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Liberty University student unearths 2,000-year-old pottery in Israel cave

Liberty University senior Joy Price wasn’t expecting to find more than shards of artifacts during an archaeological dig in Israel when she unearthed a fully intact Bronze Era pot (3300-1200 B.C.) beneath the ancient city of Tel Maresha.

Price is studying psychology with an emphasis in military resilience through Liberty’s online program. She participated on an overseas internship with 43 other Department of Psychology students, March 3-11.

The trip focused on the cultural conflict in Israel throughout the centuries, up to the current geopolitical situation in the Middle East. The group also travelled to the Syrian border to visit the United Nations Border Patrol and learn about the plight of refugees.

Price’s discovery came during “Dig for a Day,” an archaeological exercise in a subterranean cave system beneath Tel Maresha. She was digging with a pick and spade when she hit something hard and heard a hollow sound, prompting her to begin using her fingers to dig out the rest of the artifact.

“As I was digging, my tool hit something that made a noise,” Price said. “I first unearthed a large rock, which we all assumed was what I had hit, but when I began pulling dirt again, I heard the noise some more.”

Feeling the pottery, Price began to remove dirt and tried to pull the object out.

“As I worked my hands under it to lift it up, I told everyone around me that it was something big,” Price said. “Everyone watched when I unearthed the pot in its entirety.”

Immediately after it was successfully excavated, the on-site archaeologists informed Price that it was a roughly 2,000-year-old Bronze Era pot, most likely used to store olive oil or wine.

“I felt excited to have found it but then almost immediately nervous,” Price said. “I had to walk out of the cave and then walk quite a (distance) with it, and I was terrified I would drop it.”

According to Dr. Marlene Corsini, associate dean of the School of Behavioral Sciences, who was also on the trip, even the on-site archaeologist was excited about the discovery.

“I think the archaeologist was the most surprised about the find,” Corsini said. “Students started digging with a new vigor in hopes they’d find something similar.”

Tel Maresha featured the discovery on its Facebook page, which confirmed the pot is perfectly intact and about 2,000 years old, presumably from a Maccabee village.

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