July 4th

Members of the archeology group finally arrived at our base camp on the evening of July 3.  We are staying at a school, the Amman Training Center which was set up by the UN in 1969 to house Palestinian refugees after the 1967 war.  There is generous accommodation that is basic but quite adequate.  The Center is now heavily used throughout the year to train Palestinian young people aged 16 to 22 to help them finish their education and train them for future employment.   We met the director today and she is proud of the success they have had in finding employment for their graduates.

Today was the first of two days that the group was due to spend in orientation.  We learned a great deal about the history of the excavation that began on the Madaba Plain in 1968 and continues.  The director of the dig, Dr Doug Clark from La Sierra University told us that there is still much to discover at the Umayri site and it could keep another generation of archeologists busy for decades.  There are about 40 in our group, a somewhat smaller number of diggers than usual, and I am only one of two volunteers.  All the others are students working on advanced degrees in archeology or anthropology.  There is formal course work for the students with lectures, presentations and special visits to other sites.  i will of course participate in all of those activities.

But today we were instructed in the fine art of digging in dirt.  It really is not like playing in your backyard sandbox.  It takes a judicious approach with pick, trowel and brush.  All the dirt is collected and put through a sieve to capture small items like seeds and small bone fragments that can help inform the experts about the agriculture of the period and what people were eating.  And when some new objects are unearthed the official photographer is called and there is a detailed record of the whole process of uncovering them.

On July 6 we will actually be handed a pick and trowel, assigned to a team responsible for digging in a designated 6 square meter of the site.