Fieldwork Report: David Brown

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泭釦晨插賊楚

[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.facebook.com/ASOResearch/” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://twitter.com/ASOResearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”mailto:info@asor.org” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blog-icon3.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”http://asor.org/blog” margin_bottom=”0″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496683923840{margin-right: 20px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #99422f !important;}”][mk_divider divider_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” thickness=”1″ margin_top=”3″ margin_bottom=”3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”ca-sidebar-39801″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1487276122024{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]

The Final Dig at Dan

David Brown, 2022 Steinmetz Scholarship for Active/Reserve Military or Veterans[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]

As one of three major settlements in the Huleh Valley, Tel Dan occupies a prominent place not only in its well-known biblical association with the settling of the tribe of Dan in Judges 18, but also in the larger regional history. Its geographic location and boast of abundant natural springs have made it an attractive place to occupy from the Early Bronze Age II to the late Roman period. The late Avraham Biran oversaw excavations there from 1966-1999, with David Ilan of Hebrew Union College leading new excavations since 2005. Over this span of time, excavators have revealed some impressive features at the site including a Middle Bronze gate, an Iron II fortification system, a cultic high place, and of course the Tel Dan Stele. The site remains a major tourist attraction for history and archaeology enthusiasts to partake in exploring the vast treasures Israel has to offer

[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”96288″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712081676195{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]The 2022 season marked the final excavation for Area B���a series of rooms situated directly north of the Iron II fortification system on the southern flank. This area also juxtaposes the interior of the Bronze Age ramparts. A team of students, under the direction of Aaron Burke of the University of California Los Angeles, were assigned three squares in this area. The objectives of this season were to articulate the Iron I strata and reach the terminal Late Bronze phase. Along with students from Hebrew Union College working in Area L, a group totaling forty individuals from around the globe participated in this year���s fieldwork for four weeks covering June-July.

For my part in the excavation, I served as one of three square supervisors in Area B. My Ph.D. research centers on forced migration during the Late Bronze transition to the Iron Age where I seek to identify refugees resettling throughout the southern Levant. As such, this year���s objectives at Tel Dan were fortuitous for my research. We spent our first week removing quite a bit of wash from the area, because no work had been done at the site since 2018. Our second and third weeks were more productive in uncovering various indicators of conflagration including wall collapse, ash, and thick layers of destruction debris. We also analyzed wall interfaces and foundation trenches to better understand the sequencing of phases built up over time. By the fourth week, our area gifted us with a generous reward���pits. We identified them as refuse pits.

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Many people consider it strange that archaeologists could be so interested in the garbage of past people, but it is in the trash and the refuse that we can find some of the most valuable information in our reconstruction of ancestral behavior and events. From seeds and botanical analysis to bones and an understanding of diet, from crushed jars to which strata these holes were cut into, I have developed a strong appreciation for the importance of pits and what they contain. Particularly for my research with refugees, who exhibit basic subsistence and storage practices, pits are vital to identifying where refugees settled and what they produced. Needless to say, our efforts this season satisfied a serendipitous end to the Area B excavations.
I look forward to incorporating the data we unearthed at Tel Dan this season into my research and contributing to a better understanding of forced migration, the factors that pushed and pulled people to new regions, and how they reestablished themselves and began to rebuild and rediscover their social identities. I am also grateful to 17勛圖and to Mr. Charles Steinmetz, the donor for this fellowship, for financially supporting me in my research this season.

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David Brown is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California Los Angeles. His research is centered on forced migration in the Early Iron Age southern Levant, analyzing how to identify refugees in the material culture according to their push and pull factors as well as how they reconstituted themselves into new social identities after regional changes at the end of the Late Bronze Age transformation.

[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting ���Excavation Scholarships��� as your gift purpose!

