Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Archaeological Digs
See the latest dig postings, including archaeology field schools and job opportunities, by scrolling down below.
There are archaeology field schools and research activities being conducted all over the world. Many archaeology excavations are conducted during the summer months; however, some are ongoing throughout the year, and some are being conducted even during the winter months in parts of the world where the climate is favorable. This weblog serves as a gateway to up-to-date information about current archaeological digs and archaeological job opportunities throughout the world. It also features special postings highlighting specific archaeological digs, and other links related to archaeology and archaeological digs.
Archaeological Digs: The Best Sources
Here are the best listings online with links to detailed information about archaeological digs and field school opportunities for 2012 and 2013, and see the specially featured digs by scrolling below. Return regularly, as the lists continue to expand with new opportunities:
ArchaeoSpain Offers Field School Opportunities
ArchaeoSpain was created in 2001 by a
group of archaeologists and educators to provide opportunities for people from
all over the world to engage in scientific research at important archaeological
projects in Spain and Italy. To date, nearly 500 people from 17 countries have
joined our programs.
This summer we are joining Spanish
crews at four excavations:
* The Celtic-Iron Age Necropolis of
Pintia (Valladolid, Spain)
* The Byzantine Basilica of Son
Pereto (Mallorca, Spain)
* The Amphora Graveyard of Monte
Testaccio (Rome, Italy)
* The Iron Age Cemetery of Son Real
(Mallorca, Spain)
We also offer two fieldschools for
high school students ages 16 and 17:
* The Roman Forum of Pollentia
(Mallorca, Spain)
* The Visigothic city of Recopolis
(Guadalajara, Spain)
Participants at each site will be led
by bilingual archaeologists to teach excavation techniques and artifact
conservation. We also hold seminars and workshops, and go on excursions to
nearby historical and cultural sites. No experience or Spanish is required.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The Maya Research Program
The Maya Research Program is a U.S.-based non-profit organization (501c3) that sponsors archaeological and ethnographic research in Middle America. Each summer since 1992, we have sponsored archaeological fieldwork at the ancient Maya sites of Blue Creek, Nojol Nah, Xnoha, and Grey Fox in northwestern Belize. In 2013 we again offer opportunities to participate in our field program and learn about the Maya of the past and today. The Blue Creek project is open to student and non-student participants, regardless of experience. The field school is certified by the Register of Professional Archaeologists and participants will receive training in archaeological field and laboratory techniques. Academic credit and scholarships are available.
We invite students and volunteers to participate in the Maya Research Program’s 22nd archaeological field season in northwestern Belize.
2013 Field Season Dates:
Session 1: Monday May 27 - Sunday June 9;
Session 2: Monday June 10 - Sunday June 23;
Session 3: Monday July 1 - Sunday July 14;
Session 4: Monday July 15 - Sunday July 28
Beginning in 2013, the Maya Research Program will offer specialized laboratory and field courses (ANTH 4399) for students and volunteers in addition to the above general archaeological field school (ANTH 4361). The specific study areas for the specialized laboratory and field courses (ANTH 4399) are:
1. Laboratory and Field Methods: Ceramic Analysis (understanding ceramic production, seriation, modal analysis, Type-Variety analysis) - C. Colleen Hanratty, limited to 5 persons per session.
2. Laboratory and Field Methods: Bioarchaeology (the study of human skeletal remains) - William T. Brown-limited to 5 persons per session.
3. Laboratory and Field Methods: Photogrammetry and 3D Digital Modeling - Bob Warden, limited to 10 persons in Session 4 only.
For additional information please contact the Maya Research Program:
http://www.mayaresearchprogram.org
Email: mrpinquiries@gmail.com
1910 East Southeast Loop 323 #296
Tyler, Texas 75701
817-831-9011
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Explore Caves Near the Dead Sea
A call has gone out to help explore two mysterious caves near the Dead Sea in Israel.
