Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A Note on the Joys of Finding a Wall

Today we think we found a wall. Hallejuhah! Imagine pick-axeing through dirt and roots and smashing rooftiles every which way (smashy smashy), and then coming across a huge limestome boulder.
With right angled corners.
And it's flat, and seems to go on forever.
And after you find the end of it, there is another one right beside it.
And if you're really lucky, a third one.
There is an archaeology joke: you find one rock, and it's a nuisance. Two, and it's a wall.
Not very funny, is it? I guess we aren't the most hilarious bunch. Apparently historians think archaeologists are a brutish, lump-headed force, who spend all their time playing in the dirt and drinking in the evenings, confirming what is already known. Anyway, the joke means that we are so eager to find signs that we are uncovering human habitation that we will read as much as we can into very little.
But in the stoa, we have pretty good evidence that yes, this is a wall. Because it runs North to South, and two trenches away from me to the North is Elina, and today she found some big limestone tumble even with mine. Now all we need to do is wait and see what Gino uncovers in the same area when he catches up. It is so exciting also because we are mainly excavating for architectural features (as opposed to finds), so this is a major discovery for us.
On another note: it has been so hot here lately that Elina's plastic on her sunglasses melted and warped. Cheap H&M.

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