Exciting News!

Greetings Junior Archaeologists!  I have taken a break from blogging the last few months as my preschoolers have been keeping me busy, but I am back and have a HUGE announcement about the archaeological dig in Ashkelon!​

​Junior Archaeologist Assignment:

Archaeologist Tracy showed us where she was going to be opening up a new area using a topographical map. A topographical map is a way to show high places (hills and mountains) and low places (valleys) on a flat map.  Here is a link to the map archaeologist Tracy was looking at. Can you print it off and identify the features of the Ashkelon Dig site she discussed in the video?​ Can you find the sea? Grid 51 (where I dig!)? Can you find the high points? Can you draw in the roads and lines of the city walls?  Thinking about what Tracy said regarding how they choose places to excavate (location to roads and height) what other grid do you think might be exciting to excavate?

**The image used by Tracy and linked here was originally published in Ashkelon 1.  Click here to learn about the Ashkelon research publications.​

Question of the Day:​

Archaeologist Tracy said that 2 reasons people in ancient Ashkelon would build on a high place were that they wanted the view and the cool breeze. Can you think of some other reasons why someone might want to build on a high place?​

Were the dogs pets?

One of the things zooarchaeologist Paula was trying to understand this season was what was life like for the dogs in ancient Ashkelon.  Were they pets? Did they live in houses? Were the part of the religion in Ashkelon? Here she tells us what she knows now about the dogs and how the dog skeletons helped her to learn about life for the ancient dogs of Ashkelon.

Junior Archaeology Assignment

In the video Paula talked about how diseases made the bones in the dogs sick and made them weaker. She said she could see the places the bones were sick when she looked at the skeletons.  Here is an experiment to see what happens to sick bones. Take 2 chicken bones, put one in a cup of vinegar and watch how it changes compared to the bone that is not in vinegar. The vinegar is like the diseases that the Ashkelon dogs have and makes the bone weaker.  E-mail me pictures  of you performing this experiment and your thoughts on the bone in vinegar and the one out of vinegar at nmoos@cps.edu. I will post them on the blog!

Question of the Day

If these dogs were not pets, when do you think dogs began to become pets that lived with people?

More Ancient Dogs

In today's video zooarchaeologist Paula tells us about what time period the dogs were found in and what she knows about the dog by looking at its skull.

Junior Archaeologist Activity

Paula is able to look at animal skulls and determine what animal it belongs to. Can you do the same? Here is a link to a game that tests your ability to match skulls with animals. Good luck! Post in the comments section how you did! I can't wait to hear about the fun you will have.

Question of the Day

What parts of the skeletons do you think are important for Paula to look at in order to identify animals?

Update

on 2012-07-24 06:13 by Nichole Moos

You are right on Nina! Every dog skull is a little different and Paula is able to tell us information about the dog by looking at its skull.  She also looks at the dog's bones to tell about the type of life it had. Was the dog sick? Did it hurt itself? This information helps her to understand the story behind the dogs of Ashkelon.

Ancient Dogs

The digging season in Ashkelon is over, but the staff is still here finishing up projects and writing.  One of the big projects that was finished by the zooarchaeologist in Ashkelon this year was the processing of the ancient dogs. The ancient dogs of Ashkelon were discovered 15 years ago. It is the largest dog burial ever found. Here Paula, the zooarchaeologist, shares one of the puppy skeletons with us. Over the next few days I will share more videos of the dogs and what we have learned about them because of our work this summer.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Look around your home, what things in your home have bones? Can you draw what you think the bones look like in the living things in your home?

Question of the Day

Why do you think so many dogs were buried near Ashkelon?

Junior Archaeology Assignments Week 5

2 Junior Archaeologists found something in their home that is made of stone and grinds!  Great find!!

Ashkelon Rocks!

Today was the last day at the dig site. We spent the morning sweeping and taking photos of all of our hard work.  Then we took down a couple of walls and locked up the grid until next summer.  Earlier in the summer Nathan asked about the sorts of rocks we find here in Israel. Geologist Dave went through the rock collection and pulled out some of his favorites to share with you all.  Here you go!