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Fieldwork Report: Zachary Griffith

My Experience at Huqoq

Zachary Griffith, Eric and Carol Meyers Fellowship recipient

This summer I was able to attend the Huqoq Field School in Israel. I am grateful to 17勛圖for this scholarship, allowing me to attend this excavation. This was my first excavation outside of the United States, and by far the largest excavation that I have been a part of. During the excavation season I learned a great deal from the staff and supervisors, including Dr. Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and my Classics Professor at the college I attend, Austin College, the architecture specialist Dr. Martin Wells. Once again, I am thankful for the support of 17勛圖in making this experience possible.

I am grateful to have been a part of such an important excavation. The main focus of our excavation at Huqoq was the Late Roman synagogue and the Medieval synagogue building. The Huqoq excavation has gained much notoriety for the beautiful, well-preserved, and unique mosaics that were discovered in the Late Roman synagogue. Apart from the emphasis placed on the mosaics, there was much emphasis placed by the staff and supervisors of the significance of the material that can give a date for the Late Roman synagogue. This was especially evident when we visited various other synagogues in Northern Israel, such as those at Capernaum and Sepphoris. At lectures and hearing discussions between various professors at several of these sites, the magnitude of importance for the dating material for our excavation of the Late Roman synagogue at Huqoq was revealed. This dating material is so important to archaeology in this region due to conflicting theories over how the Christianized Roman Empire effected synagogue building and prosperity of the Jewish people under the Roman Empire, as such discussions have led scholars to give dates to synagogues that can differ by a degree of hundreds of years. It was great to be a part of an excavation that by itself is very significant, but that also could also have wide reaching implications for an entire region during the Roman Period.

Zach taking notes at the site after a day of excavation.

As a part of the Huqoq excavation I was assigned to the area 3000 North, which was supervised by Dr. Rangar Cline of Oklahoma State University. This was the area that consisted mostly of the Northwestern sections of what was once the Late Roman synagogue and the Medieval synagogue. 3000 North was also where previously unexcavated mosaics were uncovered during this season. In 3000 North I learned a great deal about excavation techniques. Also, due to our proximity to the Late Roman mosaics, and the emphasis placed on finding material to date parts of the site, I frequently sifted the material we excavated. Sifting could be very exhilarating, such as when we would find artifacts that could possibly be used as dating evidence, but also heartbreaking, such as when tesserae was discovered, showing that sections of the Late Roman synagogue���s mosaic would not be preserved.

Zach excavating in 3000 North.

I greatly value the work I did under the direction of architecture specialist. Dr. Martin Wells. I assisted Dr. Wells by moving, washing, and recording various architectural fragments of significance to the excavation. Handling these pieces and gaining first-hand experience from Dr. Wells, I was able to learn a great deal more about the architecture and construction techniques in all phases of the site that we excavated. What is most memorable to me about Huqoq was how rewarding the process of reconstructing the Late Roman and Medieval synagogues could be��� even though it was a very difficult process. This can be highlighted by the way in which the builders of the Medieval synagogue reused material from the Late Roman synagogue, and it is from this reused material that we can gain more evidence of what the Late Roman synagogue may have looked like. In addition to all of the fieldwork, spending time with all of the individuals with the same passion for archaeology was amazing.泭 I will have future colleagues and friends for life.

Zach (left) and his brother, Cayden (right), at the kibbutz.

Zachary Griffith is a Senior at Austin College, where he is majoring in Anthropology, Classics, and History. He also plays goalie for the water polo team at Austin College.

Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting ���Excavation Scholarships��� as your gift purpose!

Fieldwork Report: Paul Richards

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泭釦晨插賊楚

[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.facebook.com/ASOResearch/” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://twitter.com/ASOResearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”mailto:info@asor.org” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blog-icon3.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”http://asor.org/blog” margin_bottom=”0″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496683923840{margin-right: 20px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #99422f !important;}”][mk_divider divider_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” thickness=”1″ margin_top=”3″ margin_bottom=”3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”ca-sidebar-39801″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1487276122024{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]

Finally, a Dream Fulfilled

Paul Richards, 2022 17勛圖BIPOC Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Near East Archeology was a subject that, by title, I had not heard of until I started looking for a graduate degree covering ancient Israelite history. I knew archeologists went into the Middle East to do work, but I had not delved into more for the career field. After graduating from college with a BA in History I taught History in Cairo for 3 years at an American language high school. Then I taught ESL for 2 翻 years. While in Cairo I visited active dig sites. Visiting the sites sparked my interest in archeology.

