Fieldwork Report: First Name Last Name

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Erin Anderson

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Dig Cyprus: A Story of Cherishment, Craziness, and Cats

Noah Barton, Undergraduate University Student[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]This summer I had the pleasure of attending an archaeological field school in Cyprus with North Carolina State University. The program – Cyprus Archaeological Field School – is directed by two of my past professors and has been occurring yearly since 2017. I arrived in Cyprus on May 20, 2022. The island is beautiful; every turn has a clear blue ocean, incredible mountains and hillsides, or luscious forests. A pleasant surprise was that Cyprus is loaded with wild cats – there are more cats on the island than humans, in fact – and most of them are friendly. The only downside is that it was very humid, but that’s to be expected for an island near the Middle-East in June. The archaeological site I helped excavate is called Makounta-Voules, which appears to have been the home of a copper-mining group between 5000 and 7000 years ago. They used stone tools and had a large interest in picrolite – a bright green stone – which they sculpted into figurines and pendants. In addition to picrolite, our team also searched for evidence of stone tools and pieces of pottery (also known as sherds), bone (human and non-human), and shells that were used to create jewelry.

Every morning, I woke up at 4:20 am and got on a bus with all the other students. We went straight to the site and started working right away. The entire team was divided into groups of four, with three students and one supervisor. The archaeological method of digging is very systematic; each group dug a hole that was square-shaped and 4 meters wide, known as a trench. We usually dug five centimeters down at a time across the entire surface of the trench before digging any farther. In each group, the students worked together to break up the compact dirt with a pickaxe, shovel up all the newly-made piles of loose dirt, and sift through that dirt to find artifacts. We also straightened out the walls of the trench, known as balk walls. After the team got back to the hotel and ate lunch, we spent an hour or two washing the artifacts that we dug up. This was done by scrubbing them with a toothbrush and soaking them in water. About three nights per week, we also had a lecture that was given by one of the supervisors. The topics ranged from the entire history of Cyprus to different processes and ethics in archaeology.[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”95649″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710779963494{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”95650″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710780038183{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]

Every Friday we took a break from digging and went on field trips. During each trip, we visited at least one excavated archaeological site, one museum, and one local beach (except Nicosia). In Nea Paphos, we visited Kissonerga and Lemba, the Paphos museum, and Vardas beach. In Palaepaphos, we visited Prastio and Souskiou, Aphrodite’s temple, and Petra Tou Romeou beach, which is the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite. In Kourion we visited Kolossi, the Kourion museum, and Kourion beach. While in Nicosia we visited the Cyprus Museum, which was the most expansive museum of all.

Every Saturday was a free day for the students to do whatever they wanted. On the first free day, my friends and I went on a cruise, where we saw incredible views on the ocean and swam in the clear blue Mediterranean sea. On another free day, my friends and I hiked up Aphrodite’s trail, revealing the best views of the entire trip. I didn’t make any excursions on my fourth free day. Our fifth free day was spent in Nicosia, the country’s capital. My friends and I explored the city and later celebrated one friend’s birthday at bars and clubs.

On the final day, most students took a final exam; I did not as I didn’t need credit for an Anthropology major, and instead wrote two research essays to get credit for my History major. I left Cyprus on June 25, 2022, ending a wonderful five weeks of excavation and adventure.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”95651″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710780131829{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”95652″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710780182039{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]Noah Barton is a senior at North Carolina State University, double-majoring in International Studies and History and minoring in Latin. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and enjoys history, music, and traveling.

The Archaeological Project’s Website: https://makountavoules.com/

The Archaeological Project’s Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/makountavoules/[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting “Excavation Scholarships” as your gift purpose!

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Fieldwork Report: Pauline Allaire

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Erin Anderson

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Why is excavating in Hazor such an amazing experience?

Pauline Allaire, 2022 Stevan B. Dana Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Archaeological excavations are always a significant step in the training of an archaeologist. I already had the opportunity to participate in several excavation campaigns but only in France, that’s why I was very elated to be able to participate in this excavation campaign in Israel, on the famous site of Hazor. This experience was rich and exotic in many ways.

At the beginning of the trip, the first step was to take the plane. It was the first time I had to make a trip with a stopover, it was stressful, but once this step was over, the adventure could really begin. As soon as I arrived in Israel, I chose to observe as much of my surroundings as possible to make the most of my memories. The airport was full of people looking for their loved ones, with huge welcome balloons and various posters of all kinds. The last step of my journey was to get to the kibbutz, the place where we were staying during the search. I had to take the train and the bus for almost three hours. Despite some difficulties in finding my way around, I finally arrived at the place thanks to the help of some very nice Israelis, who really did their best to help me. It was so nice![/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”95641″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710776738379{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]

Once I arrived at the port, I discovered my living space for the next three weeks. It’s quite different from what you can find in France. The kibbutz is Israeli farming communities where mutual aid is at the heart of life. For example, people who work in the community are housed and fed. The residents can eat together in a large hall. The landscape also surprised me. There are innumerable small hills with evenly spaced trees. Many fruit trees are present, as well as prickly pears. The overall atmosphere is rather desert-like, and it is very hot. Being from the north of France, this was completely different from what I was used to seeing. The animals were also surprising. If I was lucky enough to meet few scorpions and snakes, the countless lizards never ceased to make me smile, climbing trees, running around and sometimes even fighting.