Hidden within desert desolation near the Dead Sea region of Ein Gedi, Israel, are two caves that at least one archaeologist suggests may possibly contain what remains of the lost archive of the Jewish Second Temple. The famous temple became one of King Herod's greatest architectural achievements and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. at the time of the First Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire.
Led by Dr. Haim Cohen, a team plans to continue excavating a cave known as "Cave 27", a cave where Cohen had previously conducted excavations in 2003 under the auspices of Haifa University and again in 2006, as well as exploratory investigations of a sealed cave discovered by Cohen during a 2007 survey.
Cave 27, also called the "Mikveh Cave" or Cave of the Pool at Nahal David, is best known for the Second Temple period (530 BCE to 70 CE) mikveh, or ritual cleansing pool, dated to the time of the first centuries B.C. and A.D. It was discovered and excavated just outside the cave entrance. The cave is located in a cliff approximately 400 meters above the Dead Sea and is accessible from a plateau above the cave. Among the many other finds were Early Roman period potsherds, flint tools, remains of straw matting, textiles, date pits, ropes, olive pits, animal bones, two coins of Agrippa I, a glass bottle, an iron trilobate arrowhead from the Early Roman period, a pottery seal with a geometric decoration considered to be from the Chalcolithic period, and an ashen hearth. The most intriguing questions, however, surround the presence of the mikveh at the entrance to the cave, a relatively unusual location for such a feature.
The location of Cave 27: The rough, challenging desert terrain of the "Judean wilderness" near the Dead Sea. Photo courtesy Origins Discovery Project.
Explorers at work in cave 27. Photo courtesy The Origins Discovery Project
View of a portion of the mikveh outside the entrance to the cave. Photo courtesy The Origins Discovery Project
Coin found in the cave showing grape vine leaf and chalice with the words: year 2 for the liberation of Zion on one side, and Holy Jerusalem, on the other - circa 67CE. Photo courtesy Origins Discovey Project
"During the Second Temple period (and at other times)", reports Cohen, "a man could not touch anything sacred without first undergoing the ritual cleansing process prescribed by the priests. It was a very strict rule, and the presence of sacred items and the need to handle them, can be the only reason for this mikveh being built up in a cave, in the cliffs 400 meters above the Dead Sea. A man (or woman) must climb up one side of the steps, be completely immersed in water, and then exit from another set of steps without ever touching the dirty steps." [1]
"Not only was the cleansing process strictly proscribed", Cohen adds, "but also the building process had very specific rules too: No metal could be used in its construction because metal may have been used to kill someone. No pottery could be used to make the plaster because that pottery may have been used in a sacrifice to another God.The water must be part rainwater and part spring water. And there were many more rules, all of which make the presence of the mikveh in this very inaccessible place even more remarkable. It must have taken a lot of resources and time to build; the temperatures in the desert seldom drop below 40c, the climb is extremely dangerous, water is scarce, carrying building materials was difficult and so on." [1]
According to Cohen, the location of the mikveh therefore begs the question about why a facility like this was built here.
"This is the question we are hoping to answer when we excavate the cave in the 2012 season (beginning October 28)," says Cohen. "Academia have now accepted that what was previously thought to be a cistern or a pool is, in fact, a mikveh, and we must build from there. We want to know what was in this cave that meant a mikveh was necessary. Scrolls? Temple artefacts?" [1]
Cohen suggests that the cave may possibly have been, like the caves that harbored the Dead Sea Scrolls, a repository for sacred documents or artifacts, such as the lost archives of the Jewish Second Temple, possibly hidden away for protection and safekeeping from the Roman forces during the unrest of the ist century A.D. Revolt. Among the finds was additional evidence of possible priestly activity -- a leather scroll cover.
Equally interesting is a sealed cave that was discovered in a steep ravine not far from Cave 27 by Cohen during a 2007 survey. Cohen and his team hope to further explore this cave concurrent with their excavations of the Mikveh Cave. He and his colleagues ae requesting additional funding and participation to make it possible.
