Today was the last day on the hill! I think it was the fastest day of all. In the morning we finnished up digging in Dr.Chamberrs square to get as far as we wanted to before it was time to sweep. In the square that I was digging in we finnished up digging so it was time to sweep. We had to sweep the floor because it had to be clear of footprints so Dr.Schuler could take pictures. After it had all been swept we had to cover the floor of ZZ99 to protect the floor from the winter damage. We also had to fill up busted buckets full of dirt and put them on the ledge of the pool to protect the plaster. After it had all been covered up, it was time to tour the other sites on the hill. It was really nice to tour the other sites because the only other time that we got to do that was on the first day of the dig and they have uncovered so much it was nice to see the change. I can't believe that it is over but I had an amazing experience and would love to come back!!
Once again we get on top of the hill and the first thing on the adgenda was to haul out big rocks. We knew we had about 4 to move but then in the process of moving them out we somehow we found 3 more to move. These three rocks that we debated taking out were in ZZ99 and we had labled them with my pink duck tape so we would know how to reset them. But since we had found the pool in Dr.Chambers square, we decided that if we were to reset these stones, it would be more dangerous than anything so they had to go. So after taking these rocks out we flew by 2 water breaks and before we knew it, it was time for breakfast. After breakfast we got back to work in Darrly's square removing dirt and more dirt. We finally reached the floor which happened to be really uneven and mixed in material. Part of the floor in that square was flat rock and the other part was plaster. The plaster was much higher than the rock level so they were thinking that maybe they covered the rock flooring with plaster and then had marble flooring because we were finding so much loose marble all over in different colors. But in the end they think that the marble came from the doorway which we didnt dig into very much. But more towards the end of the day Ted and I started sweeping the floor to find exactly where the plaster started and stoped. Today there was a really huge find in Dr. Chambers square. It was a face that was painted in Plaster that was compacted on to a rock. This was the best find for the whole year so far! They had to be careful in the area that they found it because they didn't know if there might be another piece of it on another rock. Everyone came over to take pictures of it and we stopped work for about 15- 20 min because they had to get Arthur over to our site to take a look at it as well as transport the rock to our eating area so peopel can take a better look at it. That was a great way to end the day!
Today was an interesting day. The first thing that we had to do was all gather in Dr.Chambers square for directions on what our job will be for removing the loose dirt that the tractor filled into ZZ99. Since we wanted to get all the dirt removed before breakfast because we didn't have shade in that particular area we had to move fast. We had 3-4 people filling up buckets, 1 person grabbing the filled up buckets and handing them to another person on the ledge above them, then finally to the person who would lift the filled up buckets up to the people that are taking wheelbarrow fulls and dumping it over the cliff. We had another person that would catch the empty buckets that we had dumped and throw them back into the pit to be filled up again. This system worked out really well and we finally got our timing down 5 min into it which was good. Since we were moving at such a fast pace, we did 20 of work and then 10 of break which was really needed because we were all sweating so much we needed time to refuel our bodies and have some rest to go back at it again. After each water break we had to switch jobs because they wanted us to use different muscles so we didn't get tired as fast. I think we did a toatl af about 3 rotations only because we were working really hard and we moved so much dirt! During the rotations we were using 2 wheelbarrows because there was so much dirt we had to move fast. In the process, we lost one of the wheelbarrows over the cliff because it was in such bad shape the bucket part just fell off with the dirt inside leaving the base and the wheel above! After ZZ99 was all cleared out we went back to our original square to keep working. We didn't find anything interesting in our square today except dirt and more rock!! Only two more days of work!!
The first thing that we did when we got up the hill was move huge rocks! What a great way to start the day. Since we had cleared so much dirt out yesterday we revealed a bunch of ricks that we waited to do early in the day today instead of doing them yesterday after breakfast when we are tired. This rock moving process takse longer than you might think. we cant just all grab a hold of the rock and set it up on the balk and grab the next one right away. Once we all grab a hold of the rock, we have to slowly walk it over to the ledge and drop it. Then we have to get up on the ledge and lift it up onto the next ledge above us. After all the lifting is done, we have to roll the rock into the wheelbarrow and lift the wheelbarrow up and 2 people have to maneuver it over to the cliff and figure out a way to dump it over the edge without going with it. Once the first rock is totally removed, it is time to get another! When we finally got all the rocks that were loose, it was time to start digging again. We are still in ZZ0 removing the dirt to try and reach the floor and dig into the doorway. Today was a rough day because it was really hot out and there wasn't much of a breeze up on the hill. Tomorrow will be a change of pace as we are going to finish removing the dirt from ZZ99 with the whole team!