Finally, of course, the archaeological site of Hazor filled my eyes with stars. This is a very special archaeological site. It is one of the largest sites in Israel. It is located north of Lake Tiberias. It can be divided into an “upper city” which is on a tell, a kind of hill, and a “lower city” which is much larger, as is often the case in the Near East, with a total area of about 80 hectares. There are temples, palaces, and administrative buildings. It is an important site essentially for the Bronze and Iron Ages, from 2600 BC to its destruction by the Assyrians in 732 BC. It was identified in 1875. It has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2005. And today it is also a national park.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”95642″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710776429463{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][vc_single_image image=”95643″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710776465463{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_wp_text]It is also a biblical site and is mentioned several times (eighteen times). One of the strata is said to have been built during the reign of Solomon, the prophet and king of Israel in the Bible. The excavation campaign was led by Professor Amnon Ben-Tor, assisted by Igor Kreimerman and Deborah (Deby) Sandhaus. The focus this year was on Area M, which was the supposed entrance to the Bronze Age palace and storage areas. The aim was also to find the stairs of the palace. Although I was used to digging and already knew some of the excavation methods, it was still a learning session. I learned to understand the layering of stratigraphic layers. For example, learning which pavement above which pavement or which walls are from the same period. The best moment to teach my eye to recognise archaeological remains was certainly the reading of ceramics. In the evening, at about 5 p.m., we would meet up with the other excavators from our area, M69 for me, to analyse the ceramics that we had washed in the morning. We had to understand the damaged fragments of pottery to find the type of container and to give a date. The pieces that interested us were the characteristic pieces such as the lips and the hooves if they had seals or marks. The next step was to define the orientation of the lip to find the opening of the container and thus to define its type: jar, crater, cooking pot, etc. Finally, it was necessary to establish a dating, essentially Bronze Age or Iron Age depending on the decoration or the material. This is something that I found very interesting because it allowed us to use our knowledge concretely, and we had to adapt to each little piece that was in front of us. This site was impressive because of the size of the archaeological site, but also because of the discoveries, each one more interesting than the other. I can’t wait for all this to be published.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”95644″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1710776634696{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Finally, one of the last elements that makes this workcamp a rich experience is its international aspect. Indeed, although the workcamp is under the supervision of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, there are students and volunteers of all nationalities. For example, this year I was able to meet American, Swedish, Spanish, and of course Israeli students. This great diversity of cultures is for me one of the strong points of this workcamp. It allows us to compare points of view, to understand each other’s visions and ways of learning. But also, to laugh at each other’s clichés and to learn about new cultures.

It is for all this that I am very grateful to have been able to participate in this experience thanks to the ASOR association and my benefactor Mr. Stevan B. Dana. I would also like to thank my various colleagues on the dig for their good atmosphere and their motivation, as well as the people in charge of the dig for their transmission of knowledge and their patience.[/vc_wp_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Pauline Allaire completed her undergraduate degree at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris and is currently studying for a master’s degree in the history and archaeology of the ancient worlds, specialising in Egyptology, at the Université Paul Valery Montpellier 3 (France).

Archaeological excavation network links:

Instagram: @hazor.excavations https://www.instagram.com/hazor.excavations/?hl=fr

Website: http://www.hazor-excavations.org/[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting “Excavation Scholarships” as your gift purpose!

Collections Fellowship Report: Matthew Suriano

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

2022 Study of Collections Fellowship Report: The Unpublished Materials of Charles Clermont-Ganneau

Matthew J. Suriano, University of Maryland

Through the support of the Collections Fellowship I was able to spend several days in Paris working at the Institut de France in the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (AIBL). There, I studied the unpublished materials of Charles Clermont-Ganneau that are in the Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (CIS). Access to this collection was granted by the kind permission of Christian Robin, the AIBL’s director. In Paris, I worked with Maria Gorea, the director of the Cabinet du CIS, where I benefited from her knowledge of Clermont-Ganneau and her ability to decipher his difficult handwriting. Dr. Gorea and her student Noémie Carpentier also were of great assistance with French technical terms that I came across in Clermont-Ganneau’s writings.

