Bones In The Tomb

What we found the most of in this 3500 year old Canaanite tomb was bones. Here Neta the Israeli anthropologist is checking my work and analyze what she could even before we removed them to her lab.

The ancient Canaanite you see laying there turned out to be male and was about 35 years old when he died. A normal life span at the time.

What a day that was.

The Tomb

This tomb was hollowed out 3500 years ago by a Canaanite family and was one of three off the main chamber. Burstmode ask about what they left there with the dead. 

The body was lowered down the 45 foot long shaft and laid out in the middle of tomb. If a previous set of bones was in the middle they were pushed aside to make a place for the new resident. The family then had a last meal with the dearly departed. The pottery dishes were left there. 

We found thousands of carbonized olive pits in the tombs so we know that olives were part of the meal. Some of the bodies had personal items like a scarab seal, necklace, rings, or tools. Most of the artifacts we found were pottery plates small jugs and wine amphora. More to come on this subject.

The Tombs of Ashkelon

Forty-five feet down from the previous picture is my dig site Canaanite Tombs that were last used for burials around 1500 BC. Tony the site supervisor is sitting at the bottom of the shaftthat  the ancients used to bring their dearly beloved's bodies down to the tombs.

Yes the Canaanite's dug down about 45 feet beneath their homes and hollowed out tombs in the sandstone. In this one there was one large opening and three smaller tombs around the edges. You can see the opening of one of them on the left.

You can also see some of our tools and supplies. The rubber baskets - called "goffa's" are made from recycled truck tires. We filled them with dirt from the tombs and carried them up the 45 feet to the sifting area where we sifted each one to make sure we did not miss any Small artifact.

Ashkelon Dig Site

Ashkelon is a city on the Israel Mediterranean coast just north of Gaza. It was first settled by the Canaanite people About 4,000 BC and by 1300 BC was a well developed city with mud brick walls  and arched gates.

This is a picture of my dig site in 1999 and the Canaanite tombs that I worked in are over the edge and about 45 feet down. This was a wonderful place to dig and the seven weeks I spent there were not enough.

Still trying to work out posting pictures on blogger.

Digging

Archaeology is a great love in my life and I have excavated in Ashkelon and Petra since 1999.
This is my second time around for Digging In The Dirt as the frist journal on journals space is no more.
More to come soon.
Larry Odom-Groh