Says Cohen: "After so many real and metaphorical mountains to climb - we are now committed to a dig starting on the 28th of October and ending on the 16th of November this year. Licences have been granted by both the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Park Authority, allowing an expedition to excavate one cave, and survey another."
For more information about the expedition and how one can support and participate in the effort, see the website,
Origins Discovery Project.
Photo Top: Looking out from within Cave 27, the Mikveh Cave. Photo courtesy The Origins Discovery Project
[1] Source: The Origins Discovery Project
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Excavations at Tel Timai, Egypt
A team of archaeologists and students are excavating a site in the Nile Delta region of Egypt where, set within desert desolation, ruins still bespeak an important port city that flourished by the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. Near the present-day city of El-Mansoura, a clearly human-made rise with visible ruins mark the spot of Tel Timai, what remains of the city of Thmuis, an ancient port city and capital of the Ptolemies.
Here, a team of archaeologists and students directed by Professor Robert J. Littman of the University of Hawaii, with co-directors Dr. Jay Silverstein, also of the University of Hawaii, and Dr. Mohamed Kenawi of the Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies, are unearthing architectural features and artifacts in several different focus areas: a northern "salvage" sector; an area identified as the East Forum of the city acropolis; and, beginning in December, 2012, a possible Ptolemaic temple.
"Little excavation has been done in Tell El-Timai," reports Littman, "but material of significance has been discovered that indicates the potential of the site. It is one of the few places in the Delta region where papyri have been found. At the end of the 19th century Edouard Naville discovered what he labeled as a library in a Roman house. Unfortunately, he did not indicate where on the Tell this was located. The papyri were burned, worse than those from Pompeii, according to Naville. He attempted unsuccessfully to preserve and transport the papyri. Unfortunately, only a few have survived, which are administrative records. A number of marble statues and small bronzes, and magnificent Hellenistic and Roman mosaic floors, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, attest to the wealth and importance of the city."
The name Thmuis (Egyptian tamAwy or “new land”) was first referenced in the Histories of Herodotus. Having visited Egypt in the middle of the 5th century BC, he enumerated the nomes (districts) from which the military class, called Calasirians, came. Both Mendes (the great nearby ancient city that preceded it as capital) and Thmuis are mentioned, which indicates that both cities flourished independently at this time. Archaeological excavations at Mendes suggest that by the fourth and third centuries BC, the population had diminished considerably. This was paralleled by a rise in the importance of Thmuis, which flourished during Ptolemaic times (4th to 1st century BC) and became the capital of the Mendesian nome.
"Thmuis is about a half kilometer south of Tell el Rub’a, the site of the ancient city of Mendes," reports Littman. "Mendes was a dominant city in the Delta during most of Egypt’s history, from the end of the fourth millennium until the fourth century BC, in part because it was an important port. Apparently, the course of the Nile shifted in the fifth and fourth centuries, and Mendes, having lost its economic base as a port, was gradually abandoned for Thmuis, where the course of the river had moved, and where a port had developed."
The city itself is mentioned during the period of the Jewish Wars (66-70 AD). Josephus' Jewish Wars relates that the future emperor Titus sailed with his army from near Alexandria via the Nile along the Mendesian nome, and disembarked his army at Thmuis for an overland march to Jerusalem. This indicates a major port at Thmuis. In the 2nd century AD we find Thmuis as the capital of the Mendesian nomes, at a time when Mendesian perfume was the rage in the ancient world, according to Pliny (Natural History). By the fourth century it had become one of the most important cities of Egypt. During Roman times (3rd to 4th century AD) it became an episcopal see and was the home of Saint Serapion (4th century AD). In the sixth century it was a city in the Eparchy of Prima Augusta, and in the 7th century it is included among the dioceses of the Eparchy of Augustamnica Prima. Because of its importance as a center of Christianity, many of its bishops are known, including Phileas, martyred in Alexandria in 305 AD, and Anba Mennas in 744 AD. The city was still prominent when the Arabs invaded Egypt in 641 AD. It probably was abandoned by the 10th century AD, after a local tax revolt.
