Tuesday, June 18, 2013

My Introduction to the World of Archaeology

Two weeks in, I feel quite at home here in Boeotia. I am really enjoying the satisfaction of a day's hard work as well as the rest we get in the small town of Dilesi. Working "down in the trenches" is not as horrible as it sounds, its great fun, as now we have excavated far enough below the topsoil that we are finding structures and artifacts that have meaning, which can be trusted to explain what was going on here all those years ago. After working a week in a trench I form an attachment to the progress and do not want to be removed but it is also interesting to be able to experience each part of the site. As I shovel and pick away I try to imagine Eleon as it once was, long ago. How long this ancient city has been sitting under the soil we now remove is mind boggling. Personally recovering remnants of a Mycenaean people is exciting, but 3000 years ago is hard to comprehend.
On Friday I was instructed to stay behind in Dilesi to do conservation. 
I was a little disappointed at first but it soon turned out to be a relaxing morning, learning how to clean the more sensitive terracotta figurines as well as mend the fractured pieces. 
I am keeping myself attentive to remember significant details like, the names of different styles of pottery and how to identify them, as well as the terms and methods used in mapping out the trenches. 
On Sunday us EBAPers have the day off to enjoy this country any way we decide. This last one was spent exploring ancient Eretria on the island of Euboea. The next just could be in Mycenae or Tiryns!

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