{"id":2354,"date":"2019-07-19T10:22:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T15:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/?p=2354"},"modified":"2019-07-19T10:22:21","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T15:22:21","slug":"this-site-is-a-bottomless-pit-literally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/2019\/07\/19\/this-site-is-a-bottomless-pit-literally\/","title":{"rendered":"This site is a bottomless pit\u2014literally."},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Over the last 8 days, I\u2019ve learned that chucking a rock of a cliff as far as you possibly can is a very satisfying (although slightly terrifying) experience. I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m getting stronger with every bucket of rocks and dirt. At least, I hope I am, because I\u2019ve made a lot of trips. With every pass it gets easier to tell the difference between pottery and rock. It\u2019s fascinating to find little bits of a pot, or really anything, that was last used so long ago. An important thing I recently learned is how little I care about dirt, especially when I\u2019m completely covered in it. I also find I\u2019m not afraid of the creepy crawly friends that share our site with us. I have a greater amazement for the plants and animals that live here (and everywhere), as well as the rocks and natural formations. Nature is awesome. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Archaeology started off as clearing and cleaning the site. That was pretty fun, but more tiring. With a now open site, we have transitioned into clearing and cleaning within a specified area\u2014one with many, many rocks. So far, my experience with excavation has been enjoyable yet challenging. Each rock presents new possibilities. What creature lies beneath that rock? Which swipe of dirt will unearth a new sherd of pottery? Which rock is just a rock and not a groundbreaking historical discovery? I\u2019m continuously amazed at the extent of Antiochia. There are so many different locations and excavation sites, it\u2019s impossible not to be fascinated. When I first came here, I thought our site was cool. I\u2019m not sure how, but this place keeps getting cooler. With every new discovery and all of the action, there\u2019s always something to learn. I love that despite it being an ancient site, it\u2019s very alive in those who are working on it. We\u2019re all so invested in our work and so intrigued by every little thing that it makes for a positive and interesting experience every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0While where I\u2019m working might be a bottomless pit, it\u2019s a pit of opportunity. We have no clue what we\u2019re going to find. We take it one rock at a time, facing whatever\u2019s underneath it, and if it happens to be a giant tarantula we smash it with a rock. And thinking more about it, this pit might just serve as a metaphor for life. We keep digging, avoiding the obstacles and trying to find out what we can. It\u2019s fascinating every step of the way, it\u2019s terrifying, it\u2019s wonderful\u2014and it\u2019s really, really fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Over the last 8 days, I\u2019ve learned that chucking a rock of a cliff as far as you possibly can is a very satisfying (although slightly terrifying) experience. I\u2019d like to think I\u2019m getting stronger with every bucket of rocks and dirt. At least, I hope I am, because I\u2019ve made a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3286,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Iz8A-BY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2354"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2356,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2354\/revisions\/2356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}