Junior Archaeologist Activity

How is stone used in your life? Do you have stone in your house? outside of your house? Is stone used in an interesting way in your neighborhood? Take pictures and e-mail them to me at nmoos@cps.edu and I will post them on the blog!

Question of the Day

What other things do you think rocks might have been used for in Ashkelon? Can you think of other uses for rocks in your home and neighborhood?

Philistine House

It is the end of the digging season here at Ashkelon, and I wanted to share with you some of the neat things that have been discovered in other grids. In Grid 38 they uncovered an ancient Philistine house. The Philistines were people who lived all around Israel 3000 years ago. Archaeologist Adam wanted to share the house with you!  

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Adam wants to know how the rooms in your house are connected. Do they share walls? doors?  How do you get from one place to another in your home?  Draw a map of the rooms in your house and e-mail it to me at nmoos@cps.edu and I will share it with him. I will also post it on the blog!  

Question of the Day

Why do you think the house had a built in bench?  What do you think the shells on the floor near the bench were used for?

Symbols

When I travel in Israel most signs are written in 3 languages English, Hebrew and Arabic. Here are a couple of signs I have seen while driving in Israel:

A road sign telling me where different towns are located. At the top is Hebrew, then Arabic, and at the bottom is English.

This sign is in Arabic and English.

These modern times signs show us that people in different parts of the world write words in different ways. They use different symbols to say the same thing.  The same was true in ancient times. Here is a video of archaeologist Josh showing us a symbol on a store jar handle.  

This store handle was found right by the loom weights. Here is a link to that video in case you have forgotten!

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you create your own symbol system (or alphabet) and write your name? Maybe the letter F can be represented by a flower or the letter N by a nut.  Take a picture of your symbol system and your name and send it to me at nmoos@cps.edu. I will be sure to post it on the blog!

Question of the Day

Josh said that the meaning of the symbol is unknown.  What do you think the symbol on the jar means? What do you think the archaeologists here can do to determine the meaning of the symbol on the jar?

Taboon!

As the dig is winding down, we had our last digging day today, we have begun to take out some special items that we found during the season. One of those items is an ancient oven called a taboon.  Here is archaeologist Mark to tell you about it.

Here is a picture of what a modern time (remember modern time is what you live in!) taboon looks like.

Like Mark said, the bread dough is slapped on the inside of the oven to cook.  While it looks different then the one we found in Grid 51, it is still used the same way!

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

One of the tastiest things to eat in Israel is bread called Taboon bread! It is made in a modern day taboon like the one you see above.  Can you make taboon bread at home? Here is a recipe for you to make (with the help of your dad/mom). Great news, you don't even need a taboon; you get to make it in a frying pan! Make sure you take pictures of you making the bread and e-mail them to me at nmoos@cps.edu, and I will post them on the blog.

Question of the Day

What other sorts of things do you think were cooked in taboon ovens? 

Update

on 2012-07-18 13:42 by Nichole Moos

Hi Miss Kerrie!

I am working on editing the Dr. Hoffman video and will be posting it next week! Thanks for following our adventures!

Lions Tooth!

A few days ago, Ms. Tracy found a lion's tooth in her grid. I went and talked to the bone expert, Paula, to learn about it and lions in Ashkelon. Here is what she had to say!

Junior Archaeology Assignment

Several weeks ago I posted a video about a sheep-goat tooth.  How is this tooth like that tooth? How are the 2 teeth different? Look in the mirror at your teeth. Can you find the tooth in your mouth that is like this sharp lion's tooth?

2 great books to read about teeth are: Whose Teeth are These? or Amazing Animal Teeth! Can you find teeth in those books that are like the lion's or sheep-goat's teeth?

Question of the Day

Why do you think I visited the bone expert to learn about his tooth? Why do you think there are not lions in Ashkelon anymore?

