A is for Archaeology, Antiquities, Artifacts

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For several weeks 35 men and I excavated a very old quarry in an area that today is within Jerusalem's boundaries.

For the final stage we were only 7 workers and 2 or 3 staff.
A sealed burial chamber from the Middle Bronze age waited to be opened and explored.
Canaanites were here!

Here is the archaeologist in charge and our surveyor.

Fortunately I was not required to work underground (but I donned the required hardhat to crawl into the cave for a look).
It was hot and humid down there, and at the beginning the ceiling was very low.

No more than two could work (i.e. fit) in the cave at one time at first.
The men excavated and sent up countless buckets of dirt.
I really admire their strength, courage, and good humor working in those conditions.
The photo below is fun to see full size:

One of the most exciting finds, to my mind anyway, was this stone pommel of a dagger.
In Hebrew: gulat hanitsav.
The hilt of the dagger fit into the center hole and a pin would fasten it through those two little holes.
The pommel acts as a counterbalance to the weight of the sword or dagger and can also be used to bash your opponent.
This one is 5 cm/2 inches across.

And it is some 4,000 years old!

Another cool find is this green toggle pin that people once used instead of buttons to keep their clothes together.

We did many hours of sifting, finding human and animal teeth and bone fragments, potsherds, little pieces of glass. . .

On Monday, our last day at this site, our surveyor did her final measurements

and made her final drawings inside the burial chamber.

Time for a last self-portrait inside, for posterity. :)

Then we climbed the two and a half meters up and out.
(You see the net over our work area that gave semi-shade and the tall crane.)

Soon this area will come under the bulldozers and a tunnel will be dug so the condominium owners in those tall buildings (modern vertical cave dwellers?) will be able to drive to the main road faster.

What we did is a salvage dig.
Whenever new construction is planned, the Israel Antiquities Authority must first come and check to see what is hiding beneath the surface.
It means there is never a lack of work in Jerusalem for fieldworkers like me.

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For other bloggers' A words jump over to Mrs. Nesbitts Place and the new website http://wednesdayabc.blogspot.com/.

Appreciating life

One last vestige of color tenaciously hanging on to life in our otherwise tan, white, and gray and thoroughly excavated archaeological site.

Today a cat came to meditate on the flower.

To see what other animals have been posted around the world this weekend, have a visit at Camera-Critters.

Ruminate on this!

We discovered a sealed burial cave from 4,000 years ago.
While sifting the earth that we dug out of the cave, something popped up in the sifting screen. . .

. . . something which immediately caused me to think of Louis la Vache.

Quelle chance--a cow's tooth from one of his Bronze Age ancestors!

Work in progress

Filling and stacking sandbags to this height is one of the less fun things of archaeology.
Here's where strong tall men save the day.

I'm digging again after two months at home being a blogger bum.
Archaeology is fun but for me it means getting the first bus at 5:50, eight hours on the job, and two hours (total) commuting every day.
It leaves little time for anything else in the evening.
So I ask your patience and understanding if I have fallen behind on blog visiting and comment answering. Hope to catch up with you all this weekend. Thanks for all your stimulating comments!