Today’s Arabic Lesson
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Today’s Arabic Lesson
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All ready for my trip. Call packed and ready to go…. And...
All ready for my trip. Call packed and ready to go…. And as you can gather, I am just a little bit EXCITED! :D
Much love, see you all state side at the end of July!
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DID I SAY EXCITED?
DID I SAY EXCITED?
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yumuseum: IN CASE YOU MISS THE HEAT… On a hot day like...
IN CASE YOU MISS THE HEAT…
On a hot day like yesterday, you’re probably glad you weren’t cooking over an open hearth.
1987.019 Pot, Eastern Europe, copper, Collection of Yeshiva University Museum, Gift of Alice Bergman
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ohsoanthropological: Fossil hunters in Ethiopia are excavating...
Fossil hunters in Ethiopia are excavating a mandible, or lower jaw, of Ardipithecus ramidus. A fairly complete skeleton of this individual, nicknamed Ardi, is 4.4-million-years-old. It lived well before and was much more primitive than the 3.2-million-year-old Lucy skeleton, of the species Australopithecus afarensis. Unveiling the Ardi remains this week, scientists said this was the earliest known skeleton of a potential human ancestor.
Credit: Tim White and David L. Brill
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Day 1
Day 1 will begin on Tuseday. Long story short, my flight was cancled and re-routed. I am leaving tonight from Metro Detriot to Amsterdam and then on to Tel Aviv. We arrive early Monday morning. I begin digging on Tuesday!
Wish me luck! I will try to keep you all updated and I will post as often as I can!
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Coming Soon
Greetings my beautiful followers,
First of all, I have loved reading all of the messages and emails from you all while I have been away on excavation the last three weeks in Israel! I will share what I can of notes, photos, sketches, etc. through-out the remander of the summer (including our weekend touring/adventures). I will also be sharing a bit of my term paper with you all.
Feel free to ask questions, and I will answer. I cannot wait to share and catch-up with all of your wonderful blogs as well!
Much love,
Grace
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Photo Album of Ramot Shapira (Dig hostel)
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Photo Album of Some of the Digging...
Photo Album of Some of the Digging...:
Photos from excavating for my study abroad with The Oakland University. I am working an Iron Age II site in Israel. We worked the site in our teams and divided into areas then squares every week day from 5 am to 1pm.
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Photo Album for the North of Israel (Grottos & Akko)
Photo Album for the North of Israel (Grottos & Akko):
Rosh Hanrikra Grotto, Israel lies just on the north border of Lebonon.
Acre/Akko was the last Crusader City taken by the Muslims before Jerusalem at the end of Crusades.
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Photo Album of Weekend in Jerusalem, Israel 2012
Photo Album of Weekend in Jerusalem, Israel 2012:
Out and about in the center of the Western World. This is just another weekend field-trip of my Archaeological Study Abroad in Israel. I was left speechless & wanting more.
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collective-history: Trepanated skull, Iron age. The perimeter...
Trepanated skull, Iron age. The perimeter of the hole in the skull is rounded off by ingrowth of new bony tissue, indicating that the patient survived the operation.
Evidence of trepanation has been found in prehistoric human remains from Neolithic times onward. Cave paintings indicate that people believed the practice would cure epileptic seizures, migraines, and mental disorders. The bone that was trepanned was kept by the prehistoric people and may have been worn as a charm to keep evil spirits away. Evidence also suggests that trepanation was primitive emergency surgery after head wounds to remove shattered bits of bone from a fractured skull and clean out the blood that often pools under the skull after a blow to the head. Such injuries were typical for primitive weaponry such as slings and war clubs.
Trepanation is perhaps the oldest surgical procedure for which there is archaeological evidence, and in some areas may have been quite widespread. Out of 120 prehistoric skulls found at one burial site in France dated to 6500 BC, 40 had trepanation holes. Many prehistoric and premodern patients had signs of their skull structure healing, suggesting that many of those subjected to the surgery survived.
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Things I Crossed Off My Bucket List
Go to The Holy Land/Jerusalem
Fly into or out of JFK Airport
See the City of David
Work an Archaeology Excavation outside of Michigan
Visit the Temple Mount/Western Wall/ Dome of the Rock
Visit Northern Europe (Netherlands for 10 hrs, I wandered around Amsterdam, so I count it!)
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Ancient Israel and Its Neighbors : Interaction and...
Ancient Israel and Its Neighbors : Interaction and Counteraction
Israel and Assyria
An Assyrian Residence at Ramat Rachel?
(A must read)
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culturalsecurity: Closing in on the Archaeological...
Closing in on the Archaeological Underworld
Switzerland has been cleaning up its free ports after a 1995 scandal on its home turf triggered a probe into looted antiquities. Globally, the fight to disrupt such criminal activity is stepping up with a Web experiment to share information.
Museums the world over still display archaeological treasures that sometimes are not legally theirs. While governments wrangle over their rightful ownership, looters continue to plunder sites to feed a prospering black-market.
