Heather Burrow, Author at Tel Akko

Plastic: The New Pottery

It is said that today most people cannot go a day—nay, an hour—without touching or using plastic in some form. It is ubiquitous, cheap, and malleable. Our Tel breakfast is consistently filled with examples of plastic, such as the silverware, water bottles, and food containers we use. We also wash the found pottery using plastic buckets, sit on plastic stools, and place the washed pieces in plastic crates. Plastic has become central to our lives in so many ways. And so far, my only special find on the dig has been a piece of old plastic that was the result of bioturbation or the disturbance of the dirt layers by, in this case, a mole.

In a similar way, the aforementioned pottery was ever-present in the ancient world. Pottery was used for many purposes and came in many forms, such as jugs, amphoras, and pots, because it was also malleable and able to take many shapes. It was the plastic of its day.

The pervasive presence of pottery sherds or fragments on the Tel Akko dig speaks to this fact. Sherds are everywhere. Excavate for long and you will find them. The first day of the dig I was surprised to see sherds littering the ground around the exterior of the dig site and being used by us under our large water jugs to minimize the mud when we washed our hands. By the end of the first week I was nonchalantly chucking excavated sherds into buckets without a thought in my excavation square.

Both plastic and pottery are human-made materials formed through heat and pressure. Both are durable. Both are often decorated with designs and colors. Plastic is mainly made from polymers. The main types include nylon, styrofoam, and polyester. Pottery is mainly made from clay and the main types include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain.

Many on the dig have remarked that if future humans excavated our refuse and remains—the evidence of our lives—they would probably find a lot of plastic sherds. And they would probably be excited the first day too, like I was. By the end of the first week they would probably be casually cataloging the cache of plastic sporks they found.

Jul, 2019

By Heather Burrow

Always Making A Mark

All living things make their mark in this life—on their environment and on other living things. At the Tel Akko archaeological site I have found that animals and plants consistently make their mark on the environment, especially with their holes and seed pods. Moles, bees, ants, scorpions, castor plants, and cacti must be navigated and, in some cases, removed on the site. And we must not forget that the elements make their mark as well, with the rain, wind, and sun that deposit debris within the site that must also be removed. But none of this compares to humans’ ability to leave a lasting mark. Animals, plants, and mother nature have nothing on us.

All humans make a lasting mark—that is part of what it means to be human with our inherent creative and destructive capabilities. We cannot help but significantly modify our environment and each other. And that is what the Tel Akko dig is all about. We are attempting to uncover the ‘marks’ of other humans who came before us—the structures they built, the pottery they made, the coins they used—in order to learn about their lives.

And in the process of excavating archaeologists and excavators make their own marks on the environment by building paths, setting up storage sheds, and breaking found pottery. They also make their mark with how the site is set up in the beginning—what areas are excavated, what grid lines are placed where, and what is considered significant. And I make my mark with my troweling, scraping, and sweeping.

And found past ‘marks’ or artifacts such as pottery, bone, shell, and slag must be examined, interpreted, and given meaning, because it is also human to want and seek for meaning. Context is everything when determining significance and meaning—in archaeology and all other disciplines. We must cautiously and methodically remove dirt and artifacts in such a way to be able to determine the context. Otherwise, it is just dirt and refuse. As the saying goes, ‘one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.’

Thus, in the end, for me archaeology is the science and art of giving meaning to carefully unearthed historical human relics—also known as ‘controlled destruction’—in which we are making our mark through the process of examining the marks of past humans. And in the spirit of marking, with this blog post I make my digital mark containing what I have learned through this experience!

Archive :

Plastic: The New Pottery

Plastic: The New Pottery

Always Making A Mark

Always Making A Mark