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[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.facebook.com/ASOResearch/” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://twitter.com/ASOResearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”mailto:info@asor.org” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blog-icon3.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://asor.org/blog” margin_bottom=”0″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496683923840{margin-right: 20px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #99422f !important;}”][mk_divider divider_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” thickness=”1″ margin_top=”3″ margin_bottom=”3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”ca-sidebar-39801″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1487276122024{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]Floating in the Adriatic
Andrew Victor Rivadeneira, 2025 Katherine Barton Platt Fieldwork Scholarship Recipient [/vc_column_text][mk_divider margin_top=”10″][vc_column_text]After 3 years of excavations at the hillfort Gradina Rat on Brač Island in Croatia, this year was a study season. The site is about an hour ferry ride from Split on the mainland. Gradina Rat has a long history of occupation from the Bronze Age through the 19th century. The focus this season was on analyzing and cataloging artifacts previously excavated, instead of on uncovering new material. As researchers, we focused on the processing of the finds and started to build a clearer picture for the function of the site for reports and publication. This was my third year as part of the project and second as a staff member. My role was to aid in processing archaeobotanical samples and help with the field reports.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105969″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_column_text]Flotation is a key archaeological method for recovering small scale artifacts such as seeds, charcoal, and fish bones from sediment. These smaller materials are hard to see during excavation of the deposits. Yet their low density allows them to float and become more visible in water, hence the flotation method. Samples were taken from each context after the modern layers and kept separated throughout the process. We used a full-sized metal water sieve device that was loaned from the University of Zadar for the last two field seasons. The drum was filled with water near the bottom, and then soil was poured from the top over the mesh in the drum. The mesh allowed the dirt to pass through while keeping larger material on the top of the mesh, and for the smaller material to float. The floating material and water then were slowly pushed out of an opening near the top of the drum. There were two different sized micro mesh trays that would then catch the material while allowing the water to filter through and out of the device. Afterwards the collected micro material was dried and later sorted.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105970″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_single_image image=”105974″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_wp_text]Sorting the floated material proved a meticulous and at times painstaking process. Once dried, samples were transferred onto plastic trays, and then tweezers were used to separate tiny seeds, charcoal, bone, and shell. Trying to distinguish this material from compact dirt or rocks was another challenge especially for seeds. The material then was treated separately, seeds were saved for our archaeobotanist to study to help get a better understanding of possible diet, agriculture, and environment. Fish bones and scales were of particular interest when found since they are so small, and this method is one of the best ways to find them. Other bones are often too shattered and small to be identifiable in most instances to be particularly useful. Larger material gathered from the top mesh were sherds of ceramics, lithics, and metals. Sorting the top mesh was much easier and partially done during flotation.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”105975″ img_size=”405×600″ add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_column_text]Working on this project has been extremely rewarding personally and professionally. There is still much to discover and understand about Croatian archaeology. This site provides a fascinating component in helping us understand something about the past. A portion of an early fortification wall was found on the terraced hillside, and there are plans to try to preserve it for the public. There appear to be other signs of domestic structures on the hilltop and slopes, and there is evidence for trade—both locally and abroad—with other Mediterranean civilizations for over a thousand years. The complete story of this site still needs further investigation, though for now we must work with what we currently have. Hopefully this site will soon be accessible to hikers and bikers with signage directing people to the prehistoric wall as part of a Croatian state conservation project![/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105973″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”20″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_wp_text]Andrew Rivadeneira is a second year PhD student in Anthropology: Archaeology of the Mediterranean World at the University of Arizona. His research interests are in migration and entanglement in the central Mediterranean, digital/cyber-archaeology, and ways of bringing the ancient world to modern people.
Learn more about this project here.
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