Seven-day storyline
It only took a few days at Hippos to understand the concept of a 20 minute
hypothesis.
The team would uncover something interesting. Dr. Schuler would take a
look at it and consult with other team members. Sometimes Prof. Segal or
other on-site experts would add to the discussion. A hypothesis would
emerge and we’d all feel good that we had met the challenge and found
answers to our questions.
Often no less than 20 minutes later, some new discovery would spoil the
hypothesis and send us all back to re-thinking the judgements we had
made.
This process repeated itself daily, if not more, on the site of the
Northeast Church. Dr. Schuler reassured us that this is the way
archaeology (and science, in general) work. Observe, suggest a
hypothesis, test it (dig further), find it to be proven wrong, observe
again, suggest a new hypothesis...
Well, I’ve got a new concept to suggest and I’m calling it the
“Seven-day storyline.” It’s been one week since I’ve been on the hill at
Hippos and I marvel at how much the story has changed. The questions on
the minds of the team members just one week ago (Where’s the door?
What’s beyond the wall? How much mosaic remains? Why are there bones
from a second person?) are so distant from the current questions (How do
we get rid of moles? How do you deal with diarrhea? How do you explain 3
skulls?).
I can’t imagine the questions that will weigh heavy on the team one week
from now. That’s what keeps archaeology interesting!
Jet Lagged!
It may be 5:34 PM on Sunday here in Minnesota right now, but my body is
telling me it’s 1:34 AM on Monday. My body wants to sleep right now.
That’s what jet lag does to you.
Hippos time is 8 hours ahead of Minnesota. After a day or two in Israel,
my body adjusted and got used to Hippos time. But right now, less than
24 hours after arriving home after a long day in the air, my body is
still on Hippos time. It thinks it deserves a nice cozy bed right now.
A normal day at school will help tomorrow. The regimented schedule of
classes and meals will help to get my body’s clock back on track.
I’m not sure I can stay awake enough to put together all of my lesson
plans for tomorrow, so I think tomorrow will have to be an easy day for
my students. At least jet lag is benefiting someone.
Going Virtual
From this point on, my Hippos experience becomes virtual. I've come down
from the hill for the last time, ending an experience of a lifetime for
two weeks of the 2004 digging season at the Northeast Church at Hippos.
Via the Virtual Dig, I'll be able to continue following what the team
accomplishes over the last 3 weeks of the season. The Virtual Dig is
what brought me here in the first place. I'm excited to see my students
and to bring back understandings that will enhance the remainder of
their virtual dig experience.
What do I hope to bring back to the classroom? Here's a quickly
brainstormed list: excitement for history, an appreciation for church
architecture, a connection to brothers and sisters in the faith who
lived a long time ago, an increased appreciation for the role
question-asking plays in the learning process, and understanding of the
value of teamwork in an academic setting, a sense of being part of a
global community connected by the internet, .... I'm probably missing
something, but you get the idea.
You can't beat being here in person. Now I'll see how close the
Virtual Dig is to the real thing.
One digging day left
I have one day left to dig at the Northeast Church at Hippos.
Because of Jim Rogers' flight time when he leaves, he had a choice to
dig once more before leaving or go to the beach for a day. Jim chose to
dig one more day - wise choice!
This has been an amazing opportunity. To see the holy land, to stare
out over the Sea of Galilee every few moments, to be a part of a team
that works so efficiently, and to make connections with those who shared
our Christian faith 1,400 years ago.
I am so glad that I have a 3-day trip to Jordan before flying home.
Otherwise I'd be dreading my last day on the dig. The Jordan trip gives
me something great to look forward to.
One more climb up the hill, a few more buckets of dirt to move (no,
lots of buckets actually), another sunset over the Sea of Galilee. What
an experience!
The Eternal Fact
We are learning to expect that most of our hypotheses are likely to be
short-lived. Pose one, and give it about 20 minutes for it to be blown
to bits by some new discovery. Today, the lesson was learned over and
over.
There was Jim Rogers sifting through the soil in the center of the nave
meticulously sorting pieces searching for whatever triggered the metal
detector. Excitement grew as he found iron nails and some burnt wood.
But the plastic and the tin can crashed Jim's party after a build of
about 90 minutes.
There was the on the spot conference being videotaped as Dr. Schuler
explained his hypothesis about the west entrance door being deliberately
filed in. In the midst of the explanation which had seemed so
plausible, there was Ben exclaiming, "What's this?" as he scratched away
at the stone marking the actual side of the door a couple of meters away
from where Dr. Schuler had just been suggesting the door would be found.
That's science for you. Observe, suggest a hypothesis, look for
evidence to prove or disprove, in most cases find proof of the
hypothesis being in error, and humbly start the process over. It can be
an emotional roller coaster. Exasperating, confounding, frustrating.
Those who can handle this become scientists and love what they do, which
is essentially, a search for truth.
Evidence at the Northeast Church, though, points to a different kind of
truth. This truth requires no hypothesizing, no proof, no
second-guessing, no disappointments, confusions, or frustrations. This
truth is that Jesus Christ walked this earth to be with us, to die for
us, to be resurrected for us. The Northeast Church marks a place where
people gathered to hear this reassuring fact, and to be sent out from
this place to share the message so that generation after generation, all
the way to ours, can have a hope for eternal life that is secure and
sure.
