Saving Rome: The Villa delle Vignacce Summer Field School
Can You See Yourself Saving Rome?
By "saving" one means uncovering and preserving its ancient remains, of course. Program Director Dr. Darius A. Arya and Co-Directors Dr. Dora Cirone and Dr. Albert Prieto of the American Institute for RomanCultureSummerArchaeologyFieldSchool will be conducting a six week intensive field school in Roman archaeology. The field school will be conducted from June 19, 2010 through July 31, 2010and offers students a unique combination of 5 weeks of on-site field work and one week of specialized academic instruction by expert archaeologists and institute professors. As the program centers in Rome, there will also be visits to major Roman museums and open-air sites to augment field studies and to provide participants with a broader context of what life was like in Ancient Rome.
Participants will be given the opportunity to develop their archaeological techniques at the ongoing excavation and preservation of an important Roman site, the Villa delle Vignacce (a large Roman villa).In its fifth season of exploration, students will work with professional archaeologists to explore and preserve an important second century AD villa located within Rome’s famed Park of the Aqueducts. During the previous season, the excavation team's efforts were highlighted by the discovery of impressive statuary and marble veneer decoration. Among the finds was a 1.5 long marble statue of Marsyas, discovered resting horizontally on mosaic pavement, still attached to it's marble tree brace. According to a well-known Roman myth, Marsyas challenged Apollo to a music contest, lost, and as punishment was bound to a tree and flailed alive. The statue that was discovered depicts Marsyas in the midst of this punishment.
The 2010 Field School
This summer, field school excavations will continue to uncover more of Ville delle Vignacce’s imperial bath complex, while working to examine and preserve the caldarium, latrine and an apodyterium with marble veneer and glass paste mosaics and vaulting discovered during previous field seasons.As a large and expanding project, the Ville delle Vignacce investigations are proving to be one of the city’s most exciting new excavations and has recently garnered international press attention as one of Ancient Rome’s “At Risk” archaeological sites, threatened as the result of previous neglect and vandalism.
Participants will also explore both the urban development and the material culture of Rome from the 1st- 6th century A.D., investigating in detail many diverse aspects of Ancient Roman civilization. Through the examination of material evidence, so abundant in Lazio, program participants will have ample opportunity to learn from archaeological evidence as well as the many historical monuments and world heritage sites located in the area. Through this field school, participants will:
Learn the importance of archaeological record-keeping, including the proper methodology of conducting excavations, archaeological drawing, note-taking, and identifying, organizing and cataloging finds;
Become familiar with a variety of Roman artifacts and building techniques and materials, and learn how to "read" art, architecture, and other vestiges of material culture;
Learn more about ancient Rome and its archaeological record; and
Learn more about historic preservation.
This season's program aims to provide participants with both a chronological and diachronic approach to the study of Roman civilization. In this way, students will gain a comprehensive historical and cultural perspective of Roman civilization, and an understanding of and appreciation for how its cultural values influenced the entire western world up to the present day.
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All prospective student participants and volunteers are encouraged to go to the websitefor additional information about the opportunity and how to apply. Saving Rome couldn't be more fun and exciting!
The relatively small area of this little city detracts nothing from the impressive architectural remains one beholds as the casual observer traverses its ancient streets. "Monumental" is the best word that comes to mind when describing this fortified Hellenistic-Roman style space and its commanding view of the surrounding countryside.
Known as the ancient city of Hippos-Sussita, it is located on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee, on top of a flat, diamond shaped mountain, 350 m above the lake. Sussita, or as it was known by its Greek name, Antiochia-Hippos, was founded after 200 BC, when the Seleucids seized the Land of Israel from the Ptolemies. During the Roman Period Hippos belonged to the Decapolis, a group of ten cities which were regarded as centers of Greek culture in an area predominantly populated by Semitic peoples such as Jews, Aramaeans, Ituraeans, and Nabataeans.The cities of the Decapolis had much in common. Most were founded during the Hellenistic period and were given the encouragement and support of the Seleucid kings, who saw them as a counterweight to the kingdoms that lay to the west (the Hasmonaean Kingdom of Judaea) and to the east (the Nabataean kingdom). Most of the population in the cities was Hellenised and the citizens saw themselves as citizens of a polis in every respect.
The Project
The research of Hippos-Sussita is an international Israeli-Polish-American project collaboration co-directed by: Professor Arthur Segal from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa; Professor Jolanta Mlynarczyk from the Research Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology, Polish Academy of Sciences; Dr. Mariusz Burdajewicz of the National Museum, Warsaw; Professor Mark Schuler from Concordia University, St Paul, USA; and Mr. Michael Eisenberg, a PhD candidate from the Zinman Institute of Archaeology who serves as Professor's Segal assistant.The objective of the expedition is to uncover the entire ancient city, the street network, the main public secular and religious buildings, as well as the domestic quarters. The expedition also hopes to survey and excavate the two necropoleis located to the south and south-east of the city. The relationship between the city and the surrounding countryside will also be examined in future seasons, especially the area stretching between the city and the lake. Further, they plan to conduct a detailed survey of the lake's shore to establish the exact location of Hippos' port.
The 2009 Goals
During the summer of 2009 (July 5 --July 30), the team plans to:
Continue the excavation of the Roman Monumental Arch area, east of the Hellenistic Compound;
Reveal more of the Roman Monumental Building west of the Forum;
Complete the documentation and preservation of the North West Church;
Complete the excavation and preservation of the North East Church;
Complete the excavation of the insula located between the North East Church and the Decumanus Maximus;
Continue the excavation of the Roman Byzantine Bath located between the Forum and the southern city wall; and
Continue the preservation treatment in all the sites exposed so far
The project directors are inviting students and volunteers from all over the world to come join them in this exciting long-term expedition. If you are interested, go to http://hippos.haifa.ac.il for more detailed information and to find out how to apply.
Investigating a Roman City in the Balearic Islands
As early as 123 B.C., the Roman army had reached and conquered Menorca of the Balearic Mediterranean islands. Now a part of Spain, Menorca became at that time a part of the vast Roman empire. It was ruled by Rome for at least 600 years. On one of those islands, they had established three cities, one of which is known today as Sanisera. Built around the port of Sanitja, it flourished as a commercial maritime center, receiving ships traveling from present-day Spain to Italy and from present-day France to Africa. The impressiveness of Sanisera can be appreciated in the present by the quantity and quality of the amphoras and other roman artifacts that have been found in recent excavations. Sanisera is situated in a spectacular natural reserve next to the Ecomuseum of the Cape of Cavalleria, which, along with the Sanitja Association, is sponsoring archaeological excavations at the ancient site.
Under the direction of Directors Fernando Contreras and Regine Muller, a team of archaeologists, students and volunteers with be conducting systematic excavation and research at the site from May 12 to Octobe 21, 2009 to uncover more of what made this city such an important Roman settlement and center of maritime activity. Students will learn and gain experience in excavation using the Harris Matrix. Various instruments and tools will be used to record stratigraphy and document the plans and photographs of the excavation. In the museum laboratory, students will study excavated material and learn basic techniques of artifact recording, focusing on Roman pottery. In addition to the daily excavation and laboratory work, students will also participate in conferences on methodology and Roman archaeology, and will visit other museums and archaeological sites on the island. Academic courses will be offered in both English and Spanish.
If you are interested in expanding your mind and learning some first-hand field archaeology in a Mediterranean setting in 2009, you are invited to join the team by going to the website at www.ecomuseodecavalleria.com to learn more about the project and the application procedures. Who knows? This could be a life-changing experience!