When I started my Near East Archeology program at La Sierra University, I was excited for the upcoming dig. Because of the pandemic the normally scheduled dig season was canceled. I was determined to go the next season. By the time the next dig season came around the next year my finances were depleted. I applied for scholarships, and it is only due to being awarded the 2022 17勛圖BIPOC Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation, that I was able to join the BRAP excavation trip.

The experience was great. I had been to Jordan on a 30-hour layover before where I took the opportunity and toured around the immediate Amman area. For the excavation I signed up for the full BRAP dig season for six weeks. Being in the archeology classroom learning about archeology and working in the lab was much different than being in the field. While in the field I remembered terminology I had learned in class. It was a continual task matching the term I had learned in class with the meaning or action in the field. The work was hard but every day we dug up something significant to me as a first timer. Finding pottery was exciting. I quickly found out the dig veterans were very used to seeing pottery finds. The schedule was taxing but the finds everyday made it worth it.

In the middle of the season, we went to Petra. I had heard of Petra for a few years and the reports from those who had visited made it sound like the ultimate travel destination for all Near East enthusiasts. Usually people exaggerate, this time the reports were accurate. It was better than going to Disneyland.[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”96209″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712002492498{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]Archeology Becomes Personal

I grew up in and still am active in a distinct faith tradition. Previously my interest in ancient Israelite history had tilted my dig interest towards only going to Israel. I knew there was a lot to learn about ancient Israelite history from its ancient neighbors. Growing up myself in a culture and community where the stories of ancient Israel are accepted on a faith basis, it seemed almost automatic to gravitate towards Jerusalem. In a faith-based environment, especially for laypersons, activities of other ancient people groups are pushed aside and overlooked. It is a task of historians to help laypersons understand the study of Israel���s neighbors, and with proper archeology, enhance our academic understanding of faith-based stories.

The name Moab made a frequent appearance throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. A brief search rendered at least 18 times. The name originated, according to faith traditions, from one of the sons of Lot; Lot was Abraham���s nephew. The birth of Moab occurs in Genesis 19 along with his brother Ammon. The story includes some humiliating and salacious content. This son became the progenitor of the Moabites. The Moabites would become one of Israel���s major antagonists. King David in 2 Samuel 8:2 subjects the Moabites to servitude. Here again, a horrific scene takes place in the scripture tradition. In 2 Kings 3 Mesha King of Moab is mentioned as paying a heavy tribute to the Northern Kingdom. Mesha rebelled after the death of Ahab. The Mesha Stella, a significant find in Near East Archeology, describes a revolt against Israel.

Many inscriptions describing victory may have the veracity of the victory legitimately questioned. This is due to the well-known desire of kings and nations to embellish the greatness of themselves and their people. In the case of Mesha it does appear the inscription holds weight. The Mesha Stella was found at Tell-Dibon, a site our team was able to visit.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”96210″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712002888768{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]Cultural Memory And The Story of Moab

Cultural memory is a topic I have delved into since the beginning of my graduate program. The reality of stories becoming exaggerated results in the need for teachers and writers to execute proper exegesis when dealing with historical topics. Exegesis is a term primarily heard of in theology. But the principal for the term is crucial for every research field.

Preconceived ideas need to be erased before proceeding in the research. During the research process the evidence must speak for itself. In a textual context, a word can be assumed to have one meaning, then with further investigation the researcher realizes the original speaker or writer had a different meaning in mind. This also applies to archeology. As taxing as the physical aspect of archeology is, it is crucial to dispel private ideas and interpretations that can result from classroom and reading work only.

