EBAP Blog I

We have been on site for almost two weeks now, and I am loving life in the trenches. As an anthropology major, it has been great discussing the Ancient site of Eleon and the different types of pottery with those more in tune with classical studies. The finds have been fascinating and encouraging, and I am again able to straighten my fingers after several days of shoveler's claw; although the claw was useful in clutching a beer after a hard days work. After two days of being human weed wackers to clear the site and wondering what I had gotten myself into, we began digging, and I have learned how to use several different tools. I find the most useful ones are the pick-axe, the hand-pick, the trowel, and the water bottle. I have also learned the cardinal rule of archaeology, which is to put sunscreen on your lower back to avoid the 'smile'. Today we experienced what happens when it rains while excavating in Greece. It mostly includes sleeping in,attempts at starting a new trench, and enjoying a delicious cappuccino at a cozy cafe in Arma. It was a relaxing change, but I'm ready to get back in the trench tomorrow with Team Matt, and listen to some smooth classic rock while uncovering more history of beautiful Boeotia.

Welcome to the new season - 2013! Our bloggers will soon start posting their thoughts and impressions during their time excavating with us at Eleon in eastern Boeotia.  We have a large crew this year - numbering 35 all together.
Work is continuing at our site located in the village of Arma, where our neighbors have welcomed us back and have been extremely helpful! We even have running water onsite now, thanks to Spyros Davros the president of Arma. Weather has been very cooperative also - cool mornings and good heat in the afternoons. We are also making use of our apotheke located close by where analysis and drawing of finds are underway. Stay tuned for reports on various aspects of our work!
Bryan Burns
Brendan Burke

Flotation :)

Over the past six weeks each one of us has partaken in numerous different jobs and tasks to do with the project, whether it be shoveling, sweeping, pick-axing, huddling together to form shade for photo-takers, helping with conservation, data entry, pottery washing, taking flotation samples or bone identification, we have all tried something new. Not only have we all immersed ourselves in various activities, we have also met numerous new people in all areas of expertise that play a part in the findings and excavation of this site. One activity I learned about and was taught how to do this year was flotation. The excavation's paleobotanist Evi came and explained to us the importance of flotation and the collection of light and heavy residue. When doing a flotation sample usually you start with approximately 10 liters of soil that was ultimately taken form an area in the trench that could potentially provide further insight into the living conditions and habits of the people being studied. We poured the soil into the flotation "contraption" and as the soil disintegrates, what you are left with  is the light residue-- which contains the substances in the soil that float to the surface (like charcoal), and the heavy residue-- like small rocks and pebbles as well as heavier pieces of charcoal. From these two residues we are able to look at what types of seeds were being cooked and consumed (from the charcoal) as well as any other material including small faunal remains, like fish and bird, that were otherwise not detected without flotation :)

Photographic Evidence III

The last photoblog of the season. When time and place shall serve I'll post some photos from past seasons. For now, here's what we've been up to in our last week.

MM: contortionist

KS - trench Yoga

Mitrou comes to call

CMK & VK

G drawing

V making shade

MB and Loc.9

Bones and pots

Flotation samples

more...

Looking northwest to the tower

View from the south

MB and KS lecture on bones

Attentive students

Comparison...

Our bones

Odd bones

East

NW B2c

SB sweeping

MC cleaning

RBB pleased with something

TVD's gonna getcha

TVD by TVD

Canadian Ambassador's turtle

JB taking a well deserved dip

MB - chuffed.

KS's delicious thingies.

BEB pontificating at the Ambassador's pad

The Gazi crowd

MM as a dying poet

Antikythera sculpture

Devoured by the sea

Beardy... some things cannot be destroyed.

The mechanism.

Athens...

