I know it’s cliche, but archaeology provides a good context for thinking. Over the last few weeks, I’ve gotten some good thinking done. In fact, my colleagues, The Directors of the project, have been extremely patient interlocutors this summer. I am convinced that an important part of archaeology remains the close and continuous intellectual and… More Three Thoughts from the Western Argolid Regional Project
[Ed.: Today’s blog post is written by CU Boulder student Sariah Rushing]. When people ask what I am doing out here in Greece, no one understands what I am explaining. I try to explain how beautiful the landscape is and right after I will talk about the horror of the units filled with what are… More Surveying Through Greek Fields
[Ed.: Today’s blog post is written by CU Boulder student Lena Streisand]. In 30° Celsius weather the only dark cloud ahead is one of impending doom at being “flappled” (thank you, Bill Caraher) in the face by the likes of this thing: You’re walking your first swath of the morning. You see an artifact in… More Fear and Loathing in the Field
It is almost inevitable. People invite me to join survey projects hoping that I can become a valued contributor to a well-ordered field season. Before long, however, I am sent off into the field as the “Extensive Team”. Most intensive survey projects have a team responsible for exploring areas not suitable for intensive survey methods.… More Extensive Survey on the Western Argolid Regional Project
Sweeping is a big part of archaeology. Some would say that 90% of archaeology is sweeping. In an excavation, it’s really important to keep your trench clean. In a survey, it’s important to keep your apotheke (storage space) clean. We’re hoping that our apotheke will be approved for use soon, so we took the opportunity to… More Sweeping
Today was our third day of field trips. We hit a series of minor and major sites on the Argive plain. Just like last Saturday, we started local, with the pyramid in the village of Elliniko and the church of the Zoodochos Pigi at Kefalari. Both are within 10 kilometers of our home base of… More Week Two Field Trips
It’s the end of the first full week of WARP, and I am glad we only have a few more days of field work left this season. So I stepped up my efforts for photo Friday in celebration of our vigorous activities. First, I’ve been trying to capture the “essence” of survey archaeology. For me… More Photo Friday on the Western Argolid Regional Project
This morning, I got all riled up about a comment on the blog for Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews in which an anonymous Briton decried the “ignorant farmers” who, by plowing their own fields (imagine the gall!), have destroyed ancient and Ottoman roads. I know that such things shouldn’t upset me, but they do. The comment appeared… More “Ignorant farmers”
You can read our permit and the deathless prose of the Ministry of Culture and Sports here, on the website Δι@ύγεια (“tr@nsparency”), maintained by the Ministry of Administrative Reform and E-Governance (Yπουργείο Διοικητικής Μεταρρύθμισης και Ηλεκτρονικής Διακυβέρνησης). It seems amazing that this is the new normal in Greece: googling your name (in Greek, in the genitive) to find… More The permit
A good archaeologist once told me that excavation required hands in the dirt. The feel of the soil, the sound of the trowel in the matrix, and the appearance of each layer of strata combined to organize archaeological space. A survey archaeologist spends much less time with dirt between his or her fingers and no… More Archaeology with your Feet