The research is part of my larger project on the Hebrew funerary inscriptions from Silwan, which include the Royal Steward Inscription. That inscription together with a shorter inscription were first documented by Clermont-Ganneau in Silwan in 1870. He eventually purchased them for the British Museum, where they reside today. This summer in London I was able to study Clermont-Ganneau’s correspondence with the British Museum in the museum’s archives. My work in Paris, supported by the ASOR Collections Fellowship, continued my investigation into the acquisition of the artifacts. Clermont-Ganneau’s papers in the Cabinet du CIS shed important light on two aspects involving the Hebrew epigraphic sources. First his papers describe the French diplomat / archaeologist’s efforts to buy the inscriptions from the Arab homeowner in Silwan, including details on how the inscriptions were extracted. Much of this information was left out of his 1899 published account of his discovery. Second, his notes, drawings, squeezes and casts (plaster and papier-mâché) reveal the extent of his work to translate the inscriptions, as well as his plans –ultimately unfilled– plans to publish them.

Access to Clermont-Ganneau’s papers was critical for my project, which seeks to publish the first comprehensive edition of the funerary inscriptions from Silwan. My collections study in Paris will allow me to write a chapter on the history of research that provides insight into the events that led to the acquisition of a famous Hebrew artifact from Jerusalem that is today prominently displayed in the British Museum.

Interested in applying for a 2023 Study of Collections Fellowship? The deadline is February 28.

Learn more about applying here.

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Gold Grant Report: Kissonerga-Skalia, Cyprus

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Erin Anderson

Kissonerga-Skalia: Denise L. Gold Grant Report 2022

2022 marked a return to excavation at Kissonerga-Skalia in western Cyprus after a hiatus of three years due to the pandemic. As you can see in the team photo (figure 1), we were all extremely excited to be back in the field. Many of our student excavators had gone through nearly their entire degrees without having the opportunity to gain practical experience in the field and were keen to learn and take part. We are very grateful to have received a 2022 Denise L. Gold Project Grant to assist with the expenses in the field and to put towards the costs of obtaining radiocarbon dates.

Kissonerga-Skalia is a Bronze Age settlement located near the coast 10km north of Paphos. It lies adjacent to the Neolithic–Chalcolithic settlement of Kissonerga-Mosphilia, excavated and published by Prof. Eddie Peltenburg in the 1980s–1990s. It appears that during a key period of social transformation between the Chalcolithic and Early Cypriot Bronze Age (c. 2500 BC) the people of Kissonerga abandoned their roundhouses and moved 500m down towards the sea, to establish their village in new fields, along with a new style of rectilinear architecture. The settlement prospered for around 800 years until around the end of the Middle Cypriot Bronze Age (c. 1750 BC) when the domestic structures were built over with a large industrial complex that comprises working areas for grinding, processing and heating materials (including the production of beer), along with wide open spaces with trampled mud plaster floors, partially enclosed by a large curvilinear wall. One area of these industrial facilities is shown in Figure 2, where you can see large grinding stones for processing material and circular pits for holding large storage vessels. This final phase was only in use for a short time before the site was completely abandoned, around 1650 BC, at another key period, the transition to the Late Bronze Age. At this time Cyprus saw another islandwide settlement shift connected to the rise of seaborne trade in the Mediterranean, with new sites established that would eventually become the Late Cypriot towns. This abandonment gives us the opportunity to examine the time during which Cypriot settlements begin to diversify and the first ‘monumental’ structures were created.

Cypriot archaeological sites are notoriously poor in archaeobotanical material, leading to the situation where the transition from the Middle–Late Cypriot Bronze Age is still dated only through relative chronologies. Therefore, one of our aims this season was to retrieve short-lived carbonised remains such as nuts and seeds from secure contexts for radiocarbon dating. We were fortunate that our archaeobotanist, Dr Leillani Lucas (shown in Figure 3), was able to retrieve a lentil and a grape seed! Part of the Denise L. Gold grant funds will be used to date these finds, along with samples retrieved in previous seasons, to help us to pin down the timing of this exciting and dynamic period.

-Lindy Crewe, CAARI

Apply for a 2023 ASOR Project Grant, deadline February 28th.

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Fieldwork Report: Emily Yankura

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Sophie Rosenthal

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Petra: A Long-Expected Journey

Emily Yankura, P.E. MacAllister Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]My field experience in Jordan this past summer was one which was both long awaited and highly anticipated. I was originally scheduled to participate in the 2020 field season but, for obvious reasons, was unable to go until this past summer. It was an experience that was well worth the wait!

To be honest, I was initially very nervous to be finally leaving for Jordan. This trip had already been delayed so many times that a part of me thought I would graduate before I could go, and the prospect of now actually having to face the challenges I knew were coming was daunting, to say the least. I would be surrounded by a new language and culture, working outdoors in a desert climate, and hiking to site every day in said climate. There would be new food, new physical challenges, new customs – and that wasn’t even touching on the new tools and strategies I was going to have to learn for archaeological field work.