The public figures inside well-known faith traditions have become known for mobilizing their base with shallow motivation. This motivation is often very loosely based on ancient text references. Many public figures use the texts blatantly out of context for private purposes. There is a dual danger in the faith community. One is those who carelessly use history to further an agenda. The other are those who are born into these agendas unawares. Both continue to propagate a false narrative. The latter falls victim to its own cultural memory.

In certain faith-based texts Ruth is the progenitor of King David, Ruth 4:22. Ruth was the daughter in-law of Naomi who became a widow and decided to follow Naomi back to her homeland. There is a parallel story line outside the traditional faith-based text, which teaches Naomi���s other daughter in-law Orpah, a Moabite went back to her people and gave birth to Goliath a Philistine. Goliath has become the stuff of legend. His bio has been stretched to create a superhuman villain that would match today���s comic books.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”96211″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712003623857{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]And Finally

My time in the field has increased my interest in ancient languages. It has increased my interest in the facts of faith-based stories. While in the square my square mates and I had lively discussions over the topics presented above. By the end we were far from exhausting the matter. There will be more to debate and learn on the next excavation.[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Paul Richards holds a BA in History and a Minor in Communication Art from Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL. He lives in Southern California and is finishing his thesis at La Sierra University in Riverside, CA. . 泭. .[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting ���Excavation Scholarships��� as your gift purpose!

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Fieldwork Report: Aurora Cama簽o

Returning to Armenia: Excavations and Survey in Vayots Dzor

Aurora Cama簽o,泭G. E. Wright/Shirlee Meyers Fellowship Recipient

In 2010, while an archaeology undergraduate student, I participated in an archaeological field school in Vayots Dzor, Armenia at the well-known chalcolithic cave, Areni-1. That experience was my first taste of international travel and I fell in love with both Armenia and archaeology. However, it was not the chalcolithic history of the region that caught my attention, but the medieval churches and fortifications that still speckle the mountainous landscapes of Armenia. It was that trip that made me want to specialize in the medieval Near East and South Caucasus and set in motion the career path that I have since carved out for myself.

I have been fortunate to have worked in the field on a number of projects in the Near East and Mediterranean since that initial trip to Armenia in 2010, but it has always been a dream of mine to return. In 2020, I got in contact with Dr. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni regarding the Vayotz Dzor Fortress Landscape project, and we made plans for me to join the team. Shortly afterwards, the world shut down from Covid ��� but two years later, in the summer of 2022 we were able to make it happen. In July I flew from Canada to Armenia and returned for a summer of excavation and survey in the same small village that I worked in twelve years previous.

In the evenings, after coffee and sweets, the team had shared lab hours. I was assigned to help organize and record the pottery backlog from previous seasons, recording the details of all the diagnostic pottery finds from the site. Through this process we were able to better understand regional ceramic production, the different vessel and fabric types that frequented the site, as well as the local geology.

I was overjoyed to be able to return to Armenia, and deeply enjoyed my time in Vayotz Dzor working with the VDFLP team. Beyond the interesting archaeological work we conducted in Karaglukh, I enjoyed the many interesting conversations were had over delicious meals and homemade lavash in the village of Areni, strolls through neighbouring apricot orchards, and visits to the local 13th century church.

Aurora Cama簽o is a PhD Candidate in Archaeology at Simon Fraser University. She is a landscape archaeologist who specializes in built landscapes in the medieval Near East and South Caucasus. Her current dissertation studies landscapes of relocation in medieval Armenian Cilicia. She can be found on Twitter @AuroraCamano.

Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting ���Student Support��� as your gift purpose!

Fieldwork Report: Safia S. Boutaleb

Camping in Paradise

Safia S. Boutaleb, 2022 Eric & Carol Meyers Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation

I���d like to preface my report by saying that this trip was possible thanks to Dr. Eric and Dr. Carol Meyers, whose generous scholarship allows graduate students, like myself, to visit Cyprus and not only gain experience excavating but also form new, valuable connections. Thank you!

