I stand, slowly, from my diggers-squatting position, wiping the sweat off my brow with a soot covered sleeve, to admire my handiwork. I find myself standing in a 2/3 or so meter-deep trench, after several days of digging, completed with the help of my two site-coworkers. My sense of accomplishment takes a hit when I realize that your average malnourished great war soldier could have dug deeper in just a couple of hours, facing artillery fire. Then I rallied when I realized that the average malnourished great war soldier wouldn’t have uncovered, bagged, and documented all the little pieces of pottery and shards of glass from antiquity that I had. He wouldn’t have discussed and disputed the meaning of the layout of the walls, pottery, etc. not to mention he had a much bigger shovel. No disrespect to the brave men who faced the meat grinder of a war that took away one of the bravest generations of men, my handiwork is just impressive in its own way.
Physically, I get achy in many places from so much squatting and bending over.
I notice my forearm getting sore after so much digging and scrapping, prompting me to switch arms every so often. Maybe I’ll return home with bulging forearms? I hear those are in right now. I find myself struggling to find a happy medium between digging fast enough to stay level with my peers in the sight, and taking enough time to sift through the loose dirt for important fragments from Hellenic to late Roman civilization, maybe I’ll figure it out someday.
Everyday I feel more enthusiastic about uncovering the secrets of Antiochia. Last week I found a piece of pottery with decorative holes and bumps, something unlike anything else I’ve seen on the sight so far. I was thrilled to hear Asena, the pottery expert at the dig house, say it was likely from Cyprus. Cyprus is not very far away from Antiochia, but the possible connection was exciting nonetheless. I didn’t expect to find so much in the way of craftsmanship, in an area between two baptistries, digging has been a rewarding experience in this way.
