
The camp is located a short drive away from the site
near the dead sea (2002 Field House). The field
expereince at Dhra' also
gives student a unique opportunity to visit other sites of archaeological
interest in Jordan. In the pastpeople have visited sites such as Petra
and visited neighboring countries such as Syria and Lebannon.
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an Application | Camp Conditions | Camp
Routine | Field Trips | 2002 Camp Life
Camp
Conditions:
Most likely we will be living near Kerak (1.5 hours south of Amman),
or in the Jordan Valley near the site. Jordanians are relaxed and very
welcoming and accommodating to foreigners. However, the pleasantness
of our stay in Jordan will be dependent upon our respecting the local
customs. Our team cannot openly display some of our western and more
offensive habits in public: this includes drinking in public, dressing
in anything other than a modest fashion (no shorts or sleeveless shirts,
for instance), and playing loud music in a public context. Our presence
alone will be enough to attract attention from the townspeople and local
officials, so it would be nice to mi
nimize additional
awareness of our work, and maintain a good relationship with our neighbors
and hosts.
We will be renting an apartment or house. We will have one or two cubic-meter
water tanks, but we may still quickly exhaust the available water supply.
Therefore we will probably have to come up with some reasonable restrictions
on its use so that everyone gets fair access to showers and that there
is enough for cooking, artifact-washing, flotation, etc. Crew members
will also have to share sleeping space (proibly multiple students in
rooms), which will most likely be segregated by males and females, or
sleep in tents outside. The apartment or house is likely to be sparsely
furnished, and we will be renting additional camping and cooking equipment
from the CBRL.
Camp Routine:
Apart from excavation and recording chores, or such work as flotation,
photography, illustration, or analysis of bones, there are several things
that have to get done around camp. We will get up around 5:30 am (or
earlier) to eat a quick breakfast, to pack an on-site breakfast, and
to load the truck so as to be on the road at c. 6:00 am. Breakfast at
the house will normally be very simple and up to individuals to prepare
for themselves (bread and jam with tea/coffee).
We will take a
break for snacks while in the field at about 9:30 am and stop work around
1:00/1:30 to go home and eat lunch. After a break of a few hours we
will be continuing with excavations and conducting lab analysis. Depending
upon conditions and how things are going with the excavations students
will be assigned to go back to the field or participate in laboratory
work. Washing and preliminary sorting of lithics, bones, and other artifacts
will take place in the lab in the afternoon. Our main meal of the day
will occur sometime in the early evening. Our work week will probably
run from Saturday to Thursday, with Friday as a free day to travel and/or
rest.