Tent on the roof of the old Peltenburg Archaeological Centre in Lemba

This report briefly describes my time in the 2022 field school led by Dr. Lindy Crewe at Kissonerga-Skalia (KS), a Bronze Age site in the Paphos region of Cyprus, dating from at least the Philia Phase (~2400 BCE) to the early Late Cypriot period (~1600 BCE). My experience in the field school was overwhelmingly positive and truly one of a kind. It complimented my previous field school experience in 2019 at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios, which sparked my love of Cypriot archaeology and the Bronze Age. I was admittedly anxious at first about my participation at Skalia due to some sudden and unexpected accommodation changes for the field school participants.

The new accommodations involved camping out in a tent on the roof of the old Peltenburg Archaeological Centre in Lemba for the month. However, after about one week in Lemba, I had adapted to my (very humid) surroundings and realized that the house in Lemba afforded us more independence and the opportunity to become better acquainted with Paul Croft, who resides at and cares for the Lemba centre. The house was beautiful and a place where generations of archaeologists have worked and stayed, making me feel like I had participated in some kind of tradition or initiation into the world of Cypriot archaeology. Moreover, the village of Lemba is an old, picturesque place in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and boasting thousands of years of human occupation (i.e., not a bad place to call home).

View of sea from Lemba

I was also grateful for the experience of excavating with Crewe and her team at Skalia. Crewe has assembled an eclectic group of supportive and intelligent archaeologists from all kinds of different backgrounds. Some of the supervisors and participants work in academia, others in commercial archaeology and some of them earn a living in entirely different fields. Regardless of their backgrounds, their expertise and experience at the site was invaluable and I greatly appreciated the diversity of their career paths, which can be rare in academic circles.

My own research and responsibilities at the site focused on the faunal remains at Skalia, an experience which I found to be both challenging and rewarding. My own familiarity with animal (and human) anatomy was unpractised, so I benefitted intensely from Croft���s sample collection of bones, which he allowed me to handle whenever necessary. Recognizing gaps in my anatomical knowledge, I did my best to support my team by cleaning and recording the bones, rather than making futile attempts to identify them myself. When errors were made in our records, I took initiative to stay behind and correct the mistake, a process which took two and a half days of work.

Lemba Sunset
View of sea from Lemba

Safia excavating in the field

My honest pride and joy for the season was my work on the floor of Area P/B. I genuinely love field work and I was overjoyed to have found the floor, as I recognize its significance in understanding the basic layout and stratigraphic occupation of a space. Thanks to my cautious work, Muti assigned me responsibility over the floor for about two weeks. A number of my peers came and joined me but none seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. It seems trivial to take such pride in excavating a floor but I remembered how challenging it was to find at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios and the experience of being able to differentiate tamped earth from mud plaster floor provided me with a skill that I had not anticipated I���d acquire this season. I also felt supported and recognized for my efforts, as the team awarded me the ���golden trowel���, one of the many superlative awards given at the end of the field season.

Safia's last day in field!

I would relish the opportunity to return to Kissonerga-Skalia and I am grateful for the experience of meeting and excavating with such an incredible team of professional archaeologists, who taught me not only how to excavate but also showed me that there is more than one path to becoming an archaeologist and that, when in doubt, it is possible to pave your own.

Safia Boutaleb (she/her) is a graduate student completing her Masters of Classical Archaeology at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her thesis focuses on women���s economic participation in Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age and the many ways their activities in daily life remain overlooked in scholarship of ancient economy. Kissonerga-Skalia 2022 was her second field school in Cyprus she has hopes to return to the island each year to research and participate in field work.

Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting ���Student Support��� as your gift purpose!

