These are the best of the “small finds” (stuff other than pottery that we carry down off the dig site) from the first 2 weeks. We also found lots of nails, but they’re pretty boring to look at, so I’m skipping those photos! Except for Brennan, who’s a student at Concordia, Ann Arbor, ALL the people with the cool finds from the first two weeks are from Irvine. We’re not sure if we want them back (because they find such good stuff) or if we’re glad their gone so that other people get a chance. Just kidding, guys!


Will found this marble mortar used for grinding. If it’s just a plain old kind of rock, we call such items “grinding bowls.”





So here’s Will’s buddy Eric with part of a grinding bowl he found.





Here’s Brennan with a mysterious item made of metal. We’ll see what Small Finds Coordinator Kristina decides to call this curious item in the 2009 report.





Eagle-eyed Jen made this amazing find the first week. I’ve seen fragments of oil lamps before on the dig site and intact ones in museums, but never a fully intact one that just came out of the ground. Good thing it was Jen digging in this spot and not Darryl with a pick axe!



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Ellie is holding another metal item still to be officially named. It’s a tiny spoon with a long handle that may have been used to measure medicine.



Here’s Jen AGAIN wearing the cross (a metal alloy) that she found in the same square as the oil lamp. The cleaned version can be viewed on the main website as one of the rotating photos at the top of the page.





Ashley is pictured here with the coin she found. It’s one of several uncovered the first two weeks. Coins get sent off to a specialist in Haifa for cleaning and identification, so people will have to read the report next year to find out more about the coins!





It’s Tuesday afternoon here. We had a good day on the dig site: croissants for breakfast; Popsicles with our fruit break, AND A REALLY INTERESTING FIND BY ANDREA. I’ll be working on that post next, so stay tuned!!