Aragorn: Gentlemen! We do not stop ’til nightfall.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Pippin: But what about breakfast?
Aragorn: You’ve already had it.
Pippin: We’ve had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?
Merry: Don’t think he knows about second breakfast, Pip.
Pippin: What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn’t he?
Merry: I wouldn’t count on it.
What is it like being part of an archaeological dig? Now that I’ve been doing it a week, here’s an example rundown of a day:
- 4:45 am – wake up, eat pre-breakfast in my room that I got the evening before
- 5:15 am – meet to drive
- 5:30 am – arrive at Tel Dan before sunrise and work in the coolest (best) part of the day
- 8:30 am – big breakfast
- 9:15 am – back to work
- 11:00 am – brief fruit break
- 12:30 pm – wrap-up the day’s dig
- 1:00 pm – back at the kibbutz for lunch. Then shower and relax during the hottest part of the afternoon
- 4:00 pm – pottery washing at the kibbutz (after it soaks in buckets for a day)
- 5:00 pm – pottery reading (after it dries for a day)
- 6:00 pm – evening lecture
- 7:00 pm – supper
- 9:00 pm or so – bed time, dreaming of another day of digging up more treasures
Some of the afternoon/evening activities are swapped out or don’t take a full hour. Sometimes we also mark pottery. You get the idea! Now here’s much of the same pictorially:
