Historical Archaeology in the Ancient Mediterranean

A Personal Assessment of PKAP 2008

Since I have a little down time in Amsterdam before I return to the U.S. I thought I would assess the 2008 PKAP season from my perspective.  The day before I left the U.S. for Cyprus I posted a blog outlining my goals for the 2008 PKAP field season, to view that post click here.  My first goal was to gain a basic knowledge set for identifying and interpreting Roman pottery.  Under the tutelage of Scott, I achieved this goal.  Early in the season I sat with him reading the survey pottery from last year's survey.  Scott was very patient when I had questions and needed clarification and the odd pop quiz on a specific sherd kept me on my toes.  As the season progressed excavation began to take up a lot of my time.  Luckily last Sunday I had the opportunity to go with Scott to examine the Roman material from the site of Athienou, click here for that post.  The pottery reading sessions did provide me with a solid foundation for interpreting Roman pottery but as always there is much more to learn, hopefully next year.

My second goal was to finish drawing and illustrating the inscribed lead sling-bullets from Vigla housed in the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia.  After three long mornings of service taxis and the very hot and poorly lighted study area of the Cyprus museum, I photographed and illustrated all the inscribed lead sling-bullets from Vigla, thus achieving my second goal. 

Since I was a little skeptical about finding sling-bullets during excavation this year, I made it a dream rather than a goal.  Amazingly my trench produced a sling-bullet!  We have the exact spacial provenience and after the associated archaeological material is analyzed from the cultural layer, I will have a more precise date for my sling-bullet assemblage. 

Therefore, I consider the PKAP 2008 season a huge success from my perspective.  I achieved everything I set out and, with the help of Chris, kept up with French.  I would like to thank all PKAP staff and students for yet another successful PKAP season.  I made a few new friends even though they make fun of my Minnesota accent and destroyed me in bumper cars!

Last Day in Cyprus

Today is my last full day in Cyprus.  I finished all my fieldwork and will have my trench report finished this evening.  It was a great season, I finished my sling-bullet research, dug a trench, and was completely destroyed in bumper cars.  Kataklysmos starts today but street vendors and the bumper car man set up shop last week.  The thing about Cypriot bumper cars is that they are much faster and less padded than those found in America.  Although they are a blast, when everyone else is gunning for you it can be quite painful.  Believe me I have the big black bruise on my ribs to prove it.  Tonight I may try one more round as long as Dimitri, Jenn, Jess, Jon, and Scott do not just target my car!  I apologize in advance for the delay between posts I will try to get back by Monday.

Two Days to Go

Today was a very productive day.  I spent a third morning at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and finished illustrating and photographing the inscribed sling-bullets from Vigla.  I am now happy to report that I have one, albeit of many, solid dataset for my dissertation.  I spent the afternoon creating a plan view (map of the bottom of my trench), mapping both sides of the wall, and drawing the stratagraphic profiles (the side walls of the tench).  My remaining responsibilities are to finish drawing the profiles and write up a trench report.   

Excavation: Problem Solver or Problem Maker?

One of the things that has drawn me to PKAP over the past three years has been the project's methodology.  The project began, and continues in fact, with a large pedestrian survey of Koutsopetria, Vigla, and Kokkinokremos.  Last year we continued the survey and conducted resistivity in selected areas.  The results from the geophysics produced interesting data.  This year, in conjunction with more survey and geophysical work, we sought to ground truth the geophysical data.  As a budding archaeologist I appreciate exposure to a three tiered (survey, geophysics, and excavation) archaeological analysis.  Over the last two weeks, however, the excavations have, at least on Vigla anyway, raised more questions than answers.  We have yet to identity a Roman basilica on Vigla or significant Roman material culture for that matter.  Rather than an apse and colonnaded halls, we uncovered a Hellenistic wall, floor, destruction layer, and lots of what appears to be Hellenistic pottery.  Geophysics is a great tool but like all archaeological methods works best when combined with other data.  The survey of Vigla did not produce a plethora of Roman material but the geophysics produced an image that resembled a basilica.  The excavations have supported the survey results.  I am in no way criticizing any one approach but when archaeological methods are combined with others, something that this project has done, there is always a positive result.   

