Count down to the Field!!

Everyone has passports, the readings have been uploaded, t-shirts are ready and waiting, and trowels are being purchased - we are ready for Marj Rabba!! Before we all meet up in Karmi'el YMR, ACH, and MMK will be hanging out in this landscape out in the badlands of Jordan (eastern desert near the Saudi Border). No running water, no electricity, meat from cans, and amazing night skies this is extreme archaeology. 

Congratulations

Team member Jill Waller took her last undergraduate final today.  She'll be graduating from UChicago on June 9, 2012.

JW and MW during the 2012 Season

Good Luck at Johns Hopkins from The Marj Rabba Team

Now that our team for the Galilee Prehistory Project is set, we wanted to share some information, plans and schedules for the 2012 field season at Marj Rabba. 

CH on the ladder assisted by EH and LM

 We will be 24 people, a perfect size for our project goals this summer (our largest team ever!). Our group includes high school students, undergraduates from a variety of universities, people from as far away as New Zealand, graduate students, recent PhDs, specialists, and old people (the directors).

What are our goals this summer? First, we plan to open up a broader excavation area so that the exposure of walls, buildings and other features are maximized. This will allow us to gain some insight into the spatial patterns of the site. At the same time, we hope to remove some architecture, exposed and carefully recorded in previous seasons. Finally, we plan to explore some new areas, and new technologies!

A few important details to keep in mind.  Yorke leaves very soon (Saturday, May 26) for Jordan. During June he will have no phone or email access. But that is no reason for panic! The truly organized person, Morag, will be in Chicago until June 12.

Looking for a new trowel - check these out!

http://www.marshalltown.com/productDetail.aspx?prodID=16946
http://www.pasthorizons.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=101

Marshalltown vs. WHS trowels have long been the subject of heated debate.  We leave it to you to decide but Marshalltown has recently adopted a rather "WHS looking" type of trowel - cheaper and you can order online. No need to get the holster!

Chalcolithic 101

Do you want to burnish up on your Chalcolithic (or do you just want to find out why that's a bad pun)?  Then check out these publications by our Director, Yorke Rowan.

Welcome!

This is the blog for the 2012 excavations of the prehistoric site of Marj Rabba in the Galilee, Israel, a Chalcolithic period (c. 4500-3600 BCE) site in the lower hill country of the Galilee. Our fourth season of excavations begins in early July and continues for 5 weeks. The Chalcolithic period, a key transitional time between the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, is much less intensively studied than the biblical periods, yet was fundamental to the formation of the early towns and cities. In the southern Levant (Israel, Palestine Authority and Jordan), the Chalcolithic period witnessed the first metallurgy, the earliest pottery formed on a wheel and dramatic new burial practices for the dead. This research initiative, launched by the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, is designed to examine the reasons for these dramatic changes in the way people lived, worshipped, raised plants and animals, and interacted with their neighbors. During the 2012 season, our team will expand the excavation area, explore the well-preserved earlier strata, and hopefully test some new areas. We will regularly update this blog during the excavations. You can also visit our Facebook group, MarjRabba – The Galilee Prehistory Project for additional photographs and contributions from the participants. We hope that you will visit often, and we will be on the lookout for your comments.