We started fieldwork this week on the Western Argolid Regional Project (WARP) and so it is only natural that I share some photographs of our time in the field. I really like the valley-edge view of our survey area particularly the bands of olive trees on the sides of the valley above the village of… More Photo Friday: The First Week in the Western Argolid
WARP has just finished its first week, and although it was a short one — our first day in the field was on Wednesday — it was exhausting. Results have been encouraging, however. In only three days of survey, we have surveyed 177 units covering 0.435 square kilometers (these figures were kindly calculated for me by Sam Walker).… More Some reflections on Week One
It rained again last night, but the day itself was sunny and warm. We just had a touch of mist in the morning on the mountainside: The weeds and grain were still wet from last night’s rain, though, so my shoes and pants quickly became really wet: But the sun came out and it felt… More Day two: here comes the sun
I had a mini database meltdown on the first day of field work and data entry. The specific problem with the database mostly involved how we were using it (and the limits on the particular tool we chose to use), but it highlighted the relationship between the unit as space and the unit as a… More Survey Units are Unique Like Snowflakes
Last night’s rain made our first day in the field a very muddy experience. That isn’t normal for Greece in June. Mud caked the bottom of our shoes, making them heavy and unwieldy. At some point I tried to kick mud off of my shoe and the entire shoe came off my foot, flying across… More A very muddy first day in the field
Our pet dog and project mascot has been helping out in the afternoons:
Yesterday’s cloudy weather yielded a remarkably clear day. I took a couple of pictures of the Argolic Gulf from the town of Myloi. First, looking east towards Nafplio: And later in the afternoon, looking north towards Argos: And in the evening:
The last few days here in the Western Argolid have been punctuated by database development in the lead up to our first days in the field next week. I’m a bit terrified at the prospect of managing data for five field teams walking 20-30 units a day and producing 500-800 units per week. In a… More Databases and Digital Natives for the Western Argolid
The Western Argolid Regional Project has the distinct benefit of two senior staff members who specialize in Late Antiquity. Scott Gallimore, one of the co-directors, recently finished a dissertation on Late Roman Crete, and people who read this blog should be pretty aware of my interest in that period. This concentration on the Late Antiquity… More Late Antiquity in the Western Argolid
Unlike most research in the humanities, archaeological field work requires a significant amount of logistical preparation and organization. During the first year of a project, it frequently feels like the logistics overwhelms the archaeology in terms of time and attention. The number of participants in a project also increase the level of complexity and the… More Planning a Project