Unearthing the Past. Sweat runs down your forehead and into your eyes. It stings Slowly you stand up from where you've been kneeling in the dirt and wipe your face. You volunteered to spend your  first summer after high school helping archaeologist at a dig in Mexico Squinting against the bright sun you wait your eyes  to adjust. Setting the Scene Austin Lay and was sure that the large mounds held hidden secrets In 1845 he hired workers to dig trenches is what is today Iraq Day by they inched deeper into the  hot desert sand.