Now, an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times is trying to set up “WikiLoot”, a way of crowd-sourcing information on looted antiquities via the Web. “We want to make it impossible to turn a blind eye,” Jason Felch told swissinfo.ch.
Felch and Ralph Frammolino led a five-year investigation that culminated in 2011 with their publication of Chasing Aphrodite, an account of the archaeological underworld that reads like a thriller.
The discovery in 1995 that Geneva’s free port was a haven for an international network of looted antiquities linked to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles was the starting point of their investigation.For similar news stories visit http://culturalsecurity.net/newssummary.htm
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Special Topics in Anthropology: Archaeology in Israel Field Notes
Grace E Webster
22/6/12 – 14/7/12
Advanced Undergraduate Field Research in Archaeology:
Khirbet Qeiyafa, Israel-Summer 2012
Includes:
Dig Schedule
Field Notes (observations, discoveries, questions)
Pottery Reading & Analysis
Lecture Notes
Top Draws, Maps, Sketches
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My Dig Schedule of Kh. Q. 2012
Dig Schedule:
22/6- Expected Departure Date*
23/6- Expected Arrival Date*
23/6- Actual Departure Date
24/6- Actual Arrival Date
25/6- Pottery Read & Lecutre
26/6-First Dig Day (5am- 1pm)
29/6- Tour Day to Northern Israel
30/6- Tour day to Akko
1/7- Return to dig for the afternoon(12pm-8pm)
2/7- Top Draw
5/7- Jerusalem Tour Day
6/7-Jerusalem Tour Day
7/7-Jerusalem Tour Day
8/7- Return to dig for the afternoon (12pm-8pm)
9/7-Wash and Sort
10/7-Top Draw
11/7- Pottery Read
12/7- Tour Lachish
13/7- Tour Tel Maresha & Explore Tel Aviv
14/7 Arrive Home in Metro Detroit Airport
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Field Notes, 25/6/12
Monday 25/6/12
Field Notes/Pottery Washing/ Lecture
FN: We arrived too late to begin to dig with the rest of the excavation team. We arrived at 5am after the bus had already left for the dig site, so we took showers, slept, un-packed, and prepared for the rest of the day. It was scheduled to pottery wash and to follow was lecture. I attended both. Pottery washing began at 4:30 and the lecture began at 7pm. Washing was simple and painless after given a quick do and don’t explanation. Likewise, lecture was great and was followed by dinner. (Lecture Notes are enclosed below)
LN: The Numismatic Biography of Khirbet Qeiyafa- from the Ancient to the late Roman Period-STRONGHOLD ON THE ROAD TO JERSALEM
-Coins for identification, this collection is currently the largest in all of Israel history:(Includes many small/rare/unique coins)-
CURRENT FINDS
(380 total coins)
Because of the 3 layer occupation, a great determinacy of close dating is possible. Metal detecting is required in order to search for small coins
Archaic (Unique Coins)
510-460 BCE (Idalions)
500-480 BCE (Chios)
435 (5th-4 Cen) BCE (Athenian-cut into pieces for weight)—in later periods used whole pieces as a value rather than the pieces as a weight of silver
412 BCE (Samos)
Persian Period Hoards
Judean Currency
Coins are minted where they are used. Moreover, they are called Yehud Coins- minted & quarried in Judea and used only there
Philistine Currency
Likewise, coins are minted and used in primarily Philistine areas
Areas include: GAZA & ASHDOD
Kh. Q. (has both Yehud and Philistine Currency) THIS INDICATES Q’s!!!
Plated Currency
Q: Where they flake/counterfeit?Poor copies? Accepted in certain areas?
A: UNKNOWN!
Coins of Edam
Little is known about these coins, many questions
In General
During this period, the smaller the coin, the small the economic value
KH. Q. the Early Years
Why so many coins?
Why such variety?
A trade center?
This variety could occur because of the location of KH. Q being on the boarder land btw. ancient Judea and Philistinia.
LATER PERIODS at Kh. Q
Includes Macedonia Coins from the time of Alexander the Great (Soldiers? Trade?)
Even later coins are easy to date because often the date was minted on to the coin
While few coins of the later periods, still indicative of life and power plays of ancient Israel
Some Conclusions
The site of Kh Q was settled and re-settled from 350 until 150
All indicated by pottery, coins, and architecture
This causes strata layers to be more easily identified
Coins allow wide dates to be narrowed
EVEN LATER
Few coins from the 6th Cen CE
Are indicative of an Early Islamic & Byzantium occupation(s)
FINAL THOUGHTS
Coins are small in mass, weight, and diameter
Coins are found with metal detectors
Coins allow for almost exact dating
Many coins have been and continue to be found at Kh Q.
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Archaeology in Israel Field Notes: 26/6/12
Tuesday 26/6/12
Field Notes/Pottery Read/ Lecture
FN:
Area-C
Square- KK21
4:00 -Wake
4:30-Load Bus
4:40- Bus Departs
5:15-Bus Arrives
5:20-Begin to Dig
-Arrive on site, divide and conquered OakDig Team for the days to come in different squares off area C- as well as a handful of us to area F.