Collections Fellowship Report: James D. Moore

2022 Study of Collections Fellowship Report: Imprints of the Past: Preserving the Largest Known and Uncatalogued Collection of Semitic Artifacts in Europe

James D. Moore, Humboldt Universit瓣t zu Berlin

For many years, I have collaborated with the French Institute���s, Cabinet du泭Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum泭(Cabinet-CIS) within the Acad矇mie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, and in 2022 an 17勛圖Study of Collection Fellowship provided me startup funding to seed an ambitious attempt to build the Cabinet-CIS a digital inventory database and begin the process of cataloguing and digitally preserving one of Europe���s most important collections of Semitic artifacts. At the invitation of Christian Robin and Maria Gorea, I was able to complete the build for the collection���s database during two week-long trips to the Cabinet-CIS. This database is now used by scholars and students working on the collection.

The Cabinet-CIS is known for publishing two monumental series through the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum and the R矇pertoire d���矇pigraphie s矇mitique. Those compiling these works were sent paper m璽ch矇 squeezes of the inscriptions in those volumes and in some cases photographs along with detailed descriptions. The collection holds an estimated 10,000+ paper m璽ch矇 squeezes of Semitic inscriptions from the Near East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. In some cases these squeezes are of inscriptions which are now lost or inaccessible (due to their location in politically contested regions). Additionally, the collection holds hundreds of original objects and dozens of dossiers of many of the field���s most important figures, such as that of Charles Clermont-Ganneau. Unfortunately, the collection is only loosely organized into boxes and cupboards, for which a short inventory had been compiled.

Example of archival materials with squeeze in AIBL-CIS Dossier 12, Chypre 1. Credit: James D. Moore and Maria Gorea
Example of flat-file storage of Semitic squeezes. Credit: James D. Moore and Maria Gorea

Although the work was hindered by continued difficulties traveling, due to residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a mid-year trip to the Cabinet-CIS allowed me to assess the needs of the collection and survey its holdings. During that week I built a prototype SQL (PostgreSQL) database and local application which was tested by those working on the collection, specifically Maria Gorea���s students No矇mie Carpentier and Narmin Sadykhova. Over the course of many months, I fine-tuned the prototypal database, and at the end of the year, during a second trip to the Cabinet-CIS, I rebuilt the database on the泭泭using the泭, an Open Source information system builder and website publisher developed specifically for Humanities research data. The result is an easy to use inventory database for the Cabinet-CIS���s internal use (though the intention is to make the data accessible through a future website should continued funding be acquired). Here I must thank the Heurist team, in particular Ian Johnson and Michael Falk, for their support and advice along the way.

The database includes record entries where all necessary information about an object in the collection can be stored, including metadata, text, and translation. Each entry includes mapping a timeline features for the object along with additional media storage that can be linked to the object.

Example of a database entry���s ���Record��� for ��杗IBL-CIS Dos. 12.01.
Example of entry���s ���Map��� (and timeline) for AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01
Linked media to the 3D rendering of squeeze AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01 in the Digital Epigraphy User Interface (see below)

The ultimate objective was to initiate the process of digital preservation of the squeezes and other artifacts. To achieve this, I solicited the support of Angelos Barmpoutis of the Digital Worlds Institute and Eleni Bozia of the Classics Department at the University of Florida, whose泭泭proved to be an ideal application for our needs. By using scans from a flatbed scanner or raking light photographs one can easily render 3D scans of the squeezes. An example of AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01.01 ���Inscription royale d���Idalion��� (446 BCE = R��S 453; squeeze made in 1887) can be found泭.

Manipulating the photograph using the Digital Epigraphy���s user interface produces the best known available photograph of the inscription. Compare the previously published photograph to that made during our cataloguing efforts.

Upper photograph of squeeze AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01.01 made in 1887 depicts the contures of the inscription verses the lower photograph of a sqeeze made and published in 1939 by A. M. Honeyman, ���The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Cyprus Museum,��� Iraq 6: 104���8.

The Cabinet-CIS���s Heurist database and Digital Epigraphy software has far reaching applications for the collection. While one of Maria Gorea���s students, No矇mie Carpentier, was working on the Cabinet-CIS���s numismatic collection, I trained her in how to use the software to produce 3D renderings of coins. We scanned the following example of a worn Phoenician (Tyrian) coin minted during the reign of Artaxerxes III (AIBL-CIS NUM 01.1000100), and the 3D rendering makes visible the coin���s features, which are invisible to the eye. You can view the coin using the Digital Epigraphy user interface here:

Credit: Original photographs by James D. Moore, Maria Gorea, No矇mie Carpentier, and Narmin Sadykhova. Rendered and displayed using the Digital Epigraphy software.

