The excavation work has not gone smoothly. Above, Abdul Qadeer Temore, the lead Afghan archaeologist, works on uncovering a large standing Buddha. Temore told Huffman he was struggling to feed his three young children, but hadn't been paid by the Afghan government in four months. "I feel like a mother and the artifacts feel like my children," he said. "We work so hard uncovering the pieces and protecting them. When they get destroyed, it will feel like losing a child." 

Temore faces occupational hazards that archaeologists elsewhere in the world would never dream of. He has gotten death threats from the Taliban, and other workers have discovered land mines buried throughout the site.

Brent E. Huffman