Teamwork
I'm seeing clear evidence on the site that archaeological work is about teamwork. And we've got quite the team. After one week of work, we are well ahead of schedule, and I believe it's a combination of good leadership that uses the right people in the right ways, and team members that are looking out for the best of interest of the group, not just themselves.
But it shouldn't be a surprise because I'm not the first to note that archaeology is about teamwork. At the dig site, we need diggers, detail people, heavy lifters, creative engineering types to figure out how to move massive stones, problem-solvers, those blessed with patience and caution, surveyors, artists, etc. At a higher level, archaeologists depend on experts who know more about bones, pottery, glassware, architecture, history & culture, soil types, burial practices, religion, etc.
All this teamwork provides a great environment for learning. No one claims that their hypotheses are 100 percent correct. Everyone accepts input and appreciates inquisitive members of the team. And boy, are we learning lots!
The unmistakable cross
I spent the day on "tomb duty." Much of the time I spent watching Glenn down in the tomb, clearing away dirt from the bones. For about 90 minutes, I relieved Glenn and was down in the tomb working with little brushes, picks, and spoons.
While lying next to the skeletal remains in this tomb place front and center in the Northeast Church, I realized that if it were not for the symbols of the cross that have been found at the site in three years of digging, someone might have to wonder if this church had been built for the purpose of worshiping those entombed in it, instead of God Himself.
However, the cross makes it clear. The cross on the stone that likely sat at the peak of the roof... The cross on the piece of ceramic plate... The cross on the piece of pottery revealed while I cleaned it yesterday... The crosses found on the sarcophagus tomb last year. While those buried in this church were apparently honored for their lives of faith (including the one whose bones I layed next to today), this church was where Christians came to worship the one who most certainly deserves. Without Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection, neither the worshipers nor those entombed would have had hope for eternal life in heaven with God Himself.
1 Corinthians 1:18
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
Attention to detail
Big dig happenings depend on attention to detail...
That's today's story. The cist tomb was opened this morning to begin the exhumation process. A crowd of diggers from the Israeli and Polish teams gathered around to watch the drama. Quite exciting!
The uncovering of the final stones revealed bones and dirt. Some of the bones where you would expect; other bones we're not sure about an explanation for their placement, yet. This is where the detail work comes in. For the next several days, team members will be carefully brushing and spooning dirt away from the bones, without disturbing the bones. Someone suggested that a shop-vac would be more efficient at removing the dirt (but at the expense of the precious bones also).
Meanwhile, work on the north aisle of the church continued and progressed very well as Jenn, Jim, and Karen masterfully cleared the dirt to reveal the stones as they landed when the walls and roof collapsed. At first Jim noticed a rounded stone (paying attention to details) and wondered if it was a fallen column drum. More work showed that there were actually four similar stones, rectangular but with one edge rounded off. According to Profs Segal and Schuler, this was pretty clear evidence to explain the type of roof the church once had. The rounded edged are corbels which extended out from the wall to short the span needed to be crossed by the top piece of the roof.
Personally, besides moving lots of dirt again, I got to know tesserae and potsherds very well today. Tesserae are the tiny cubic pieces of tile used in mosaic floors. In fishing, if you keep it you have to clean it. Well with tesserae and potsherds, you have to keep them (and there were lots!) and you have to clean them (tedious!). It's worth it, though, as while we were having our pottery cleaning party on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, I pulled a piece of pottery out of the bucket, cleaned it, and found a symbol of a cross in a circle on the piece. Wow! This was quite a find that got everyone exciting; Dr. Schuler in particular.
Tomorrow, it looks like I'm getting assigned to more detail work as I'll be helping Glenn with bones in the cist tomb.
Moving dirt is hard... without a skid steer
Wouldn't it be easier to just bring a skid steer to the top of Hippos to clear out these excavation squares?
"No!" says the archaeologist. There might be something valuable in that pile of dirt.
So, that's why many of us are here. Yes, a skid steer could move a lot of the dirt quickly, and our muscles wouldn't be feeling so sore tonight (just wait until we try to get out of bed in the morning!). But the digging we're doing has to be done by hand so we don't miss artifacts and potsherds (broken pieces of pottery), or damage something further down. And, yes, much of today we were using just our hands. The leather gloves worked great, by the way. At times we also used pick axes (small and large) and a type of hoe that's much wider than you would normally use in your garden.
And the result?... We brought down a bucket partially filled with today's find of potsherds, roof tiles, and even a few pieces of glass. Tomorrow we'll get our first experience in cleaning the potsherds.
Countdown at 3 days
To my 8th graders who might be reading this... This is a blog! (I was totally shocked when I discovered today that my internet-savvy students somehow are lacking any knowledge about what a blog is.)
Three days before we leave for Israel. Being the first week of school, I have been trying to explain the Virtual Dig to numerous classes, parents, teachers, etc. It seems the more I repeat my explanation (and the more students and, in particular, parents comment on what an incredible experience this will be), the more it's sinking in that this really is quite an awesome opportunity.
Students have expressed enthusiasm for the Virtual Dig. The 7th and 8th graders at St. Peter's have done some of the introduction lessons online already and seem to be catching on to why archaeologists get so excited about their work.
This is for real
Less than 2 months before we'll be digging at Hippos... Less than 1 month before curriculum materials need to be ready.
I purchased my airline tickets. This more than anything gave me the sense that this is for real and I'm really going to do it. Getting to the point of actually making the decision to go has been a slow process since first hearing about the Virtual Dig in October 2003. So many things have fallen into place along the way, and so many people close to me have been supportive and encouraging. God is good!
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