Now, though, I am so glad I went, and so glad I was able to go! I was able to acclimate relatively quickly and soon found myself appreciating the language and culture of Jordan. There were so many differences, large and small, as well as similarities, that had me thinking twice about my own cultural biases. And, once we began excavations, I was relieved to find myself up to the challenge.[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”96195″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1711999521877{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]I spent the first three weeks of my time in Jordan excavating in Wadi Mataha with Dr. David Johnson, and then an additional two weeks excavating on the Ad Deir Plateau with Dr. Cynthia Finlayson, under the direction of Dr. Allison Lee as crew chief. Throughout our two months in Jordan our group also had the opportunity to visit various historical and cultural sites. All of these experiences together were an invaluable learning opportunity and opened my eyes to the incredible nature and value of Middle Eastern culture. I gained an appreciation for both the ancient and modern inhabitants of this area by visiting the sites, and through daily interactions with local residents and workers.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”96196″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1711999639735{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]My favorite aspect of archaeology is the connection it allows me to feel with the past. I have experienced this before with written reports and theory, but I was thrilled to experience it in actual hands-on fieldwork as well. While excavating, Dr. Lee would often ‘quiz’ us on what we were seeing in the soil – ashy lenses, certain types of artifacts, soil composition – and challenge us to connect those smaller details with a larger picture. These brainstorming sessions were meant as field theories and first impressions, to be checked against further research and site reports later on, but it helped me personally to see how several sherds of coarseware pottery could connect me to the lived experience of ancient Nabataeans at a specific moment in time. It also helped me to better understand how archaeologists transition from digging and uncovering artifacts to using them for analysis. These artifacts we were uncovering would help us to build a picture of the ancient civilization that had left them behind. Archaeologists are actively reconstructing ancient cultures in an attempt to better understand them – and, by extension, ourselves.

At Ad Deir, I learned the value of archaeological context. The area I was assigned to work in was a portion of the Great Circle, which was a water feature/pool on the plateau. In ancient times it would have been filled by seasonal rains; this meant that many of the artifacts we were recovering there had been washed in by water and erosion. Before beginning, I did not fully understand how context could still be derived from objects which had been so clearly taken out of theirs. Now, I know that even these types of objects have value: the different stratigraphic units (SUs) of the Great Circle provide a relative chronology, and within that the types of pottery we find (coarseware, fineware, painted wares, etc.) can help us to know what was being used when. For example, one of our SUs showed a large concentration of pottery and burned bone, along with multiple ashy lenses. This could be an indicator of a cooking and/or eating space, which would mean that the Great Circle was already out of use as a water collector at that time.

The trips we went on were also very educational. They exposed us to other parts of Nabataean culture that were either not present at either of our sites or else still under excavation. Dr. Johnson took us on a tour of Wadi Mataha that showed us the broader context of the tomb complex that we had been excavating. We saw a sprawling network of dozens of other tombs, cisterns, and water channels, most of which remain unexcavated. On a later trip to Little Petra and a High Place we saw what Nabataean worship may have looked like. These glimpses into the broader scope of Nabataean society helped me to better understand the objects and features we were finding back on site.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”96200″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1711999979902{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]The most exciting moment of the entire two months, for me, was finding an amethyst bead at the Wadi Mataha site. My Master’s thesis research has been on jewelry found in burial contexts, so when I saw an amethyst bead in the screen it felt almost unreal – I had spent so much time reading about objects like these and looking at small, black-and-white photos of them, that it was hard to believe I now had one right in front of me! There was an inexplicable feeling of connection as I dusted it off to reveal the carefully drilled holes on either side. Someone, a long time ago, had taken the time to take a beautiful stone and shape it into something that could be worn. A human being had created beauty for the sake of beauty (and possibly profit), and it had survived two thousand years to end up in my hand.

My experiences in Jordan are ones which I will never forget. It is a country rich in history and culture, and I hope that one day I will be able to work there as an archaeologist once again![/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”96202″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712000520030{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Emily Yankura is a Master’s student at Brigham Young University studying archaeology and museum studies. Her main areas of interest are the history of the ancient Near East and the portrayal of archaeology in popular media.[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting “Excavation Scholarships” as your gift purpose!