Current Excavations and Discoveries
Recent exploration and excavation of the city by the University of Hawaii expedition actually began in 2007. In the northern part of the ancient city, the team is working in conjunction with the Supreme Council of Antiquities to conduct salvage operations in a zone that had been stripped to a strata corresponding to the 1st Century BCE in the 1920s and is currently slated to be leveled for modern construction. Archaeologists have determined that a destruction event dating to the early 2ndcentury BCE was followed by the systematic leveling and rebuilding of the area. Ceramics and coins, including a small cache buried under a floor with in situ ceramics suggest that the destruction event occurred during the reign of Ptolemy V and could be associated with the great rebellion discussed in the Rosetta Stone and many other documents. Evidence includes human remains with signs of trauma, ballistae stones, burning, in situ ceramics indicating little warning for abandonment and a radical and planned reuse of the area immediately following the destruction. In one refuse pile a head of a small domestic figure of Ptolemy V was recovered, consistent with the call for domestic shrines to the pharaoh as recorded in the Rosetta Stone. A broken statue of Arsinoë II, deified as Isis, was pulled during salvage and may have come from related strata based on oral reports of the find. Other discoveries in the north include a possible shrine with an Isis lamp and an extensive kiln complex that predates the arrival of Alexander the Great. The complex was evidently shut down after the destruction event and one body was found in the fill of a truncated and leveled kiln.
The figurine head of Ptolemy V. Photo courtesy Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein
Re-assembled krater, found during excavations at Tel Timai. Photo courtesy Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein
The Hellenistic kiln workshop. Photo courtesy Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein
In the central portion at the East Forum, recent excavations have begun to explore extensive well-preserved mudbrick architecture of what appears to be public buildings. An offering pit in one building has yielded an impressive cache of artifacts, including a set of Sub-Saharan acrobat figurines, miniature ceramics, lead votive charms, and a ceramic statue of the god Bes. This assemblage was found near a large red granite statue pedestal and the earliest artifacts date to the early Roman period.
With the support of the National Geographic Society, an additional project area will begin in December 2012 with the objective of exploring the area in the southern portion of Tell Timai, where monumental architectural elements were dredged from a canal. The elements included columns and portions of a wall frieze. A stone found in the adjacent field has a faint inscription that appears to be a cartouche with the name of Ptolemy II or III. This structure may be a temple erected by Ptolemy II for his queen Arsinoe. Work planned in December 2012 includes a geophysical survey and archaeological testing of GPR data.
Recovered features of the sunken Ptolemaic temple. Photo courtesy Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein
Recovered column fragments of the Ptolemaic temple. Photo courtesy Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein
Excavations will also continue during the summer of 2013. The team plans to return to the site june 5 - July 12. For more information about Tel Timai and how to participate in the excavation project, see the website at
http://manoa.hawaii.edu/llea/studyabroad/telltimai/ .
Top Photo: View of the remains at Tel Timai. Photo courtesy Robert Littman and Jay Silverstein
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Archaeologists Excavate Ancient Maya Center at Chan Chich, Belize
Tucked away within a dense jungle shroud near the Guatemalan border in Belize are the remains of a largely unexplored ancient Maya center known as Chan Chich. The site is best known to the public and to tourists as the location of a top-ranked eco-lodge by the same name. Less known, however, is evidence of a likely array of ancient temples, tombs and artifacts that still rest mostly unseen beneath thick vegetation and rubble that have cloaked their features through centuries of time. Their only inhabitants now are small bats and spider monkeys.
Before the lodge, access to the site was best approached with machetes and canoes. This was only the domain of loggers, pot hunters, and grave robbers. Then, an old logging road, originally created by logging operators through the Belize Estate and Produce Company, was reopened, and Chan Chich was rediscovered.
Like so many other Maya sites, it was a target for looters. When rediscovered, three structures thought to be temples showed strong evidence of looting -- vertical slit trenches were dug into their sides. A large temple in the site's Upper Plaza area, perhaps the main temple, showed clear signs of intrusion into one or more burial chambers. This temple features a painted frieze that skirts around a low interior ceiling.
