ACH "photo fishing" in Jordan

Pre-Excavation Days in Jerusalem!

What have we been doing to prepare for the excavations:
1. Buy fishing pole. CHECK We left the pole that ACH rigged up for the Jordan project at ACOR, so we had to find a new pole.
2. Buy paper bags. FAIL (that's why AD had to buy some last minute stuff in the US). Paper bags, which we use for animal bones, C14 samples etc..., are a scarce commodity here. Hopefully we now have enough.
3. Buy graph paper. FAIL. No one is carrying A2 paper anywhere in Jordan or Israel, so we will have to modify our daily top plan field records. The key to archaeology is flexibility!
4. Check on Hertz van rental. CHECK/FAIL. One van won't be ready until noon on Sunday, so advance staff teams will pick up the equipment at the IAA, load the vans, and then head north to Ort Braude. Co-director Yo will follow on later in the day.
5. Buy yummy hummus for lunch. CHECK! We visited Abu Hassan on Salah edh Din Street for the best hummus in the city. Today perhaps we will visit Al-Shouleh for schwarma. . .
6. Visit antiquities shops and look for Early Bronze Age pots. SADLY A CHECK. But this is research not directly related to Marj Rabba, I digress.
7. Finish field school syllabus. CHECK. Yo is going over the syllabus for the field school and then we will be good to go.

We are now off to buy various last minute paper supplies for field recording. More adventures later.

Yo "photo fishing" a Neolithic structure at Maitland's Mesa, Jordan

E-Day: One Week and counting

Our excavations start one week from today.  Our co-directors have returned from the Jordanian desert and are getting some well deserved rest (after showering and eating something not out of a tin).  Team members are packing and making their way to Israel and some of us are picking up those last minute items that our directors forgot pack. 

We hope you'll follow us as we begin our 4th excavation season at Marj Rabba.

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.