Update

on 2012-07-18 14:01 by Nichole Moos

Right on Oliver!

Boats!

On my field trip away from Ashkelon I visited a museum that has an ancient fishing boat. The boat is over 2000 years old!  I was lucky enough to get to talk with the archaeologist, Jerome Hall, who has been studying the boat and restoring it.  Jerome is a marine/underwater archaeologist and when I saw him he was looking at how the boat was made so that he can share what he knows with other archaeologists.  Here is a video of him talking about the 2000 year old fishing boat.

The metal you see around the boat is not part of the original boat. This was created to display the boat in the museum. It makes it so all sides of the boat can be seen, even though people can't get too close to it.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Archaeologist Jerome said he is looking at mortise and tenon joints. In particular he is looking at the pegs that hold the joints together. Here is a picture of a mortar and tenon joint:

The skinner piece of wood is pushed through the opening and a wooden peg is pushed through the hole to hold the 2 pieces together. Can you look at objects in your house, like furniture and drawers, to see if you see any mortise and tenon joins? Does anything have wooden nails? If you have a boat at your home, look at how it is held together. Do you see wooden nails or mortise and tenon joints? Take pictures of what you see and I can post them on the blog (e-mail me at nmoos@cps.edu).

Question of the Day

Do you think if this boat were put on water now it would float? Why/why not?

Cliff Castles

I am on day 2 of my away from Ashkelon adventure, and I have been visiting places that have things that we do not have at Ashkelon. In order to do that I am visiting places that are not as old as Ashkelon.  Today I visited a place called Nimrod's Fortress, a big castle like building built on the top of a hill. While at the fortress, I noticed this interesting long, skinny hole in the corner of a room. My friend Lucy is standing near it.

Yesterday when I was at a cave castle at the Arbel Cliffs I saw the same thing. Here is a video:

What do you think this long opening is for? Remember, I am looking at old castles!

Junior Archaeology Assignment

The castles I am visiting are made out of rock. Can you build something out of rocks? Is it easy or difficult? Take a picture and send it me at nmoos@cps.edu.

Question of the Day

Both of the castles I visited were built high up on hills and into cliffs.  Why do you think castles were built up high or into cliffs?

Update

on 2012-07-15 14:12 by Nichole Moos

Hi Friends!

Here is one of the friends who went on my field trip with me explaining to you what those holes were used for.

Those holes are called loopholes and are places that arrows were shot out of. They are skinning on the outside making it hard for enemies to shoot arrows into the castle and wider on the inside so that people inside the castle had room to shoot the arrows. The windows are about 4 feet tall and 4 inches wide on the outside.  The places that I visited had already been excavated, and they have been restored (cleaned up and made to look like it did back when it was originally built).  So, I am not discovering/finding anything for the first time, but I am seeing what other people have found.  At each place I visit, when I enter they give me a map to follow so I can make sure to see all of the cool stuff that they have found. I will make sure to show the maps to you when we start school in fall.

Great thinking on why you might build a castle up on a hill. You are all right as to why they built their houses on hills.  Would you like to live on a hill? 

The castle on the hill I went to was called Nimrod Fortress and we saw where a moat once was, where the drawbridge was, towers, where they kept their water and secret tunnels.  At the castle in the cliff, we saw different rooms and lots of stairs.

Mosaic Floor

I'm on a field trip for the next few days! I am north of Ashkelon visiting different archaeological sites. Today I was in Caesarea and saw this beautiful mosaic floor. Check it out:

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you find mosaics in your community? Are they floors? walls? public art? Take a picture and send them to me at nmoos@cps.edu

Question of the Day (actually, today there are 2 questions!)

Why do you think we have not found floors like this in Ashkelon? and Using what you have learned about why people decorate objects with different pictures, why do you think the floors here include pictures of people and animals?

Update

on 2012-07-15 13:43 by Nichole Moos

Hi Smart Class!

