Friday 27 February 2009
back in Blighty
Landed in LHR and it was 10 deg C and grey... could be summer, could be winter - you just never know with this place, although to be fair the sun's come out this morning. Flying visit to Cambridge, where I began my archaeology students and rabble-rousing 20 years ago - bit scary, really. Off up to Leeds, the land of culture this arvo and then Aber, where Mum and Dad already have a long list of things for me to do. Sleep was fairly high up on my list, so we might have to negotiate.
Saturday 21 February 2009
end of season
Quick pic from the last day of digging - came down onto beautiful thick plaster floors... you kind of need to have trowelled some of the more typical grotty ones to appreciate them. But sweet FA on the floors by way of finds, which is a bit disappointing - posh the building was; wot it was is anyone's guess.
Cold, wet and miserable here in Amman - the vollies have taken the sun with them!
Friday 13 February 2009
LBA palace walls
Just a quickie, as it's all a bit hectic with one week to go. The trench feels basically under control... always an unsettlingly feeling, as archaeology has a habit of making a fool of the presumptive and our best informed predictions.
The Late Bronze Age destruction is poking through in places, which is great. The plaster floors are about 10-30cm below where we're currently at. It's now partly a matter of juggling men and time as we try to expose them all at once for photos. Should be ok if it doesn't rain, and we don't find too much trezur (but if we do, that's a nice problem to have).
Sorry the pic isn't great, half in shade, etc. but I was rushing to plan some of the metre thick LBA walls before hopping on the bus up to Irbid and internet. I think I've found the palatial parking lot (chariots to the west, donkeys on the east please), and audience waiting chamber, before ye olde people went up into the tower building (at the bottom of the photo)... Birq's less sure.
When I'm not doing trench stuff, I'm puddling mudbricks to find out what palaces, temples and humble abodes were built out of, but I won't bore you with photos of the 40 bricks I've analysed so far. Suffice to say, some are half a metre long and weigh over 30kg, whilst others are tiddlers.
Knackered... but happy as a 'khanzir bil wattel' as they would say round here, if creatures that go oink weren't haram.
The Late Bronze Age destruction is poking through in places, which is great. The plaster floors are about 10-30cm below where we're currently at. It's now partly a matter of juggling men and time as we try to expose them all at once for photos. Should be ok if it doesn't rain, and we don't find too much trezur (but if we do, that's a nice problem to have).
Sorry the pic isn't great, half in shade, etc. but I was rushing to plan some of the metre thick LBA walls before hopping on the bus up to Irbid and internet. I think I've found the palatial parking lot (chariots to the west, donkeys on the east please), and audience waiting chamber, before ye olde people went up into the tower building (at the bottom of the photo)... Birq's less sure.
When I'm not doing trench stuff, I'm puddling mudbricks to find out what palaces, temples and humble abodes were built out of, but I won't bore you with photos of the 40 bricks I've analysed so far. Suffice to say, some are half a metre long and weigh over 30kg, whilst others are tiddlers.
Knackered... but happy as a 'khanzir bil wattel' as they would say round here, if creatures that go oink weren't haram.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