Benjamin Thompson, the photographer, views remains of the "King's Tomb" at Chan Chich. Like so many other Maya sites, Chan Chich has been subjected to years of looting. Photo credit: Benjamin Thompson, Flickr.
Above: Stela at entrance to Chan Chich Lodge. Benjamin Thompson, Flickr.
From 1996 to 2001, Dr. Brett A. Houk of Texas Tech University conducted research at the site. In 2012, a team of archaeologists and students under Houk's direction returned to the site to excavate at two locations related to the settlement. The first, located in the Upper Plaza, was a deeply buried midden, or trash deposit. It had been previously radiocarbon dated to 770 BC, firmly within the Maya Preclassic Period, a time when great early Maya centers such as Kaminaljuyu in Guatemala were reaching their apogee. The other location, about 1.6 miles west of Chan Chich, was a smaller structure called Kaxil Uinic, where research is being focused on much later periods of time, including a time when it is thought that the area was abandoned around AD 850, with "subsequent visits to the site by pilgrims who placed incense burners at the base of a carved stela centuries after the site had fallen into ruin". [1] Also found was a historic Maya village, utilized as recently as 1931 as achicle harvesting camp.
Work will proceed in the area of Chan Chich for seasons to come. Reports Houk, et, al., "Although the 2012 season has just ended and analysis of the findings is underway, plans for 2013 are already being made. If agreements can be reached with the landowner and adequate funding can be secured, the project will complete the Upper Plaza work and conduct an intensive investigation of a large building in the Main Plaza at Chan Chich, using a variety of remote sensing techniques combined with extensive excavations. Another aspect of the work will be walking existing cut lines through the jungle (part of an unrelated seismic survey) to look for previously undiscovered Maya ruins."
"These excavations will shed additional light on the development of Maya civilization in this part of Belize," says one observer of the investigations. "A myriad of questions will need to be addressed. Who were these people in relation to the surrounding Maya centers? How did this center relate to other great Maya centers? What new findings will distinguish this place from all other Maya settllements in the region? There is so much more to come. What is still unknown is more exciting to contemplate than what has already been discovered."
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Balkan Heritage Field Schools: Season 2012
"FRESCO-HUNTING" PHOTO EXPEDITION TO MEDIEVAL BALKAN CHURCHES (Western Bulgaria)
An expedition for documentation of medieval frescoes preserved in abandoned churches and chapels in remote areas of Western Bulgaria.The task of the expedition envisioned for 2012 is to enhance the database created during the previous seasons by documenting frescoes and their condition as well as collecting new data on history, architecture, artefacts and environment of the ecclesiastical buildings they belong to.
Standard Field School Session: 12 – 26 May 2012
Extended Field School Session: 12 May - 2 June, 2012
Academic credits available for students: up to 9
BIRTH OF EUROPE - EXCAVATION OF THE EARLY NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT ILINDENTSI
Excavations of one of the very first Neolithic settlements in Europe (6200-5500 BC), near Ilindentsi, Southwestern Bulgaria. Two field school sessions are available:
Session 1: 17 June - 1 July, 2012
Session 2: 2 - 16 July, 2012
Academic credits available for students: up to 9
new project WORKSHOP FOR CONSERVATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF ROMAN MOSAICS
The workshop will guide the participants through the history, techniques and consequent stages of archaeological study, conservation and documentation of Roman and Late Roman (first - sixth century AD) mosaics. Both the theoretical and practical courses will be based on authentic Roman mosaics / mosaic fragments found in the ancient city of Stobi – the capital of Macedonia Secunda.
Dates: 16 - 29 June, 2012
Academic credits available for students: 6
WORKSHOP FOR CONSERVATION, RESTORATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF ROMAN POTTERY
The workshop will guide the participants through the history and technology of Roman and Late Roman pottery and consequent stages of archaeological conservation, restoration, documentation and study. Both the theoretical and practical courses will be based on Roman pottery found in the ancient city of Stobi. During the workshop participants will work with authentic Roman shards.
