6 ARCHAEOLOGY • March/April 2018
Archaeological
Institute of AmericaOFFICERS
President
Jodi Magness
First Vice President
Laetitia La Follette
Vice President for Outreach and Education
Deborah Gangloff
Vice President for Research and Academic Affairs
Bonna Wescoat
Vice President for Cultural Heritage
Elizabeth S. Greene
Treasurer
David Ackert
Vice President for Societies
Ann Santen
Executive Director
Ann Benbow
Chief Operating Officer
Kevin Quinlan
GOVERNING BOARD
Elie Abemayor
David Adam
Deborah Arnold
Andrea Berlin
David Boochever
Bruce Campbell
Jane Carter, ex officio
Arthur Cassanos
Derek Counts
Julie Herzig Desnick
Ronald Greenberg
Michael Hoff
James Jansson
Lisa Kealhofer
Mark Lawall
Deborah Lehr
Thomas Levy
Kathleen Lynch
Bruce McEver
Barbara Meyer
Meg Morden
Sarah Parcak
J. Theodore Peña
Kevin Quinlan, ex officio
Robert Rothberg
Ethel Scully
David Seigle
Monica L. Smith
Charles Steinmetz
Claudia Valentino, ex officio
P. Gregory Warden
Michael Wiseman
John Yarmick
Past President
Andrew Moore
Trustees Emeriti
Brian Heidtke
Norma Kershaw
Charles S. La Follette
Legal Counsel
Mitchell Eitel, Esq.
Sullivan & Cromwell, LLPArchaeological Institute of America
44 Beacon Street • Boston, MA 02108
archaeological.orgR
ecently, my hairdresser described the excitement of the six-year-old son of a
friend who received a toy set of dinosaur bones embedded in dirt and equipped
with small digging tools. This story encapsulates the universal attraction of
archaeology: Everyone enjoys the thrill of discovery. The tangible bond with the past,
created by recovering an artifact made centuries ago, is as close as we can come to time
travel. Many people do not realize, though, that digging is a means to an end, rather
than an end in itself. Excavation provides the raw data that archaeologists study to
learn about the past.
My own project at Huqoq in Israel’s
Galilee illustrates this. Our excavations
are bringing to light a fifth-century
synagogue paved with mosaics depicting
an extraordinary series of biblical scenes
including Samson’s exploits, Noah’s Ark,
the parting of the Red Sea, Jonah, and
the Tower of Babel. We dig at Huqoq for
only one month per year and I am often
asked why we do not expose the entire
synagogue at once. Aren’t we eager
to uncover all the mosaics? The decision to excavate for only one month at a time is a
deliberate one. I undertook the Huqoq excavations to answer questions about Jewish
settlement in Late Roman Galilee. The mosaics are an unexpected and spectacular
discovery, but not one of the project’s goals. At Huqoq, for example, the ruins of an
Ottoman period Muslim village that overlie the synagogue are excavated and documented
with the same care and precision as the mosaics. Our approach exemplifies the fact that
archaeologists do not prioritize one category of remains over another.
Archaeology is not an exact science because it involves human behavior (past and
present) and derives its data from an experiment that can never be replicated. The
process of excavation destroys the evidence since, once removed, the dirt, stones, and
artifacts can never be replaced exactly as they were. Therefore, archaeologists excavate
slowly and deliberately, and we endeavor to document everything as fully as possible.
Archaeologists’ ultimate goal is not excavation but making our findings accessible to
others through publication. After one month at Huqoq, my team and I have more than
enough data to process for a year. Working in this manner allows us to publish annual
reports and refine our understanding of the site in advance of the next season. When
the project ends, we will devote ourselves to producing a final report. And, in a similar
way, by bringing to readers the most exciting recent discoveries, ArchAeology helps
archaeologists like me communicate with you—the public.FROM THE PRESIDENT
DISCOVERY
AT ITS OWN PACE
Jodi Magness
President, Archaeological Institute of AmericaJodi Magness at Huqoq