My young hands feel the arthritic cramping of elders, or those whose iron grip encircle pickaxes. As I work, my mind occupies both past and present. I try to envision how the ancient sunrise must have looked when buildings were whole and smoke rose, born from the billows of metalworking shops. I feel Mother Gaea’s heat, roiling within the layers separating us from her smoldering heart. Here, I am connected. My calloused fingers graze sherds, each different in size, shape, and ornamentation, each adding clarity to a piecemeal story. Here I am content, uncovering mysteries from humanity’s past, hoping they may give insights to the future in exchange for their liberation.
Every chip, scratch, sliver of paint, each subtle change in the composition of soil, every rock; they all have their place. Yet, oftentimes, the most wonderful discoveries are in the shambles fondly referred to as “the pit of despair”. Each piece of the puzzle, which is felt by our hands, seen by our eyes, and touched by our hearts leaves an impression upon us, not only shaping our perceptions of the past, but also how we confront our future. Humanity’s story is not a puzzle of defined boundaries, of beginnings and ends. It is a tale building upon itself – the pieces overlapping, obscuring, missing. This is a tale we know in our heart of hearts, a song whose lyrics are momentarily forgotten, and we need the answers we glean from the pieces to sing those lyrics back to us, to remind us of who we are and what our shared past entailed. We use the tangible items uncovered to discern the ancients’ thoughts and how they tackled the problems they encountered; this knowledge helping to recreate humanity’s past in our search for meaning, in the hopes that we may apply what we learn to the present.
The past is not a foreign entity carved in stone, it is like the supple branches of the willow. Bending in the breezes and gales which generations of humanity have subjected it to. It is flexible, yet sturdy and graceful. It holds time, humanity’s greatest teacher and foe, within its grasp. It is subject to change, and yet, it creates fortifications; patchwork walls within which the empire of mankind protects itself, masking swirling patterns of complex thoughts, wonderments, and deceits.
Life’s great tapestry is woven with shining threads and riddled with beautiful mistakes. Our world’s story is not seen in one light. There is no single way to interpret its trials and tribulations, victories or defeats. I believe that individuals must supplement physical records with their own version of the story, utilizing their unique perspectives. Only then may the tale of the world be told in all its glory; only then may it be truly seen, though it is never complete, ever growing and ever changing. Even our work here leaves a mark. However, it is not about uncovering the clearest path. It is about finding the answers and willingness to allow them to lead us unto more, as of yet, blocked paths, more seemingly unanswerable questions. Only through this, may we see what has been laid before us through the paths of the past.
Our lives revolve around the telling of these stories and in continuing to find more ways to express them, uncovering paths to the future within the knowledge of our past. Within these stories I find solace and comfort discovering the unknown, understanding the tangled, and loving the imperfect. And I believe that within the telling of these stories we may discover the ringing laughter of friends in a blackened night, the gentle swaying of golden grasses in soft currents of summer wind, and the silence belonging to sherds of broken pottery; which speaks to us through the rhythms of history.
I break away from my reflections and lay myself gently back in the present as my comrades and I enter our daily predawn ritual, hastening to beat the others to the best shovels and brushes. A slight atmosphere of competition pervading our ancient haven as each hopes to have the “find of the day”.
04:38am 26 July 2012 Archaeological Excavation Tel Akko, Israel
Natasha Nagle is a senior majoring in geosciences, classics, and ancient Mediterranean studies, and anthropology while minoring in international studies, Jewish studies, and history. She enjoys studying abroad, having been abroad with Penn State six times and writing about the experiences she has had and hopes to have in the future. Her position as the Vice President of the Global Ambassadors club gives her a unique opportunity to interact with many individuals from Penn State, including international students. She hopes to use her love of storytelling to inspire and encourage others to reach for their own experiences and dreams.