Before and After

This is the hearth feature from zone two. It is just in the process of being excavated, its divided because half of what comes out of there goes to the Americans and the other half to the Spanish. Note where the rocks are, what size they are, and the overall look of this feature.

I know you've seen this one in a previous post, but here it is again. This is the large pit feature from zone two. Again note where the rocks are, and where they aren't, the size of the rocks, and the area immediately around it. 

Okay, now what is this? Well its very round, and those rocks are very tightly packed. That seems odd, could they really sit buried like that for all that time, and nothing once came along and disturbed them?

Of course not. That's because even with excavation still going on at the site, this feature is being rebuilt. Not just rebuilt, but remade, better, rounder, more hearth-like.


And this too. Was it raining rocks? How odd that this looks absolutely nothing like what was uncovered. We don't even know what it is, besides a big, ancient, pit. But we'll make it better.

So what's going on here? Well the Spanish are rebuilding features for the museum. This in and of itself is not a problem. We have reconstructions, and restorations, and preservation that affect features and artifacts. Look at the Parthenon, it is being reconstructed. But when you look at it its easy for even someone who doesn't study Greek temples to pick out which pieces are original, and which are added. It is important when you restore and reconstruct that it is made blatantly, if it was a snake it would bite you, clear, which pieces are added. You can do this with paint, or material, but you do it. You do it, because you might be wrong.

According to the American instructors, they've never actually seen this on a site. Where features are being rebuilt around you as you excavate. And its not just that they are being rebuilt... The site has not yet been fully excavated, we're not done with it (well, we are now), so there's no way to get a good full picture now that these are not intact. We aren't totally sure that the hearth is a hearth, and there are only guesses to the big pit, one being as good as the next. And now they're gone.

The other issue is that there is no attempt being made at accuracy. These two real features have been changed into something else, and you would only know if you were really familiar with the archaeology of this area or had been there. So any average tourist visiting the museum, or out for a walk in the area will never know the difference...