Dates: 16 - 29 June, 2012
Academic credits available for students: 6
HERACLEA LYNCESTIS EXCAVATIONS
Excavations of the ancient (Hellenistic, Roman, Late Roman) town of Heraclea Lyncestis in Bitola, Macedonia.
Two field school sessions are available:
Session 1: 30 June - 14 July, 2012 Session 2: 15 - 29 July, 2012
Academic credits available for students: up to 9
APOLLONIA PONTICA EXCAVATIONS
Excavations at the sacred precinct (temenos) of the Ancient Greek city of Apollonia Pontica on St. Kirik Island, Sozopol, Bulgaria. Periods of occupation: Archaic and Classical Greek and Early Byzantine (seventh - fifth century BC and fifth - seventh century AD). Two field school sessions are available:
Session 1: 1 - 15 August 2012 Session 2: 16 - 30 August 2012
Academic credits available for students: up to 9
STOBI (THE CAPITAL CITY OF MACEDONIA SECUNDA) EXCAVATIONS
Excavations of the impressive ancient (Late Hellenistic, Roman, Early Byzantine) city of Stobi, Macedonia. Two field school sessions are available:
Session 1: 29 July - 12 August 2012 Session 2: 13 - 27 August 2012
Academic credits available for students: up to 9
WORKSHOP FOR RESTORATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF ANCIENT GREEK POTTERY
The workshop will guide the participants through the history of ancient Greek pottery, its production and consequent stages of archaeological conservation, documentation, study, and restoration. It will take place consequently in Emona and Sozopol (ancient Apollonia Pontica) on the Black sea coast, Bulgaria. Both the theoretical and practical courses will be based on Ancient Greek pottery found in Sozopol. During the workshop participants will work with authentic Ancient Greek shards.
Dates: 3 - 16 September, 2012
Academic credits available for students: 6
For more information, go to http://bhfieldschool.org/bh2007.html
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Archaeological Field School Opportunities in Egypt
For the past 36 years from 1975 to the present, The Akhenaten Temple Project, a program initially created to study and reconstruct on paper the dismantled sun-temples of the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten (14th Century B.C.), has undertaken archaeological work at four major sites in Egypt: At East Karnak (Luxor), our excavations have uncovered the largest temple of this king; across the river in the Theban necropolis, we initiated a tomb survey of burials and sepulchres including that of Akhenaten's butler Parennefer; at Tel el-Rub’a in the eastern Nile delta, we commenced excavation of the ancient city of Mendes; and in the Sinai, a New Kingdom fortress today known as Tel Kedwa.
The archaeological field work of the A.T.P. has made significant contributions to our knowledge of all the major time periods of Ancient Egypt, and opened untold opportunities for student participation and training. From 1998, directors, Prof. Donald Redford and Dr. Susan Redford, have combined the work of the project with a field school run under the sponsorship of Penn State Education Abroad, which has been highly successful in training undergraduates, not only in history, but also in the mechanics of archaeological field methodology, epigraphy, recording of reliefs and artifacts, human osteology, paleobotany and conservation. Since field operations always involve native Egyptian labor, the student moves within the local native community and is obliged to learn a little Arabic. It is a marvelous opportunity for the undergraduate to come into close contact with another important world culture and the Islamic way of life.
Penn State’s Summer Abroad field school offers students six credits in the area of archaeology, ancient Mediterranean studies and international cultures toward their degrees. Those who are interested in taking part in this exciting research and gaining a memorable cultural experience may find more detailed information and submit an application on-line at www.outreach.psu.edu/summerabroad/study-egypt for the up-coming 2012 expeditions. The application deadline is December 20, 2011.
This narrative was written by Professor Donald Redford and Dr. Susan Redford.