I am back in Ashkelon now. I went to north Israel for 3 days last week and south Israel for 2 days, and the temperature was about 95-100 degrees each day. Today is the hottest day it has been in Israel all year; it's over 100 degrees. I heard it has been really hot in Chicago, just like it is here!  

I drove to the towns I visited on my field trip. The places I visited were: Nazareth, Tiberias, Ban'ias, Capernaum, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, and Ein Gedi. I learned LOTS and have many things to share with you.

I talked with Ms. Tracy about the mosaic floors I saw in Caesarea and she said the fancy name for what they are made of is tessera. Tessera can be marble, glass, stone, or ceramic. So, the floors I saw were made of all of those different materials. What were the mosaics you found made of?

Loom Weights

Over the last few days our archaeologists friends in Grid 38 have been uncovering loom weights. A loom is what people use to make fabric. They weave thread together to make cloth. Here is a picture of a loom:

The rock like objects at the bottom of the loom are the loom weights. Here is a video of archaeologist Josh explaining his loom weights.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you weave something? Here is a link to make a loom in your door.  Make sure you take photos of what you weave and send them to me so I can post them on the blog at nmoos@cps.edu.

Question of the Day

How do you think we make fabric during modern times? 

Post wonders, questions, and ideas in the comments section so we can reply!

Update

on 2012-07-10 18:53 by Nichole Moos

Great ideas friends! Fabric is still made on looms, but they are now mostly machine looms.  Ella I like the idea of having some run to make the machine work, and Emmit, I would like to see a picture of the machine you are talking about- it sounds really interesting! Annabel, you are right, knitting is another way people make clothes. I wonder how they make the yarn that your grandma uses to make the clothes?

Smart Class- The coolest thing I have found so far is this:

This guys is made out of chalk and we have named him Gus, and the archaeologists think he is a game piece but nothing like it has been found in Ashkelon before so they aren't for sure.  

Negev Desert

Saturday's are our rest day here in Ashkelon.  Instead of resting yesterday, I went on a hike with some of the archaeologists in the Negev Desert. I thought it would be really hot, but it was actually breezy, so it was not too bad to walk in.  Remember, a desert is a place that does not get a lot of rain. While walking the desert we found a really old place where people use to live. We call the time they lived the Neolithic time or the stone age. The time that you live is called modern time. During the stone age people used stones and rocks for their tools. At Ashkelon, we don't have stone age items. We have items that came after the stone age, when people started using metal for items (remember the neat jewelry archaeologist Adam taught us about). Dana and David thought you might like seeing a video of how people lived during the Stone Age, and wanted to show you some of the neat things that they found.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you find things in your home used to grind, mix and prepare food? Are they made of stone? Can you find things in your house that are made of stone or could have been used in the Stone Age? Take a picture and send it to me at nmoos@cps.edu and I will post it on the blog.

Question of the Day

Most of our tools in modern time are not made of stone. Why do you think we don't use stone tools anymore?

Post your wonders, questions, and ideas in the comments section. I can't wait to share them with Dana and David!

Junior Archaeology Assignments Week 3

This junior archaeologist was on vacation with her family in England and while visiting a museum saw this giant generator.  She remembered from one of our first videos that we have a generator at Grid 51, here in Ashkelon.  Ours isn't nearly this big, but everyone was super impressed with her great memory and connections to archaeology. What do you think this generator was used to power? I will post a picture of ours tomorrow!

 After watching the video on the alabaster jug, Nathan found this alabaster box at his house. I wonder why is box has colors on it and ours was plain? Great find, Nathan!

Jewelry sort! After watching the video, this JA sorted her grandma's jewelry into groups including: stone, gold, silver, and clay. She said the clay one she is holding is the most special because her aunt made it.

Waffle Day

Today was Waffle Day! We actually made waffles right next to where we dig. It was quite fun, and a very special day. Our friend, Sam, brought a waffle maker from the United States to Israel for us to use. How cool is that! Here is the staff enjoying their waffles.