I was placed in KK21 with Kat. Worked in square with 3 break periods Coffee Break at 7am- Breakfast at 9am- Watermelon Break at 11am. Begin record/measure/ top draws at 12:30-45. By 12:45 we cleaned up to load the bus and depart at about 1pm. (No exact times but the goal is follow this schedule)
My shoes broke just before watermelon break, so once the tour of the site began for the rest of the excavation team OZ took me to bet Shamash to buy new dig boots. We were gone only 20-30 mins. After returning the tour was almost over and soon we began to dig again. We did our last bucket chain of the day. My arms are quite sore from catching; I think I will have bruises. We then cleaned the area of tools and empty buckets. We loaded the bus with our supplies and our bodies. Then we drove back to our hostel home. We ate, showered, and prepared for the night. Pottery Read/Analysis began at 4:30 and Lecture Began at 7. Notes for both Follow
PR:
Began at 4:30pm
Important parts of analyzing a basket/locus
—- Diameter, Dating, Unique?, Record/Catalog
1-Body sherds are typically broke all around the sides
2-Ribs and Handles help determine style, type, function, and date of vessels
3-Record/Stats from each basket/locus with all the Tag Info
4- Data allows you compare Locus to Square and Square to Area later in the season
5-Bag/Tag/Record all dateable/unique sherds
6- Top soil locus allow for good indication of what to expect below; however, top soil places pottery/other finds out of context (remember, pottery settles up towards the surface giving such a mixture of styles, types and periods)
7-Because of the focus/context of our site to be Iron Age we focus on this pottery. All pottery is recorded; however, not all pottery is kept for further analysis, unless unique or refer to a good context of the strata of the current square as a whole.
8-Study of the profile of vessels is important to determining dates, function, and style of vessel
9- Having the whole profile of single vessel is considered a complete vessel, because the shape and type can be known.
10-BOWLS have open profiles. JUGS & JARS have closed profiles.
11-CONTEXT,CONTEXT,CONTEXT!!
12-Handles w/ Finger press are known as Kh. Qeiyafa Handles (rarely appeared b4 digging at Kh. Q. HENSE NAME!)
13-Still questions about handles, ranger from 1 to 3 finger impressions.
14-Two part chamber challises, date to the 10th cent BCE, (unique, many interoperations, ritual?)
LN:
Khirbet Qeiyafa: A fortified City in Judah from the Time of King David
By Prof. Yoesf Garfikel, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
King David? Did he exist? Did he exist the way we imagine him?
DATES:
Approx. 1000-965 BCE
HOW DO WE KNOW?:
For thousands of years the bible was considered an exact chronology
Now, we question this.
Min and Max POV
MIN POV:
Phase 1-Mytholigcal Paradigm, the view of David being only myth/legend
Phase 2- Low Chronology Paradigm, the view that if David exist he is much later and less powerful
Phase 3- Ethnographic Paradigm
*** The MIN POV is in response to the MAX evidence
KH. Q. 2008:
1-Fort. City , 2-Slected Finds, 3-The Cult, 4-Ethnic Question
1-Location of the Fort City
a- The Ellah Valley
b- Borderland
c- Traditional location of David/Goliath Story
d- City with two Gates
e- Geo-political importance during the 10th cen BCE
f- Casemate walls
2-Slected Finds
a. Bronze & Iron Weapons
b. Ashdod ware (RED WHITE BLACK)
c. Storage Jars w/ Finger Impressions on the Handles (ONLY IN JUDAH)
d. Kh Q. Ostrocon Inscription (Semitic for sure, likely early Hebrew)
3-The Cult
a. 3 cultic rooms
b. Several cultic items/objects includes the below
- STANDING STONES w/ BASALT ALTERS!
- Understanding of the Alters is important
- Basins and Libation vessels
- Portable shrines
- Pottery items (box of Pottery)
- Stone Building Model
4- Ethnic Question
a. Who lived her in approx 1000 BCE? JUDAH- Strong evidence
-why/how?
-typical Judeans urban planning
-typical cooking habits (no pig bones)
-stamped jar handles
-Ostrocon in early Hebrew
-the cult items/rooms
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Archaeological News: A 3,400-year-old mystery: Who burned the palace of Canaanite Hatzor?
Archaeological News: A 3,400-year-old mystery: Who burned the palace of Canaanite Hatzor?:
Israeli archaeologists have recently unearthed a palace at the Tel Hatzor National Park in Upper Galilee, revealing rare findings – jugs containing scorched wheat from some 3,400 years ago.
The find provides still more tangible evidence of the destruction of Canaanite city of Hatzor, an event dated at the mid-13th century B.C.E.
The jugs were found during the excavation of storerooms in what archaeologists say was a palace. In addition to the jugs, many other artifacts found at the site testify to a large fire that raged through the palace – sooty walls, bricks that burned and became rock-hard from the extreme heat, a ceiling that collapsed and burnt cedar wood beams.
The excavations are being conducted by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, headed by Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman.
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