Photo courtesy Susan Redford and the Theban Tomb Survey
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Maya Research Program at Blue Creek
When we think of the ancient Maya civilization, the monumental centers of Tikal, Palenque, Chichen Itza, and Copan usually come to mind. These, however, are only a few of the countless ancient sites, many of which, though known to exist, still lie unexcavated and unexplored. Still others are yet undiscovered, and their number is still a mystery. The jungle shrouds their secrets. The archaeologists who uncover and investigate these sites have many years of work ahead them before a complete picture of the Maya civilization, and how it mysteriously and suddenly declined, emerges.
Blue Creek
A comparatively small site in northwestern Belize promises to add an important chapter to the story. It will help answer questions about how a medium-sized community of approximately 20,000 people managed to support an unusually wealthy class of residents and a large public precinct surrounded by numerous, well-defined residential structures and agricultural components. Known as Blue Creek, scientists at this site have uncovered a large number of exotic goods, unusual for a community of this size. It is thought that its strategic location, in combination with the techniques the ancient inhabitants employed in agricultural production, defined the foundation for its wealth.
The Project
Dr. Thomas Guderjan of the Maya Research Program (MRP) is leading a team of archaeologists and other professional staff to find answers to the questions surrounding the site. In 2012, the team will be returning to continue excavations.They are calling for students and volunteers to join them for their 2012 season, which begins May 28 and runs through July 29.
The Field School
Participants will receive training in field and laboratory techniques as well as receive a "crash course" on the Maya and archaeological methodology The Field School is certified by the Register of Professional Archaeologists (see participant guide at http://www.mayaresearchprogram.org/web-content/helpdig_form.html). Accommodation is at the Blue Creek research station, which has 35 small residential cabanas, a 1500 square foot laboratory building, a main building with a dining hall, and men's and women's restrooms and showers. All meals, equipment and supplies are provided. There will be four two-week sessions. Participants are welcome to join any or all of them.
For the student or enthusiast of Maya archaeology, the Blue Creek experience represents one of the best field school opportunities available for this region of the world. It is open to all, regardless of experience. Academic credit and scholarships are available.
The 2012 Field Season Dates are:
Session 1: Monday May 28 - Sunday June 10;
Session 2: Monday June 11 - Sunday June 24 ;
Session 3: Monday July 2 - Sunday July 15;
Session 4: Monday July 16 - Sunday July 29
For additional information please contact the Maya Research Program:
www.mayaresearchprogram.org
1910 East Southeast Loop 323 #296
Tyler, Texas 75701
817-831-9011
mrpinquiries@gmail.com
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
The Collegiate Journal of Anthropolgy
College students, submit your best research papers for publication before a worldwide readership in AnthroJournal, the collegiate journal of anthropolgy. Go to AnthroJournal for more information.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Crow Canyon Archaeological Center Programs
When we think about going on an archaeological dig, most of us perceive it as a largely adult or college student activity. But it may surprise you to know that there are many programs out there that invite youth participation. Indeed, there are programs that are specifically designed for people well below "college age". Perhaps one of the finest examples can be found with the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. It offers programs for teenagers (high school students), children and families. Using the example of ongoing site investigation in the Mesa Verde area of the American Southwest, this program gives young people at a very early age a chance to learn what it means to undertake systematic excavation and research.......and have fun at the same time. Moreover, you will see when you visit this site that it caters to ALL ages and experience levels. Check it out!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Excavating Tel Kabri: The Aegean Connection
Did the Minoans walk the ancient land of Canaan? No one can say with certainty, but new evidence is emerging that further supports the possibility. Directors Eric Cline of the George Washington University and Assaf Yasur-Landau of Haifa University, will be leading an excavation this summer that will shed new light on this, and many other questions about the ancient inhabitants who once occupied the site of Tel Kabri.
