Tel Dor, Israel

“Get tough or die,” as Dor veteran Merrill likes to say, is the best way to describe my first day working in Area D5 at the new Tel Dor expedition. At the start of the dig, we all naively thought we were going to be able to stay clean. What were we thinking? The diggers from D4 were shocked as they watched our bucket chain toss full buckets of dirt to each other. They said things like, “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” and “Are they crazy? Someone is going to get hurt.” Their area supervisor later told us that she and the other supervisors were laughing to themselves, since D4 was about to start its own bucket chain. Despite some cuts and bruises, however, we all came out a little stronger and much more coordinated.

For the past three years, I have been pursuing an undergraduate degree in anthropology through the University of Manitoba in Canada. Having been fascinated by the world of archaeology since childhood, I decided to register for my first class in the anthropology department. Attending that first lecture on physical anthropology and archaeology, I realized I had a real passion for the subject. I quickly decided to pursue it as my major. When I signed up for the 2008 season at Tel Dor (under the direction of Ilan Sharon and Ayelet Gilboa), I had no idea what to expect. For the first time since I had begun studying anthropology and archaeology, I was going to have to apply the knowledge that I had learned.