Gezer 2015 – Day Two

Another day of prep work at Gezer.  We begin the real work tomorrow and we are excited to make progress clearing the tunnel.

This morning, the group put up additional shade clothes at the sifting trailer and in an area between the Canaanite gate and the supposed water system opening. Israeli archaeologist Eli Yannai, who serves as the pottery expert for the dig, will lead an investigation to see how the two areas relate to one another.  Later we lowered sandbags into the tunnel and used them to build steps leading to the bottom.

Just before lunch, we began filling a few bags of dirt from the bottom. We’ll pull these to various spots along the tunnel to serve as barriers to catch rocks and debris which could roll down the tunnel. Dr. Parker and Asi (the crane operator) spent a considerable amount of time today developing an new innovation to allow us to drag the bags over the freshly cleaned steps. More on the innovation in later posts.

After lunch, most of the team cleaned weeds and debris where Eli will be digging. It was hot work, but it was also a great time to learn about archaeology and ceramic analysis from an expert.

I’ll keep this post short because we have an early day tomorrow. The dig directors have called for a 5 a.m. start due to the high temperatures forecasted for tomorrow afternoon. We are expecting a high of 105.