MCCANE:"IlEREI AMATKHlRllETCANA" 201towardhigher-orderreflectiononbroaderquestionsofbiblicalandarchae-
ologicalinterpretation.
A strong fieldschool will aimtowardthe goalwehavebeendis-
cLlssinghcre, n:nndy,integratingarchaeologyand biblicalstudies.The
academicprogramoftheSepphorisAcropolisExcavation,thesyllabusof
whichisappendedtothisessay,canserveasanexampleofthistypeof
fieldschool.Iibeginswiththebasics,asstudentsarelaughttoacquireand
demonstratecompetenceinthetechniquesoffieldexcavation.Eachstu-
dent, under the direction of his or her area supervisor, learns the
fundamentaltasksofexcavation,startingwiththeverybasicskillofbaulk
trimming.Studentsarealsotaughthowtotakeelevations,drawtopplans,
takeMunsellreadings,recordfindsinthefieldnotelx>ok,anddrawbaulks.
Duringtheopeningweeksoftheexcavation,eveningclasssessionsrein-
forcethecontentofthistraininginthefield.Undertherubricsof"What
AreWeDoingHeret'and"WhyDoWeDigThisWay?"classsessionsintro-
ducestudentstotherationalebehindthesetechniques.Twosessionson
thehistoryofarchaeologyinSyro-Palestine,forexample,acquaintstudents
withtheimprovementsinexcavationmethodsthatdevelopedthroughthe
twentiethcemul)'.A classsessiononstratificationandstfatigr.lphyisespe-
ciallyimportantinhelpingstudentsunderstandtheimportanceofcareful
removalofsuccessivelayers. Duringthisphaseofthefield-school pro-
gram,theoverallgoalisforstudentstolearnhowandwhyarchaeologists
striveto"excavateundermaximumcontrolandrecordformaximuminfor-
mationretrieval."
Asstudentsbegintomasterthebasicmethodsoffieldexc<lvation,the
contentofthefield-schoolsessionsincreasesinsophisticationandbegins
toengagestudentswithquestionsofinterpretation.Undertherubricof
"WhatCanWe1)0withThisInformation?"studentsarenowintroducedto
first-orderquestionsofanalysisandinterpretation,Two~essionsongender
provideaparticularlycompellingexampleof{hewaysinwhicharchaeo-
logicalevidence,inconjunctionwiththeoreticalperspectives,emgenerate
productiveinformationabout thehuman past. Herethe emphasisfalls
uponteachingstudentstoheclearandconsciousintheapplicationofthe-
oreticalperspectivestoarchaeologicaldata.
Finally, when students have acquired some familiarity with both
method<lndinterpretationinarchaeology,thefieldschoolturnstohigher-
orderquestionsofsynthesis,andinthedosingweeksoftheexcavation
studentsareexplicitlyintroducedtoquestionsthaicaUfortheintegration
ofbiblicalstudiesandarchaeology. Undertherubric"WhatAre theBig
QuestionsHere?" currentcontroversiesinbiblicalstudiesandarchaeol-
ogy-including, for example, issues of Isr.:Jelite chronology and the
historicalJesus-areintroducedanddiscussed.Classsessionsduringthis
panofthefield school arehighly interactive,oftentakingthe formof