. This consists of breaking up hard-packed soil with a pick or trowel, removing rocks, and sweeping the loosened soil into a bucket. This bucket soon becomes an extension of your body as one needs to navigate the various holes and out-jutting rocks that populate the dig site. With each bucket, more and more of the building becomes clearer and almost inevitably more complicated. Each complication is followed by a short period of questions, “Why is this piece of bedrock in the middle of the floor? Why isn’t this wall attached to the others?” The answer is almost always, “I have no idea we should probably dig a little more to see what is going on.” Slowly but surely, however, the bigger picture becomes clearer. Different phases and styles of constructions interact with such factors as soil color and density to weave together a narrative. As with all historical inquiry, there is no certainty and there is always the possibility of revision, but through consensus and helpful advice from Professor Howe, a story of the site can be constructed.
The site that I am currently digging at, Unit AC7-B, is full of intrigue. An inscription sits in the western wall dedicated the wife of Emperor Hadrian, while the northern and eastern walls bears almost no similarities to the construction style. It is seemingly a building, built upon a building, built upon a building. Odd pieces of stone jut up from the floor, there is a layer of soil showing signs of fire, and there are no apparent entrances from the outside of the building. Large cut stones, indicative of Hellenistic roots, line the outside of the building but the interior shows signs of late Roman/ Byzantine construction. AC7-B/A is such a strange mixture of seemingly inexplicable factors that coming into work everyday is not a chore but an absolute delight. Everyday is different and everyday the mystery continues to expand.
And so after a day of hard work and lots of dirt, we sit down to a meal under the shade of some large pine trees to enjoy a much-deserved lunch. Every person at the table looks as if they have personally mud-wrestled an alligator, but the dirt on everyone’s face serves only to brighten the smiles that shine through the muck.
John Turco