The consorted efforts of all those mentioned above and the support from 17勛圖allowed us to achieve our objective of building a digital infrastructure for the Cabinet-CIS with which the digital preservation of its invaluable collection can begin.

Additional Notes
The long days spent at the Cabinet-CIS also afforded me opportunities to further my own research. Maria Gorea and I have long teamed up to publish important manuscripts in the Cabinet-CIS, and we used time to finalize manuscripts for a number of publications on two new Phoenician papyri accounts which radiocarbon date to the Persian period, fragments of Aramaic papyri from Elephantine, and a new Aramaic religious text from Egypt radiocarbon dated between the 2nd and early 4th centuries CE.

  • ���AIBL-CIS de Ricci no. 2: A New Jewish and Aramaic Religious Text from Egypt Dating between the 2nd and Early 4th Centuries CE���泭Dead Sea Discoveries, forthcoming
  • ���New Persian Period Phoenician Papyri Accounts from Egypt in the Acad矇mie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum,��� in泭Advances in Elephantine and Persian Period Research, eds. J. Moore and P. Schmidtkunz, Studies on Elephantine (forthcoming).
  • ���Radiocarbon Dating an Aramaic Papyrus from Elephantine and a New Aramaic Fragment from the Acad矇mie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum,��� in泭Advances in Elephantine and Persian Period Research, eds. J. Moore and P. Schmidtkunz, Studies on Elephantine (forthcoming).
  • ���Papyri semitiques du Cabinet du CIS,��� Comptes rendus des s矇ances de l���Acad矇mie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Communication of the AIBL 16 April 2021.
  • J.D. Moore,泭New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin, Studies on Elephantine泭1 (Leiden: Brill), 2022; Open Access:泭. (pp. 16���17)

Fieldwork Report: Kathleen Forste

Andalusian Agriculture: A View from Medieval Menorca

Kathleen Forste, 2022 P.E. MacAllister Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation

Thanks to the 17勛圖Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation, I was able to join the Menorca Archaeology Project (MAP) in Spain to excavate a portion of the medieval settlement at the site of Torre d���en Galm矇s. This rural 13th century Islamic village, or泭alqueria,泭is built atop and abutting (and certainly borrowing from) the ruins of a large post-Talayotic (Iron Age) settlement, and by studying it we can better understanding what life was like during this period and how medieval lifeways have influenced later periods of life on Menorca.

I am the archaeobotanist on the team, meaning I study plant remains like wood charcoal, seeds, and plant parts. The analysis of these remains can help us answer questions about diet and foodways, the crops that people grew and the wild plants they collected, and the types of plant materials they used to build their houses and fuel their fires.

This season, our excavation focused on two houses, one of which was so well-preserved that the plaster on the interior walls and floor were still intact. These houses were built in the typical form of Muslim houses ��� multiple rooms formed an L that bordered 2 sides of a patio, which was enclosed by 2 other walls to create a private area for the family to relax and perform everyday tasks such as cooking and carding wool to make yarn. The room that was excavated we are interpreting to be a kitchen, based on the presence of hearths, grinding stones, cooking vessels, as well as parallels in construction to other excavated houses of this era. We also found bronze nails just inside the threshold, hinting at the wooden door that would have graced this entryway.

Beginning our excavation of a medieval Islamic house, surrounded by ruins of other medieval houses and post-Talayotic buildings.
Excavating the east wall of the kitchen. Note the white plaster to the right of the author (middle), and the partially-excavated patio in the background.
The kitchen looking east. Moving left to right you can see the plaster floor, inlaid grinding stone and hand-held grinder in situ, and the doorway (undergoing excavation) that led out to patio.

