Historical Archaeology in the Ancient Mediterranean

More Excavation and Missing the Family

Today we spent half the day excavating and half the day playing football on the beach (luckily no broken ribs this time).  At week's end the trench is really coming together.  We have defined at least three walls and it appears that the area between the northern and southern walls is the interior of a building.  Nothing monumental, we have found lots of mud-brick, potsherds, and a few very diagnostic pieces.  It struck me today that I have only two full field days left!  Tomorrow I have to write up a trench report and fill in the new trench supervisor on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I hope I will have the opportunity to dig a little further so that I can make good sound conclusions.

Today I felt a little home sick.  I left my wife, daughter, and son in Denver with my parents to ride out the summer.  I fly back to State College from Turkey on June 30th and my PhD comps start the next day.  I have my oral defense on July 12th and then finally I can fly to Denver and reunite with my family.  Of the many challenges associated with archaeological fieldwork, the worst by far for me is being away from my family.  So rather than post random excavation pictures I thought I would show all the readers pictures of my daughter Alexis (almost 3 years old) and my son Caleb (5 months).

 

 

An Exciting Day of Excavation

Excavation continued today in EU 8.  Although the southern end of the trench still looks like a huge pile of rocks, things are starting to come together.  We now know that the northern wall is fairly substantial and not just a few stones on top of dirt.  The southern wall is shaping up well but is still pretty confusing.  I spent yesterday afternoon planning the entire trench.  After three and a half hours of drawing and measuring we have a nice clean and accurate planview (ie what the bottom of the trench looks like at the end of an excavation unit).  The planviews and associated photographs are essential for documenting every archaeological excavation.  They, when done right, allow one to reconstruct the original stratigraphy. 

The exciting find of the day comes from the small area north of the north wall.  Rachel S. (I have no idea how to spell her last name) uncovered part of a nice one-handled closed vessel (see photo below).  She did not feel comfortable excavating such a sensitive find so I took over.  The vessel is very important because we have the neck, rim, handle, and both handle joins.  Our ceramicist should not have a problem typing the vessel, which will help date that particular SU (excavation layer).  More to come tomorrow!

 

   

Blisters and Blisters on Top of Blisters

Today I spent the morning in the museum sorting pottery and the afternoon in the field.  Many people have been complaining of various aches and pains after three days in the field.  Common complaints include back pain, neck pain, sore legs, sore arms, or just plain fatigue.  I am happy to report that I do not suffer from any of these ailments but the 8 or so blisters on my hands can be a little annoying.  The excitement of opening up a new SU, however, makes everything ok.

The past few days of excavation have produced significant results.  We have exposed a fairly substantial wall, much larger than the wall from last year’s trench.  Interestingly we have yet to identify any mortar or mud-brick associated with the wall.  The southern end of the trench is a big mess.  According to the resistivity, we should have another substantial wall in the southern end of the trench but instead, there are several rocks that could represent a feature.  At this point any interpretation is mere conjecture but there may be a floor surface between the wall and “feature” to the south.  The site will be closed in the mornings all next week so excavation will be heavily weighted the rest of this week.  One of the few drawbacks of working on an active military base.

 

 

First Day of Excavation

Today I spent the morning at our new lab with Scott, Jon, and a ton of pottery.  We are almost finished with the survey pottery but still need to read the excavated material from last year.  The new lab is great and offers quite a bit of work space.  The continuous banter between the three of us really helps when there are over 1,000 potsherds (some no bigger than a thumb nail) in front of you that require sorting.

I spent the afternoon in the field with the Vigla team beginning excavation.  I will be supervising Vigla EU 8.  It is a 1X6 meter trench running north/south.  The goal of the trench is to help better understand the series of walls uncovered during last year’s excavations and the geophysics.  With any luck we may find a sling-bullet or two.  I have extended my offer from last year.  I will take out any student who finds a sling-bullet during excavations at Vigla to dinner.  We will see how it goes!  Also see the newly constructed screens in actions below and Justin working hard in EU 8.  Courtesy of Michael Brown and yours truly, pretty fancy…    

 

 

First Day in Cyprus

After a one day delay I made it to Cyprus.  Today was pretty laid back.  After lunch we headed out to the site to check field conditions and discuss trench placement.  During the off-season it was decided that there will be two trenches on Vigla, Kokinokremos, and Koutsopetria.  I will be working a trench on Vigla.  The goals of the Vigla excavations, as I understand them, are to contextualize the fortification wall and get a better handle on the architecture identified by the geophysics and last year's excavations.  It will be a fun season!