April 3rd 2012: Ole Herslund
A few days ago we started excavations in the northern part of the site. The choice of location was based primarily on satellite imagery, (see the attached image) which gives the impression that this area could contain architectural remains from the north town. But alas, after only two days of digging we hit bedrock and the only remains of architecture were a few patches of brownish soil containing just a few tiny fragments of mudbrick. The lesson here is that while satellite imagery can definitely be a useful tool for archaeological exploration it can never serve as a substitute for actual excavation.
Although the first attempt to excavate in the north town was somewhat disappointing, we are producing a lot of results in the other work areas this season. In the industrial area a second kiln is currently being excavated and the material from this area suggests that we might encounter possible remains of associated workshops. Our pottery team is up to their necks with ceramic materials, so much so that we’ve decided not to open new squares until the backlog of pottery has been processed and recorded. The excavation in the south palace area is also well underway and today we found a little Bes pendant and a faience cartouche, which might have been the top part of a finger ring. The name within the cartouche spells ‘Ramesses’ and is written in miniscule hieroglyphs. Can’t wait to go back there tomorrow, maybe we’ll find Queen Teye’s missing body to go with her “Berlin head”.