The Trench is Done

Today Dan, Chris, and I finished the trench.  At its deepest corner it measures 1.4 meters.  Luckily there were not problems today but no fantastic finds either.  I also spent the morning in the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia photographing the metal finds from Vigla.  I am happy to report that I found a few more inscribed sling-bullets in the museum archives!  Below I posted a picture of Chris, Dan, and I in our trench.

Back to the Normal Schedule

Nothing too exciting to report today.  I began my day illustrating artifacts and went to the field in the afternoon.  Unfortunately the Brits' firing exercises limited our time in the field by two hours but we made good progress anyway.  We are, at the deepest corner, 1.3 meters down in my trench.  We hit bedrock and are attempting to follow it east to close out the trench but there are three noticeable benches in the bedrock.  As we excavate east the rock continues to drop down.  We will have no problem finishing the trench tomorrow, knock on wood, and then the paperwork begins.  The paperwork includes mapping the six stratagraphic profiles, drawing both sides of the wall, and completing a trench report.  Those who are not familiar with archaeological practices may not realize that paperwork can, and in most cases does, take longer than the actual digging.  Below I have posted a picture (looking towards the west) of the trench as it stands now.

A Day at Athienou

Today I spent the day reading pottery with Scott at Athienou.  The Pyla Koutsopetria Archaeological Project and the Athienou Archaeology Project have often collaborated through the years.  Today I had the opportunity to examine pottery from another Cypriot archaeological site with a different assemblage.  After five hard days of field work I was glad to get more pottery experience.  I came to the horrible realization that I have only five full days left in Cyprus!  Next week I have to examine the sling-bullets from Vigla housed in the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia, finish my trench, write a trench report, do some more pottery, continue my French with Chris, and do more artifact illustration.  So much work so little time!!

Long Day of Excavation #5

I know at some point the enthusiasm will wear off but after five long days of excavation, long in the sense that we were able to work mornings and afternoons, today was yet another exciting day. Early in the day we hit bedrock and planned to follow it to terminate the trench. On both sides of the wall we excavated separate units for the foundation trenches. Interestingly the wall was built in a bedrock cut or natural trough. We then attempted to follow the bedrock through the rest of the unit but it drastically dives down towards the east. While excavating in this area we found more metal objects including a projectile point and, most importantly in my case, a lead sling-bullet!!! The sling-bullet is broken and, until it is cleaned, I cannot determine if it is inscribed. I am still holding off on my interpretations of the structure and trench at this point but it is all but certain that the trench, with associated features, dates to the Hellenistic period.

Long Day of Excavation #4

Today was yet another exciting day of excavation.  Although we did not move as much dirt as previous days, we did encounter a sensitive layer.  I discussed yesterday the mud brick layer and my theories about the eastern collapse.  We started excavating the unit below the mud brick layer and immediately began finding metal objects.  The ceramic densities have dropped a bit but metal finds have increased exponentially.  The most exciting find of the day was three coins, two of which were in situ.  Provided that the coins clean up well, they should provide dates for this layer.  Also in this layer a long metal rod was found.  At this point is a little early to speculate about this layer but tomorrow will bring more progress!

    

Long Day of Excavation #3

Today was rather exciting because we have made great progress on my trench in terms of both excavation and interpretation.  Yesterday mud brick began to appear in one of our units.  After excavating today we have been able to define the mud brick layer and make preliminary conclusions about the trench and wall.  Mud brick was, and still is in fact, a common building material for homes and modest buildings.  As the pictures below attest the trench is divided into two parts, the first being sediments on the east side of the wall and sediments on the west side.  The sediments differ from each other in color, consistency, and artifact densities.  For example, the area on the east side of the wall has higher artifact densities the further we dig and mud brick.  The west side has lower densities and no mud brick.  Below the mud brick layer we found a dark gray layer full of charcoal, which is, at this point, absent from the west side.  Therefore, we can preliminarily conclude that a mud brick wall stood on top of the rock wall and collapsed to the east.  The goals now are to date the wall and determine if it is necessary to expand the trench.  Below I have post pictures of the wall and our ever-deepening trench, which currently sits a little more than 3 feet below the surface.