Located in the western Galilee region of modern Israel, Tel Kabri was the center of a Canaanite polity during the Middle Bronze Age. Excavations conducted by Aharon Kempinski and Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier from 1986-1993 revealed the remains of a palace dating to the Middle Bronze period (ca. 2000-1550 BCE). Tel Kabri has now been revealed to be a large site (more than 200,000 sq. m.) with a continuum of strata from the Neolithic Period to the Iron Age. Most significant are the Middle Bronze Age remains, which include massive fortifications, residential architecture and tombs, and a large palace, as well as an Iron Age fortress with imported Greek pottery and additional evidence for the presence of Greek mercenary soldiers which was partially excavated at the highest part of the Tel.
A rare discovery was made within the palace at Tel Kabri: a floor and walls decorated with paintings done in Aegean style. The painted floor was found within a ceremonial room and was decorated with floral and marbled motifs. The thousands of fragments from one or more wall frescoes included boats, griffin wings, and houses that bore much resemblance to the miniature frescoes found on the Greek island of Santorini. Kabri is one of only four sites in the Eastern Mediterranean to have such Bronze Age Aegean-style paintings and may well be the earliest. Such evidence for artistic connections between the Aegean culture of ancient Crete and the Cyclades with the Canaanites and other inhabitants of the ancient Near East is unique in Israel. It is also very rare elsewhere, existing outside the Aegean only in Egypt at Tel el-Dab’a, the capitol of the Hyksos, and at the sites of Alalakh and Qatna in Syria.
The 2011 Season
The 2011 season will focus on continued excavation of the palace, with the goal of investigating its life cycle, from its humble beginnings to its destruction three centuries later.
Directors Cline and Yasur-Landau are now calling for students and volunteers to help continue the discovery process this summer. If you are interested in being a part of this cutting edge research, go to digkabri.wordpress.com for more information. It may well be an experience you will never forget.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Montpelier From the Ground Down
For those familiar with the historical foundations of the U.S. American experience, James Madison figures very large among the country's founders. In fact, among his peers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and according to most present day scholars, Madison is widely regarded as the "Father of the U.S. Constitution", reflecting the prominent role he played in it's inception. His famous wife, Dolley Madison, for her part, figured no less prominently on the early American stage. What is less known about the Madisons is the fact that they owned and operated one of America's greatest early plantations, matching those of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and George Mason. Known as Montpelier, the plantation, including the great mansion house, has been preserved for public touring and education and continues to improve what it has to offer to the visiting public through well-organized programs and research. Public participation factors as a major component of the Montpelier experience, and nothing could be more hands-on than the activities designed by the Montpelier Archaeology Department to let the public really get their hands dirty by excavating history in the plantation soil.
THE EXCAVATIONS
Beginning in the spring of 2011, the Montpelier Archaeology Department will be conducting investigations of the "South Yard", an area immediately to the south of the mansion and location of the domestic slave quarters. During the 2011 excavations, archaeology team members will be looking for the structural remains of the quarters, smokehouses, work yards, and the pathways that link them into the broader plantation community. The objective is to examine and interpret the cultural data to help piece together a picture of how the South Yard related to the plantation, and how it helps in developing a more complete understanding of slave life on the plantation and the plantation operations in general.
JOIN THE TEAM!
The Archaeology Department is currently seeking volunteers who would be interested in becoming an integral part of the research team. The season will be divided into nine 1-week programs or sessions (called expeditions), beginning March 27 and ending October 29. With a staff of 8 archaeologists, volunteers will enjoy significant personal interaction with the research team professionals, who will walk the volunteers step-by-step through the entire excavation process, including lab work. The experience includes lectures and tours of various archaeological sites on the property, including the mansion house. For a tax deductible fee of $650, participants will get all of the above for each 1-week expedition, including two group dinners and lodging at the Arlington House, a historic antebellum home located on the estate's historic grounds. All in all, this program ranks among the best for those interested in a practical, hands-on introduction to American historical archaeology. More detailed information about the research, opportunity, and application procedure can be found on the website at www.montpelier.org/archaeologyprograms. For general information about James Madison, Dolley Madison, Montpelier, and the archaeology program, go to www.montpelier.org.