This is a video I have been saving since I got here, but thought today might be a great day to talk about teeth we find. We find all kinds of teeth animal and human!  Here Alethia tells you about a tooth we found here in Ashkelon.

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

We use different teeth for chewing different items. Can you find something that you use your back teeth for? How about our front teeth? What is something you need to use your pointy teeth to eat? Post what you find in the comments section!

Question of the Day

Why are human and animal teeth shaped differently?

Update

on 2012-07-08 15:56 by Nichole Moos

Right on Iris! We use different teeth to eat soft and hard foods. Some of our teeth grind, while others rip and tear.  The same is true with animals, some animals eat only meat and need sharp ripping/tearing teeth.  This animal, the sheep goat, needs grinding teeth because it eats mainly grass.  Today Ms. Tracy found a LION'S tooth!! How exciting is that!? I am going to visit the bone expert tomorrow to talk about it. Why do you think I visit the bone expert to talk about teeth?

Finds Display!

Last night was the finds display. During this special event the archaeologists from Ashkelon share all of their best finds! At the finds display geologist Dave was excited to see the alabaster jug we found. Alabaster is a type of rock, so as the rock expert he really wanted to teach you all about it.  

I was thrilled to see some of the things I helped find on the table.  Here is a video of all the neat things I helped to find. (Archaeologist Mark was acting silly when we made this, so be sure to look for him!)

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Can you find things in your home that come in bottles? Are they in the same sorts of the bottles as this? What types of things come in bottles like the one we found? Take pictures of different bottles you find that you think have an interesting shape and e-mail them to me at nmoos@cps.edu.

Question of the Day

Why do you think the bottle is made of rock? Do you have any rock bottles at your house?

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT

Geologist Dave thought you all might like to see how alabaster is made, but instead of making a rock bottle you get to make rock candy! Here is a link for you to visit with your parents with directions on how to make rock candy. ROCK CANDY RECIPE Make sure to take pictures and e-mail them to me!

I am looking forward to seeing your photos and geologist Dave cannot wait to hear about the bottles in your house. Remember to post wonders, questions, and ideas in the comments section.

Update

on 2012-07-08 16:02 by Nichole Moos

Thanks for the great photo Nathan! I will post it on the blog later today.  How cool is it that things we are finding here you have at home?! Good work hunting for different types of bottles at your house. We don't find any plastic bottles here, but on Friday we did find some different colored glass (blue and green). The pieces were teeny tiny, and we are not quite sure what they are from.  We know they are not from a bottle, though! As for the temperature it is about 95 degrees every day. 102 is SUPER hot for Chicago. Make sure you wear sunscreen and drink lots of water, that's what we do to stay safe in the hot weather here.  

Snail Floor!

Today when excavating the condo Jessica, a dig volunteer, found something strange on her floor.  Check this out!

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

Look for snails in your community. Where do you find them? Are there any in your house?! 

Question of the Day

Jessica said that we have never found snails in a group like this before. Why do you think that on this floor there were so many snails in one place? 

Thanks for all of your great comments on the last 2 posts! We have enjoyed reading them.  Tonight is an important night for the dig, we are having the finds display. The finds display is when we put everything we have found out, eat yummy food, and talk with important people for the dig like the mayor of Ashkelon and the woman who makes sure we have money to dig. What a special night for us!

What am I?

Today while digging I found something very curious. Watch the video and let me know what you think I found.  

Junior Archaeologist Assignment

What do you think this was used for?

Question of the Day

Is there anything in your house that looks like what I found?

Post your answers, wonders, and questions in the comments section. The archaeologists can't wait to hear what you think!

Update

on 2012-07-05 14:33 by Nichole Moos

Great ideas regarding what this little figure is. The interesting thing about this piece is that no other piece like it has been found ever! This is neat because it is something new for everyone, but also a little troublesome because there is nothing to compare it to. Most of the archaeologists agree that it is probably a piece to a game, but we might never know what it is.  How cool is that!