The dig I am working with is organized by Emory University in Atlanta; we are digging at a site in rural Israel in the Negev (south), about a mile west of the Green Line separating Israel and the West Bank. We are staying in a kibbutz (a communal living settlement) just next to the site we are digging, which is called Tel Halif. The site has been excavated off and on since the late 1970s, and a wide range of phases of occupation have been discovered, from the Bronze Age to the early 20th century CE. This year, the dig is focused on uncovering an Iron Age settlement dating to circa 700 BCE.
 
I arrived Sunday and we started digging in earnest on Tuesday. This involved back-breaking clearing of the Tel with hoes and picking up lots of field stones by hand. Today, we began working with our squares and balks, which show the various strata of occupation of the site.
 
There is much more that I could say, but my time on the internet is quite limited, so I'll try to get another brief update in soon.