Before I came to the Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project I thought I knew what archaeology was. Since the 6th grade, my dream has been to be an archaeologist. As a little kid, I would travel with my family to many museums and archaeological sites, and I would read or watch anything about history for fun. But since coming to Akko there are many things that I have experienced and so much more I have to learn.
Though I have to get up at 4:45am, 5 days a week, I don’t mind because I’m going to do something I love. The first few days this week went by slowly, but it was fun getting to know everyone as we were working to prepare the site for excavation.
Sweeping Outside My Square
I thought the first half of the week was fun, but I didn’t know what I had coming for me on Friday, our first day excavating. Before tel breakfast, I was cleaning a section, but then after breakfast I started excavating in my square. Some may not find digging out dirt just to sweep it up again interesting, but for some reason I do. When the end of the excavation day came I didn’t want to leave the tel. I could have kept working there for much longer.
The artifacts that come out of the dirt make the labor worth it because they can tell us about people in the past that lived on the tel. Since taking ceramic art classes and learning about pottery in archaeology classes, ceramics have fascinated me. From pottery you can learn about trade, diet, government administration, and cultural contact among other things.
Stamped Ceramic Amphora Handle
While digging and pottery washing, I get really excited about interesting pottery finds. I know others probably think I’m weird and hate pottery washing, but I am living my dream.
I may be living my dream at Tel Akko, but still it is a bit unnerving to make large life decisions not knowing if they are the right ones. Some encouragement has come in the past few days both on the tel and in the labs. On the tel I was trained on two measuring instruments, and now I have been using one completely by myself to take elevation measurements for the square I’m working in. Both on the tel and in the labs, I have been asking a bunch of questions. For example, in one of the labs with Dr. Rosenzweig I asked if a few tiny pieces were bone and it turned out they were! It feels really good to know that my instincts from all those museums and readings are correct.
While I’m at Tel Akko, I hope to be a bit closer to figuring out what I want to do post-college. Right now my love for archaeology is only growing. I hope to make 6th grade me proud of how I am living the dream I have had for most of my life.
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