Today we ( Darryl, Jim, John, Ted, and I) are still digging in the square ZZ0. Our goal is to get to the level of the column that is on the side of the cleared square next to us. Since we only have 5 people, mostly 4 because Ted is usually doing the drawings, we are at a much slower pace than Dr. Chambers square because they have the rest of the group working in that square. We didnt have that many rocks to move today, only about 3 which is really good! Since we had 4 people we rotated possisions every water break and that meant that we each had to do everything atleast 3 times by the end of the day. This all included one job being filling up buckets, another grabbing the buckets and setting them up on the ledge, someone on the ledge taking those buckets and handing them up on another ledge above them, and lastly someone taking the filled buckets and putting them in the wheelbarrow and dumping the dirt over the cliff. this process goes over and over again untill the next water break and then it is time to switch jobs. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard but when you have had the wheelbarrow job a few times i the sun, it can really drain you and you start to get tired super fast which isn't good. Most days I try and force myself to drink about 3 liters of water but today it was so hot it went down easy plus more! We didn't quite reach our goal today but we will finnish it tomorrow for sure plus some more. I am ready for more heat tomorrow!
We started off the day trying to set up the tarps before the sun came up. It was more of a pain than it normally is because we need extensions in the legs of the poles and we didn't have pins to tighten them up when we finally got the extensions. This process took about 30 when it should only take about 10. Once we got the frame all set up and to the right height it needed to be, it was time to drag the huge tarp over the top. The tarp we are using is a huge black tarp and not the normal small green ones most groups use. It took 6 people to move the tarp to the place it needed to be. We came across an issue of how to lift the tarp on top of the frame. Ted and I since we are the tallest ones grabbed two gray plastic tubes and hoisted the tarp up over the frame very carefully so we didn't fall off the balk (the wall in between two squares). After this was complete it was time to start digging. Our goal for the day was to take down the balk some. After bucket and bucket of dirt we got worn about 1-2 feet over the whole thing which is a lot of progress considering how big the balk is. One week left!!
This morning I still wasn't feeling the best but I couldn't stay in my room for another day and not do anything so I went up the hill. It took me more time to get up the hill than it did on the first day! When i made it up the hill I was relieved and sat down and drank water right away because I wasn't feeling the best. The other group started working right away but our group had to wait for Dr. Schuler to take a look at the greater picture of our square and decide what we should do next. While he is just moving his fingers through the dirt to see if there is a doorway or not, he discovers an oil lamp in a matter of seconds of being in the square! This made Jim mad because at the end of the day yesterday he was told to stop working in the area where it was found. We started working and a few min later Jim found another oil lamp which made him happy. We now have a total of three complete oil lamps. I was running the wheelbarrow most of the day because we didn't have that many buckets of dirt to haul out so it gave me time to rest if I needed it which was nice because I still wasn't 100%. At breakfast today we had the usual hard boiled eggs, bread, jelly, peanut butter, and cucumbers and tomatoes. The problem we had today was that the Israeli group decided to steal two benches of ours from the eating area so some people had to stand while they ate their breakfast. After breakfast the weather seemed to stay somewhat cool and there was a little breeze which was nice. Another day of great work! We will see what tomorrow brings!
Today I woke up and felt super sick. I did not go up on the hill today because I needed to get some sleep and stay out of the heat. After the others returned from the dig I found out that Ted had found a complete oil lamp in the place that we were digging! This was really exciting because this was the first oil lamp for the year. It is about 3 inches long and about and inch and a half tall. There are two holes on the top. One is bigger than the other. on the edges of it there is a design carved in it. It looks like vines or something we can't quite tell at this point. We are hoping to find more in the next days to come. I hope I am feeling better tomorrow so I can go up on the hill.
Today was not the best day for me. Halfway through the day I started getting weak and felt super hot and dizzy. During each water break I tried to drink as much water as I could because I knew I was getting dehydrated. The more water I drank the worse I felt. I tried to not think about it and kept working. The things we found today seemed like it was never going to end. One small find after another. It was fun at first because we had about 10 finds in about 45 min but I was Darryl's assistant in writing down the details and measurements about each small find that we had collected so it was getting old fast. The type of things that we found were nails, big pottery pieces that made up a whole bowl, and a ring. Every small find that we record we have to record the size of the object, the distance to where it was found between two walls, and how many cm below surface level it was found.
So today was the first day without the Canadian crew minus Dr.Chambers who decided to stay longer. We normally have about 5-6 people working in a square with four squares going at one time. Today we only had two squares going and had only 11 people total on the hill. It was a very interesting experience because we were getting used to such a fast pace to working really hard and not seeing any results. Today our goal was to move all the dirt and rocks away up to two columns that are in Daryl's square. We started doing this and were getting pretty far when it was breakfast time. After breakfast we got some news that we had to cover the ZZ99 floor that we previously revealed. We had to do this because the bulk (wall) was too high and it was dangerous to anyone working in that square. The tractor will be coming first thing in the morning to lower the bulk about 2 meters to make it safe to work. We had to instantly change our plan and this made things slow down super fat than what we had originally planed for the day. After the floor had been covered, we got sent back to our original jobs of hauling out dirt. About 2 minutes after diggin again I found a perfect ball that was made out of rock. They think it was used for a game of some sort. That was about the only small find item for the day because we didnt get very deep in digging. I am going to bring my Ipod speakers up to the site tomorrow so we can listen to music while playing in the dirt!! Dr. Schuler's idea not mine! :D I hope tomorrow will be more productive!
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