Fieldwork Report: Alice Kligerman

Posted on January 1, 2023 by Sophie Rosenthal

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Alice Kligerman

Something Old

Landing in Larnaca, Cyprus this summer was the final exhale from the inhale I took leaving in 2019. My undergraduate field school had come to an end, but I knew I was going to see Makounta – Voules again. Participating in the Makounta – Voules Archaeological Project run by Dr. Grossman and Dr. Paulette, both professors at North Carolina State University, was my first experience with archaeological excavation. As the weeks went on, I found myself falling in love with all aspects of Polis Crysochous. Coming back in 2022 felt like the most natural decision. The museums, exhibits, and sites we had visited in 2019 made their appearances this time too, but I had new questions and observations. I still had the same awe filled reaction to all the sites, however. It was almost comforting to walk through the sites flooded with memories of previous photos backdrops, the best views, and the cool spots around the island. Learning from the first time I was here, I made sure to get gelato as often as possible. The biggest full circle moment occurred when I first saw the open trenches. Being a bit more comfortable with moving fast but delicately, I was reacquainted with the architecture I uncovered and detailed in 2019. However, this time I was removing the buckets of dirt we had put back in at the end of the season on the top of the tarp. I could not merely sit back and watch as they pulled the tarp back and revealed “my” archaeology baby: an in-situ pot smash. I am beyond grateful that the directors let me continue to work on it again. As a young archaeologist, it is beyond thrilling to feel the excitement of finding something new and later being able to work intimately with it again.

Something New

While I was coming back to familiar land, I was entering a whole new chapter in my career. I was bestowed a supervisory position, rather than a field student. A big learning curve came when I had to learn how to sit back and let someone else dig ‘your’ trench, one I was strongly attached to from 2019 as it was the trench I had worked in. It was a new perspective of field notes and final reports. Additionally, I had to let new archaeologists do the tasks that were my favorite (i.e. balk walk cleaning, articulating, and detailing). Being confronted with this invisible expectation I had, that field excavation roles would be the same as 2019, was something I would never have predicted to be difficult to navigate. Also, since this is a field school, I had to learn to be okay with there being accidents, mistakes, and archaeological contexts fudged on accident. These new perspectives on leading a dig only added to the knowledge and experience basket this summer.

Something Borrowed

This year, one of my main emphases was gathering background research for my upcoming master’s thesis. This included traveling around the island to find people to talk to, specific documentation, and other minutia of research. Additionally, some days in the field I had to step out to make sure I was writing and reading. I am very luck to have gotten to know, very well, the directors of the field school. Dr. Grossman and Dr. Paulette are from my undergraduate institution of North Carolina State University (Go Pack!). I owe my love of anthropology and drive for field excavation to these two. Simultaneously, Dr. McCarthy and Dr. Graham (assistant directors of MVAP and primary directors of the Prastio Mesorotsos Archaeological Expedition) are a wealth of information and kindness. What I consider borrowed here is their time, expertise, and mentorship. In addition to the sheer number of credit hours I dedicated to Dr. Grossman and Dr. Paulette, they have always been the source of advice regarding steps towards my professional career. This summer, I was watching how they ran the field school more than last. Not only did this expose me to the process of excavations, but I also listened to the methodological reasons behind specific decisions in the field. MVAP 2019 was my first archaeological field school experience, and I was more interested in excavation and hitting the beach. This year, I found it more interesting to understand more about the archaeology of the site we are excavating and history of the island, specifically in archaeological context to the site. Additionally, they directed me towards the best resources for my thesis research. They helped us get permission to go to the CAARI library, and I gathered a wealth of information. Starting my master’s thesis has been infinitely helped because of the archaeological knowledge I was gaining from them. I consider this borrowed because I will always have the intention to return the favor by learning and using what they taught me in my future as an archaeologist.

Something Blue

Now let’s not forget . . . the site is located on Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean. Aside from the work that went into the archaeological aspect of this trip, I was fully intending on enjoying the island while I could. Trips to the beach were a must. Many times, I would end up doing my work in settings near the water for the pure relaxation. Fridays were field trip days and, on top of seeing the sites around the island and learning about their significance, there was always a beach stop before heading home. Being reacquainted with the clear, blue gradient waters of the Mediterranean was some of my favorite moments from the trip. I swam to different parts of the beaches than last time, even adventuring into the water-carved caves of Aphrodite’s Rock. I felt like I could breathe clearer than above water while swimming. In conjunction with the blue of the sea, there was the clear blue of the sky. There were a few days of overcast, but the blue sky was present for most of the day, creating an almost ‘light’ feeling. The weather on the island throughout this summer, specifically in the area of Polis Crysochous, was ideal for both fieldwork and leisure.

My summer was filled with new and old experiences in the beloved location of Polis Crysochous, Cyprus. After a COVID-19 break of 2 summer excavations, I was finally able to witness excavation continuity. Seeing the opening of the trenches was very exciting, and the closing of the trenches just as heartbreaking. I was also researching for my thesis, so I was gaining more knowledge about the island’s pre-history, culture, and social dynamics throughout the years. Thus, while I was prepared for there to be new experiences, and expected there to be, I would never have predicted what type. While not in a nuptial setting, I believe this popular saying was appropriate when describing the moving parts of the summer and the many memories made.

