By Gary D. Myers, NOBTS communications
Finished. Today we wrapped up the 2016 Tel Gezer Water System Expedition. We removed the last few buckets of dirt and pottery from each of the excavation area and began the clean-up process by 10:30 a.m. yesterday. Today we took final photos of each area, took down the dig tent, and packed all the tools and equipment for storage.
This was a great dig season – with important finds that we cannot mention and new questions to answer. Each year we are inching closer to a firm answer about the date of the water system – the primary question we are looking to answer.
We collected countless pottery sherds, charcoal samples and ancient material items. Much study will take place in the months to come. Databases of pottery information were created and will be studied closely. The pottery evidence is the most important aspect of our research – the pottery will help us determine the date of the system and who built it. Experts in archaeology have developed finely tuned typologies of pottery in Israel – these experts (like Dr. Eli Yannai) can date a piece of pottery within a 100 years or less.
Even with all the research left to close out the books on this season’s dig, before we left the tel today, the directors began planning for next season’s dig.
End of dig updates with Dr. Warner are coming soon. Watch the video below for a walk through our site on a typical work day, and go all the way into the cavern in the water system!
