**Little Note: The Internet is really sketchy here, so updates are coming at odd times. But I am writing every day. They are going in a Word Document and being posted when the Internet is working! Just FYI.**
Day 3 of Excavation: When I go on a long hike or anything that involves physical exertion for more than just weekend, I find that, whether I’m alone or with a team, I always hit a “wall”.
By the third day, the excitement of a new task is beginning to wear down. You’re getting the hang of things and the physical exertion of the last two days has worn on you to the point that you just feel tired all the time. At“the Wall”, tensions are high, morale is low, and if you’ve studied team development at all, you’d recognize it as a sort of “Storming Stage” (reference for any YLT Staffers out there!), which can effectively be summed up in one phrase, “Low Enthusiasm, Low Skill”.
I’d say we’ve hit the wall here. Today was a bit lagging all around. Everyone was tired and a little short tempered and the med-kit got a serious workout today. I saw band-aids and taped
fingers/hands all around as by the third day, bucket handles were cutting into palms and thumbs, blisters were popping up in less callused places, and the bugs were out en-force. I personally now have three very lovely, un-popped blisters on my palm, just at the base of my pinkie, ring, and middle fingers on my left hand, and one on the way at the base of my pinkie on the right. I do believe it’s from all the pick axing. Yet despite the general tenor of the day, we (that is my trench team) were able to get a bit done. We finished the first layer of Trench 33 and began the first layer of Trench 34, immediately to the east of 33, getting a good portion of it done. Among the things found there included parts of a kylix (type of pottery cup). I also had a cool find. As I was cleaning up Trench 33 with a few of the workmen I spotted a
little round stone with a small hole down the center. It turned out to be an almost completely intact LOOM WEIGHT! It’s rounded mostly, but flat on the bottom and the hole goes all the way through, which is where they threaded the material. What’s really cool about this loom weight was that it was mostly intact. We found two other pieces of loom weights before, but this one could really help tell us about the time period we were looking
at. Right now we’re still trying to find the wall. We can see a few larger stones just breaking the surface that show promise, but we can’t be sure until we excavate lower. Another thing we
can’t be sure about is a silt-type of soil that we refer to as“the Red Death”. Basically it’s likely some sort of sediment left behind from when there was flooding. The only problem is, there is absolutely, positively NOTHING found in “the Red Death”. There is a trench at the dig that goes well over my head with two whole meters of Red Death that borders a wall. What we’re hoping is that said wall actually extends to our trench, or a different wall runs parallel
because we are beginning to see possible signs of “the Red Death”on the western side of Trench 33. The lucky part is, if the stones we can barely see are in fact part of a wall, then the wall could’ve acted like the other one and “trapped” the Red Death on just the west side, leaving the east and Trench 34 free of the Red Death. Like I said before, though, we can’t be certain until we excavate, something that will happen tomorrow. It’s a slow process, but we’ve
got a month to do it. We in Trenches 33 and 34 are determined to find this wall!
Enough of my ramblings. Καληνύχτα.
Day 3 of Excavation: When I go on a long hike or anything that involves physical exertion for more than just weekend, I find that, whether I’m alone or with a team, I always hit a “wall”.
By the third day, the excitement of a new task is beginning to wear down. You’re getting the hang of things and the physical exertion of the last two days has worn on you to the point that you just feel tired all the time. At“the Wall”, tensions are high, morale is low, and if you’ve studied team development at all, you’d recognize it as a sort of “Storming Stage” (reference for any YLT Staffers out there!), which can effectively be summed up in one phrase, “Low Enthusiasm, Low Skill”.
I’d say we’ve hit the wall here. Today was a bit lagging all around. Everyone was tired and a little short tempered and the med-kit got a serious workout today. I saw band-aids and taped
fingers/hands all around as by the third day, bucket handles were cutting into palms and thumbs, blisters were popping up in less callused places, and the bugs were out en-force. I personally now have three very lovely, un-popped blisters on my palm, just at the base of my pinkie, ring, and middle fingers on my left hand, and one on the way at the base of my pinkie on the right. I do believe it’s from all the pick axing. Yet despite the general tenor of the day, we (that is my trench team) were able to get a bit done. We finished the first layer of Trench 33 and began the first layer of Trench 34, immediately to the east of 33, getting a good portion of it done. Among the things found there included parts of a kylix (type of pottery cup). I also had a cool find. As I was cleaning up Trench 33 with a few of the workmen I spotted a
little round stone with a small hole down the center. It turned out to be an almost completely intact LOOM WEIGHT! It’s rounded mostly, but flat on the bottom and the hole goes all the way through, which is where they threaded the material. What’s really cool about this loom weight was that it was mostly intact. We found two other pieces of loom weights before, but this one could really help tell us about the time period we were looking
at. Right now we’re still trying to find the wall. We can see a few larger stones just breaking the surface that show promise, but we can’t be sure until we excavate lower. Another thing we
can’t be sure about is a silt-type of soil that we refer to as“the Red Death”. Basically it’s likely some sort of sediment left behind from when there was flooding. The only problem is, there is absolutely, positively NOTHING found in “the Red Death”. There is a trench at the dig that goes well over my head with two whole meters of Red Death that borders a wall. What we’re hoping is that said wall actually extends to our trench, or a different wall runs parallel
because we are beginning to see possible signs of “the Red Death”on the western side of Trench 33. The lucky part is, if the stones we can barely see are in fact part of a wall, then the wall could’ve acted like the other one and “trapped” the Red Death on just the west side, leaving the east and Trench 34 free of the Red Death. Like I said before, though, we can’t be certain until we excavate, something that will happen tomorrow. It’s a slow process, but we’ve
got a month to do it. We in Trenches 33 and 34 are determined to find this wall!
Enough of my ramblings. Καληνύχτα.