As Friday, 20 July, marked the completion of AC Unit 2, I am now ready to dust off the bedrock, record elevations, and pay homage to this special unit. On Monday, my attention will turn toward a new area, AC 6B, and though I am excited to embark on a fresh adventure, I find myself yearning to reflect on the past three weeks with Unit 2.
At first, I didn’t really click with the unit. It took some time to literally peel back the layers and get more comfortable in the area. With every root, rock, and shrub, Alex and I removed, however, the unit became ours, and each centimeter provided new context and excitement. Not long after we opened Locus 1 and began excavating, we found pottery, glass, metal nails, charcoal, and even an intact bronze wick holder. The rich cultural material kept us on our toes, but we continually dreamt of unearthing an actual structure. Instead, we found the entrance to the baptistry which sounds legitimate but is actually just a giant gap in what we hoped would be a noteworthy wall. Eventually we hit bedrock and clay—the end of the line—and found ourselves in a subtle haze of disappointment. All in all, Unit 2 did not fulfill our Indiana Jones-inspired expectations.
Despite its shortcomings, however, I wouldn’t trade my time with Unit 2 for the world. Unit 2 might have been simple and perhaps even a bit boring, but it is there that I learned how to use a trowel, found my first pottery sherd, and got way too excited about goat teeth and schist (totally worthless). In Unit 2 I discovered my obsessive love for a perfectly level trench, pristinely displayed stratigraphy, and cleanly articulated rocks. Unit 2 was a straightforward four-by-five meter space in which to learn and practice basic archeological skills to accomplish these results. It never burdened us with donkey bees, scorpions, or even unmanageable roots, and for a beginner archeologist, I couldn’t have asked for a better place to start. Here’s to you, Unit 2. May you live on forever in our hearts…and our official records.
