We work there 6-8 weeks during the summer and the rest of the year we work on processing, organizing, and interpreting the material assembled during the summer. This is where URAP students come in. We simply don't have the time to do a lot of the stuff they do. They file and label slides and photographs. All our artifacts stay in Israel, but at least this way they can see what they're working on.
Students get a good idea of the process of excavation, too.
We take notes in the field on things called locus sheets, and they put this material into the database. This process gives them a sense of what details are important when you're excavating, what types of things we look for and find. At least half of the data has been put into the database by URAPs. URAP is a wonderful program. They've made a really significant contribution to the project.