Alice Kligerman is a second-year master’s student at Florida State University. She received her B.A. in Anthropology in 2018 from North Carolina State University. Currently, she is working on her master’s thesis to defend in the spring of 2023. Her interests lie in the prehistory of Cyprus (7000 BC – ~2500 BC, specifically). She is interested in emergent complex societies and the archaeological evidence of increased social differentiation.

Instagram: @alvkh

Email: ak21y@fsu.edu

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Fieldwork Report: Sofia Kane

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Marta Ostovich

A Typical Day with the Vayots Dzor Fortress Landscapes Project

Sofia Kane, 2022 Strange-Midkiff Scholarship Recipient

Thanks to the support of the Strange-Midkiff Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation, I was able to travel to Vayots Dzor, Armenia, in July of 2022 to participate in archaeological fieldwork. I joined the Vayots Dzor Fortress Landscapes Project, directed by Dr. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, Dr. Arthur Petrosyan, and Dr. Boris Gasparyan.

The Vayots Dzor Fortress Landscapes Project is a multi-period project consisting both of survey and excavation, with concentrations of material from the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age as well as the medieval period.

In the morning, we would wake up and have a filling breakfast prepared by our host. This started with lavash (soft flatbread), cheese, and fresh herbs such as basil and chives, which were combined together into a rolled sandwich. This staple of Armenian cuisine was accompanied by eggs, tea, and honey.

Next, we would split into two teams: one for the excavation, and one for survey. I was usually excavating, although on some days, I stayed at the dig house to illustrate finds, and on other days, I joined the survey team. The drive to the excavation featured beautiful glimpses of the Armenian countryside and a winding final stretch up into the hills. At the end of the drive, we unloaded the van and carried picks, buckets, trowels, and other tools up to the trench.

Once we got to the site, my role was to record sketches of the trench and daily summaries on the record-keeping sheets, and to excavate with pick and trowel. The area we were excavating had already been excavated in a previous season; our goal was to expand the pre-existing trench and to reach bedrock, thereby documenting all layers of habitation of the site.

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We ate lunch in the field and ended fieldwork in the mid-afternoon. After returning to the dig house and having our daily break, lab work commenced. My lab job was to illustrate the artifacts, mostly ceramics. I illustrated new ceramic finds by pencil, and digitally inked scans of penciled drawings from a previous season. I also had the opportunity to teach other students how to illustrate archaeological artifacts.

One question I am often asked is, why illustrate artifacts at all, when photography is faster? One answer is that illustration makes it possible to show objects in section. If one were to slice a vessel from top to bottom, the section is what the slice would look like. The section makes it easier to compare vessels from multiple sites and publications to see whether they are similar. Trying to record a vessel’s section with a photograph would result in a distorted image, and it would require damaging the vessel.

Illustration also makes it possible to re-create what a complete, or nearly complete, vessel would look like from only a few sherds. If one were to simply photograph a sherd, it would not reveal much about what the vessel looked like as a whole.

Meanwhile, photography has complementary uses: it can show the colors of glazes and surface decorations, and close-up photographs are able to show the composition of the clay. Together, photography and illustration create a balanced visual record of an archaeological artifact.

Towards the end of the season, we took final photos of the trench in the early-morning light, and I drew a top-plan of the trench. Drawing the top plan required about five hours of carefully measuring and sketching, because every rock and other feature of the trench needed to be plotted accurately in relation to the rest of the trench.

After wrapping up fieldwork, we carefully packed the artifacts for storage, transported them to the storage facility, and left for the capital city of Yerevan. Although this was my first summer in Armenia, I certainly hope it will not be my last.

Sofia Kane is a master’s student at the University of Crete in Rethymno, Crete in the Department of History and Archaeology, supervised by Dr. Antonis Anastasopoulos. Her research interests include archaeological illustration, medieval through Ottoman material culture, and the Ottoman-European scientific and intellectual networks of the 16th century.

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Fieldwork Report: Nathan Lovejoy

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Erin Anderson

Kınık Höyük 2022: Short but Sweet

Nathan Lovejoy, 2022 Steinmetz Scholarship for Active/Reserve Military or Veterans Recipient

This year, thanks to the generosity of Charles Steinmetz and the help of ASOR, I was able to return to the excavations at Kınık Höyük in Niğde province, Turkey after two years missed due to the pandemic and the birth of my first child. Unfortunately, this season was also shortened by delays in acquiring our excavation permit and research visas, but even so, it was wonderful to be back on the site and at the dig house, and back with friends and colleagues that I hadn’t seen in such a long time. Not to mention, back to such a wonderful morning view before heading to the field.

Nathan holding the fragmentary bronze bowl.

