{"id":93372,"date":"2026-02-25T06:45:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T11:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=93372"},"modified":"2026-02-24T16:16:59","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:16:59","slug":"more-than-meets-the-trowel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/archaeology-today\/more-than-meets-the-trowel\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than Meets the Trowel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Azekah<\/a>

Rising with the sun at the Azekah excavations in Israel. Photo by Efrat Sheffi, Courtesy Lautenschl\u00e4ger Azekah Expedition.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

In joining an excavation for the first time, many dig volunteers might dream of discovering the Ark of the Covenant<\/a>, the next Rosetta Stone<\/a>, or a magnificent golden statue hidden away in the remains of some ancient temple. The reality of the dig experience, of course, is far more mundane, with volunteers spending most of their days in the trench excavating pottery sherds, discarded pieces of bone, and, not surprisingly, lots and lots of dirt.<\/p>\n

Yet, as any archaeologist will tell you, it is often the most mundane, ordinary, and entirely expected finds that can reveal the most dramatic insights into the ancient past. Here, we visit several of Israel\u2019s most prominent excavations<\/a> to learn about seemingly routine discoveries that, when studied with the latest scientific methods and techniques<\/a>, completely changed how archaeologists thought about a site\u2019s history, function, or ancient inhabitants.<\/p>\n

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Tel Hadid<\/h4>\n
\"Tel<\/a>

Agricultural terraces surrounding the ancient mound of Tel Hadid in central Israel. Photo by Omer Ze\u2019evi-Berger, Tel Hadid Archaeological Project.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

At Tel Hadid<\/a>, a large multiperiod site located in the area of modern Tel Aviv, the local topography was dramatically shaped by the countless generations who settled there<\/a> across the millennia. Especially notable are the many agricultural terraces that ring the slopes of the ancient mound. But when were these terraced fields\u2014a common sight in the region\u2019s rural landscape\u2014first built and cultivated? Unable to date the terraces using traditional means (such as pottery or radiocarbon dating<\/a>), the team turned to optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating<\/a>, which measures how much time has passed since buried soil samples were last exposed to sunlight. Using this method on soils from the terraces, archaeologists found they were likely first farmed in the Byzantine period (c. 324\u2013634 CE), revealing the continuous nature of site formation processes at Tel Hadid.<\/p>\n

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In the free eBook, A Digger\u2019s Life: A Guide to the Archaeology Dig Experience<\/strong>, step into an archaeological excavation and find out what it takes to find, prepare for, and work on a dig.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t