Behind the Scenes of EBAP: Conservation

In order for the excavation to be successful, artifacts have to be preserved and analyzed. I had the amazing opportunity to work with our conservator Vicky and learn how to mend ceramics, store significant finds, and remove very tough concretions. One of the main skills of a conservator is to be able to join together broken pottery sherds. Piecing together pottery is one of my favourite activities that I've experienced here, but it can be very difficult. Reconstructing a ceramic vessel is like doing a puzzle without the picture and (in most cases) you're missing the majority of the pieces. After a few days of practice I found a few tricks that made the process easier. The most obvious joins are fresh, which is inevitable during the process of excavation. These are easy to tell apart because the break edges don't have any concretions on them. Shape of the break edge, curvature of the sherd, and area of the vessel (such as a rim or a base) also are ways to tell if sherds join. Any decoration such as painted bands or a motif can show if two sherds are close together or on the same area of a vessel even if they don't join. The main way to tell if sherds will join is to be patient and try fitting them together even if I didn't initially think they would. When two sherds join they "key in" and fit together perfectly so it is obvious when they do. It's very rewarding finding joins, and it is so interesting seeing how the vessel comes together. When I start I have a vague idea of how the shape of the deep bowl or stirrup jar should be but every time I finish a vessel I'm surprised with how the sherds ended up fitting together. Once the joins have been found the next step is to prep pottery sherds to be glued, and to learn how to break down glued joins with a solvent in case of a mistake. The break edges are prepped with a very diluted adhesive. Once they are dry it is time to apply the adhesive and let it set (which usually involves being a human vice). After the sherds are all glued the extra glue is taken off with a small amount of ethanol. It is extremely important to have all of the joins laid out and to start from the rim or the base. If even one piece is "locked out" and cannot fit where it should either the one join or the whole vessel has to be broken down with a solvent, which means I would have to start over again. The tools used to reconstruct pottery range from scalpels to paint brushes.Scalpels are used along with ethanol to take off concretions that could be inhibiting a join from fitting together properly or from absorbing the adhesive. Concretions can also be covering decorations that could help with finding joins. Paint brushed are invaluable as they are used to apply adhesive to joins, clean off surfaces, and prep break edges. Conservation does not only focus on pottery, but all artifacts we discover. Vicky has to be able to identify materials and know how to protect them. There are many aspects of conservation that I would love to learn more about.

End of project musings, by Matt B, age 6

     The end of the season has arrived. As we pack up our tools and our new collection of ancient doodads gets shipped off to its new home in Thebes, the pace of our lives in Dilesi has slowed exponentially. The last few days have been, for many of us, an endless stream of data entry and note copying as we attempt to tackle the mountains of information we have amassed since the beginning of June. Time always moves quickly here, but it was amazing how long I spent sitting in a room full of laptops and fans filling out endless tables without even noticing the days going by. As far as learning work skills, this segment of the project was perhaps one of the most important. These unglamorous and tedious tasks make up a great deal of the work actually performed in archaeology, and I can now say that I have documented over five thousand bones into a (gorgeous) spreadsheet. I would say this is a marketable skill. If I can offer one piece of advice for those attempting to make such a table, I would recommend making backups often, otherwise you might end up seething with anger all through ouzo hour and dinner after Mr Macbook decides to do some whimsical editing/reorganizing of your finished document without provocation. 

     A good portion of our crew is heading home today, and everyone seems eager to return to what I understand is remarkably cool summer weather back home. As much as we've all enjoyed our weeks in Dilesi, the humidity, heat, early mornings, and extremely loud cicadas have begun to take their toll on myself and my hardworking companions and we're all ready for some rest. Some of us are taking advantage of one of the greatest perks of working in Greece and plan to spend some time on the islands before leaving. I, for one, am looking forward to sleeping in in the Cyclades and not awakening with my hand cramped and enflamed from the dreaded affliction we call "shovel arm." This is quite similar to "trowel wrist," but not quite as bad as "karotzi shin." I should mention, however, that the pain of shovel arm was totally worth it, and Nikos and I have developed a really fantastic repertoire of spade tricks. 

   In closing, I would like to thank Brendan, Brian, Steffi, and all of my new friends for a great summer and the best 3 credits I've ever taken. And if you're ever in Boeotia, stop by the Gusto Grill in Dilesi for some fantastic souvlaki. Don't mind the mosquitoes.

To My Beloved SEA2C/Eleon Uncensored

As EBAP rushes frenetically to its final days of the season, I thought only a badly written sonnet (a slightly plagiarized one) could properly express the depth of my feelings towards my beloved trench.

Sonnet 130...And My love for Southeast A2C

My trench’s eyes are nothing like the sun,

Whose fickle rays burn cold in fiery gaze.

But trenches have not eyes, nor breasts of dun;

Which only adds to my 6am malaise.

Her sweet breath doth singe the hairs on my head,

And other hairs, of which I need not speak;

Though her wasps and sand don’t make a fine bed,

Before morning breaks, her embrace I seek.

I pick and scrape, and try my trench to please,

Yet betimes naught but roof-tile does she yield.

                But with mood as soft as ochre skin she sees

Fit to give bounty unasked from her field.

So still I think my love for trench so pure:

 I’ll awake at 5—my trench I’ll miss for sure.

I, not just my literary persona, will indeed miss my trench very much.  The last few days of excavation have been productive ones, and our diminished crew has made a heroic effort to close up all of our loose ends.  Much to our delight, we have had some excellent finds right at the end of the season.  If only I could tell you about them! Instead I’ve decided to post a series of provocative pictures.  Subscribe online for only $5.99 a month (send all orders to nikosbynikos@sexyebapphotos.com) and see our raw and wild uncensored dig photos. (Please don’t though. I could get in a lot of trouble).

RBB has something zesty in his hand... But what?

Now he's showing it to BEB... It must be really good.

I love.... something sherd-like.

I wanted to show you everything, but RBB has a machete.

You stay classy Dilesi.

Nikos out.