My work this year focused on continued excavations in a Late Iron Age room (ca. 7th-6th c. BCE), which I began to expose in 2017. This entailed excavating a Late Hellenistic occupation layer and Achaemenid period deposits – about two meters of earth – before secure Iron Age contexts were reached. While most of these intervening layers lack a well-defined context, they did produce several interesting finds. One such discovery was a crushed and fragmentary, but mostly complete, bronze bowl found resting on a loosely structured external surface of beaten earth. The bowl awaits restoration to allow for further analysis, but we were quite happy for the discovery in the field.

As for the Late Iron Age room itself, we opened a southern extension of the previously excavated space hoping to better understand its connection with adjacent rooms. The space is particularly interesting in its final phase of use (or perhaps disuse?), when it served as the locus for a midden heap rich in anthropic materials – the collection of these materials has become even more urgent in the last year, as the robust ceramic assemblage is now the focus of PhD research of a colleague at the University of Pavia, Italy. Additionally noteworthy are the peculiar faunal assemblage suggestive of ritual activity in the vicinity – presented at ASOR 2021 – and the recent identification of bone horse bridles, of which we have three – so at least definitely more than a single pair! The new materials collected this year require further analysis before any conclusions can be made, but from impressions made in the field, they appear consistent with past discoveries. One entirely new discovery from the room in the same period as the midden heap was a well-structured oven composed of stones, mud-bricks, and large ceramic sherds – apparently debris collected for reuse. The chamber of the oven sloped downwards to allow for heating without direct exposure to the fire, and the innermost part of the chamber was entirely full of burnt ashy remains of the fuel used for cooking.

In all, the season felt way too short, but we all made the best of the time we had. Materials still need to be studied, and more excavations will be needed next year, but the campaign still feels like a success. And in the end, even if we hadn’t been able to put a single trowel to the earth, the renewed collegiality and rekindled friendships with scholars and students from across the globe would have made the short season worth every effort anyway. Thanks again to ASOR, Charles Steinmetz, and the Universities of New York, Pavia, and Florence for facilitating my research and participation in the excavations of Kınık Höyük this year.

Nathan Lovejoy is in the final year of his PhD at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, where he is writing a dissertation on institutional change and identity maintenance in the northeast Mediterranean during the Iron Age. He is a US Army veteran, a father to his amazing son Arthur, and husband to his ever-supportive wife Maggie.

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Geraty Grant Report Update

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Erin Anderson

A Children’s Book, A Local History Book, Summer Camps, and a Maintenance Agreement: An Update on the Lawrence T. Geraty Community Archaeology Endowment, 2022

In 2020 Andrews University partnered with the American Society of Overseas Research to establish the Lawrence T. Geraty Endowment to foster and serve as an accelerant for the development of know-how and innovative approaches for local community engagement with the custody and care of archaeological sites. The first distribution from the endowment happened in 2021 (read the 2021 report here). A second distribution from the endowment took place this past summer, and here is a brief update on how the funds were spent.

Karam and Hesban is the English translation of a children’s book in Arabic about Hisban authored by Rasha Dababneh and illustrated by Safa Abudoush. The book, which was published in 2021, tells the story of a little boy, Karam, who visits Hisban and while there, meets a local shepherdess, who becomes his guide while also grazing her sheep on the slopes of the tell. The project of producing the book was initiated and supervised by the writer and AlRaqeem, with funding provided in part by the ASOR Geraty Endowment. Copies of the book have been distributed for free to children living in Hisban. The book is part of the book series “Discover Jordan with Karam.” The sale of the book in local bookstores supports the protection of the site.

Husban Culture and Heritage is a local history book authored by Abdullah Abdulazeese Al-Masha’lah. It was published in 2022 in Arabic and English and offers a local account of the agricultural know-how, crafts, and wisdom of past generations of the contemporary Ajarmah families of Hisban. The book also offers a local perspective on archaeological discoveries at the site. As with the above-mentioned children’s book, the project of producing the book was initiated and supervised by the writer and AlRaqeem, with funding provided in part by the ASOR Geraty Endowment. The book has been distributed for free to local residents and is available for purchase in local bookstores.

Another archaeology summer camp for Hisban community children and others was organized and supervised on the hill of Hisban by our Sela/AlRaqeem. The leader was Amr Awawdah, a teacher in the local schools who also is a veteran of more than two decades of excavations at Hisban. Activities for the children—most of whom are elementary level–include learning about stratigraphy, pottery, excavation techniques, and documentation. A capstone activity is a play produced by the children that tell a story that ties in some way to the history of the site . Funding for these camps was provided by the Geraty Endowment.

A Memorandum of Understanding between Andrews University and the Department of Antiquities represents a major milestone on the road toward a sustainable future for the Hisban Archaeological Park. The agreement commits our team to provide funding for an archaeologist to supervise four local workers for 12 weeks spread throughout each of the next three years: 2 weeks in November, 2 in February, 4 in May, 2 in July, and 2 in September. The salary of the archaeologist supervisor will be paid by the Geraty Endowment, while the local workmen’s salaries will be paid by the Department of Antiquities. The overall arrangement and work will be supervised by AlRaqeem and will provide proof of concept for such a partnership involving a foreign university and the Department of Antiquities. The agreement, which was signed in June 2022, also allows time for raising funds to sustain the arrangement into the future.

We are excited about the many ways in which the ASOR Geraty Endowment is proving to be a powerful accelerant for learning about ways to engage host communities as partners in caring for archaeological sites such as Hisban in Jordan. You can help sustain and further grow the impact of the Endowment by selecting “Geraty Endowment Fund” from the drop-down menu at the following link.

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Fieldwork Report: Margarita Apffel

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Marta Ostovich

If Rocks Could Talk

Margarita Apffel, 2022 Strange/Midkiff Families Scholarship Recipient

Karak, Jordan is the home of the Iron I and II Moabite site of Khirbat al-Balu’a, an ASOR affiliated archaeological project that I joined through La Sierra University in Riverside, CA. At the Balu’a Regional Archaeological Program (BRAP) I was appointed as square supervisor, my first archaeological supervisory role due in part to my previous excavation experience and for my being a full season student. This was made possible thanks to the generosity of the 2022 Strange/Midkiff Families scholarship.

The first week at any excavation site is always the hardest, which I say with complete confidence since this is not my first time attending an archaeological field school or a regular excavation project. Leaving family and the comfort of one’s home behind for the pursuit of education in another country is not for the faint of heart, one must quickly acclimate to a whole new landscape, work schedule, language, culture, time zone, and cuisine. This can be physically challenging and emotionally taxing, but a very rewarding experience, nonetheless.

During the first and hardest week of the season, we received our assigned area of excavation, the Qasr (Castle), and got to meet our team members and team leaders. We had to prepare the area before excavations could begin, we first set up the soil sifts and made sure they were facing the Wadi Mujib and its fantastic sunrises to make the weeks to come more pleasant. Then came the arduous task of clearing the area of inter-seasonal debris and piles upon piles of rocks and tumble. We were lucky enough to have a constant breeze blowing from the west; the Jordanian desert was kind to the team. Once we cleared most of the rocks from our area, set up balk lines, and assigned individual tasks, we were ready to begin excavations.

The Qasr view from the west

The team clarified walls, cobbled surfaces, and doorways and found pottery sherds, stone artifacts, and faunal remains by the buckets. Any artifacts found in situ were immediately recoded using Global Positioning System (GPS), then collected for processing and laboratory analysis, though some of the stone artifacts excavated were too big to carry and were left in the field. The teams washed and sorted the excavated pottery sherds in preparation for the pottery readings, we took notes on pottery types and periods then sent the diagnostic pot sherds for publishing and the nondiagnostic sherds back to the field. We also completed daily and weekly reports in which we reviewed the strategy, implementation, and outcome of each project. And did I mention we moved more rocks?

On weekends, we had the opportunity to go on field trips to learn about castles such as Karak and Ajlun as well as other archaeological sites like Jerash and Tall al-Umayri. The highlight of the season was a weekend spent in Petra, a Nabatean city in the Wadi Musa. In Petra, we visited features such as the Treasury, the Highest Sacrificial Place, and the Monastery. We also had the opportunity to have sweet tea with many Bedouin women and men, haggled for prices at the various shops in the city, and rode a camel and a mule. This was a bit precarious for someone who is not accustomed to riding beasts of burden.

Our days in Jordan were never dull, at the site we were visited daily by large herds of sheep, goats, donkeys, and camels all being led by our worker’s friends or family who’d stop by from time to time to say hello. The Bedouin were very friendly and hospitable, they often shared Arabic sweet tea and sang songs for us, which made us feel very welcomed. The diversity of our team, their knowledge and sense of humor were the best part of the season. I said that the first week is always the hardest, but so is the last week when we have to say goodbye to the people with whom we discovered commonalities, developed friendships, and shared inside jokes for the past four to seven weeks. These relationships are the rewards we get to treasure when we leave our comfort zone in pursuit of knowledge and adventure in faraway places.

Margarita Apffel was born in Culiacan Sinaloa, Mexico but moved to California to study English and became the first in her family to go to college. She is a master’s student of Near Eastern Archaeology in the H. M. S. Richards Divinity School at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, and received a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from California State University, San Bernardino. She has participated in various excavations projects in Menorca, Spain; Riverside, California; Karak, Jordan, and completed Museum Studies in Rome, Italy. Her goals are to further her education in the field of archaeology and museum studies and to continue to travel the world for as long as she can.

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