We recovered carbonized plant remains through flotation, a method of using water to separate carbonized plant remains and microartifacts from their surrounding soil matrix. I built a new flotation tank for the project, and trained team members in this method. I will begin analyzing the plant remains from this season during the academic year, and based on findings from the previous season, I expect to find barley (which is a hardy crop that grows well in hot rocky areas and requires a moderate amount of water) and pulses like lentils and chickpeas (which grow best in cooler temperatures and require moderate amounts of water). Based on the growing requirements of these crops, we can begin to hypothesize which types of habitats Menorcan farmers selected for their fields.

The kitchen looking north. The plaster floor is exposed in the eastern portion (R-hand side) beneath the compacted occupation debris and collapse (intact in the western portion, L-hand side).
Teaching MAP team members how to recover plant remains and microartifacts through flotation.
MAP team members sorting the heavy fraction to recover microartifacts like fish bones and small plaster fragments.
Artifacts recovered from flotation, including lots of wood charcoal (second bag from the left).

Some of the agricultural engineering of the medieval era is still functional today, like this irrigation canal in a泭barranco泭(valley) that waters orchards and fields, creating a direct line between ancient and modern land-use practices.

Flotation was one of the methods employed to understand the way in which the medieval inhabitants managed their surroundings, along with mapping and 3D modeling structures and open spaces linking them. Through this multidisciplinary research we will be able to reconstruct the rhythm of life of medieval Menorca, and the ways in which people cultivated and built their landscapes.

Check out more about our project on Instagram:泭

Kathleen Forste is an anthropological archaeologist who studies agricultural systems through the analysis of archaeological plant remains, historical sources, and environmental data. Her research focuses on how societies adapt their agricultural systems to various environmental and socioeconomic conditions during the Islamic period (7th through 13th centuries) in the Levant and Iberia. She earned her PhD in 2021 from Boston University, where she is currently a Lecturer of Archaeology. 泭

Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting ���Student Support��� as your gift purpose!

2023 March Meeting Madness

2023 March Meeting Madness

March Meeting Madness is back! This year, we are raising funds to allow even more泭people泭to泭attend the Annual Meeting in Chicago in November. 泭You can helps us raise $10,000���$5,000 for registration scholarships and $5,000 for Annual Meeting Travel Scholarships.泭These Annual Meeting travel scholarship awardees will be checking in other attendees at the registration desks and泭helping泭in the meeting rooms with the new Zoom integration for our very first hybrid meeting. The purpose of these scholarships is to allow those who could not afford the hotel and travel expenses of the Annual Meeting to attend in Chicago and experience all the meeting has to offer. Attending the 17勛圖Annual Meeting is an invaluable experience for students thinking about graduate school, for those who are on the academic job market, for those who are planning fieldwork, and for everyone who wants to connect, network, and share their research. The Annual Meetings is also great for those who are not in the field but passionate about learning more about recent research. With the泭transition泭to hybrid this year, the 17勛圖staff will be very grateful of the extra help in making the 2023 meeting a great experience for all.

You can help send more people to the Annual Meeting through ASOR���s Meeting Madness this March!

March Meeting Madness Progress: $4,750 raised of $10,000 goal

Harris Grant Report: Girdi Matrab, Iraq

2022 Harris Grant Report: Girdi Matrab, Iraq

The first season of the Girdi Matrab Archaeological Project was generously funded by the泭17勛圖Charles Harris Project Grant. Girdi Matrab (���the earthen mound��� in Kurdish) is a multi-mound site located in the plain of Erbil, in the autonomous region of the Iraqi Kurdistan and was first surveyed by the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS), directed by Jason Ur in 2012.

View of the excavation area at the end of the 2022 field season.

Surface reconnaissance yielded an impressive amount of pottery sherds, that confirmed the habitation phase and the history of the settlement. Girdi Matrab was settled from the Late Chalcolithic period (5th millennium BCE) until the Uruk phase (4th millennium BCE). No indication of Bronze and Iron Age occupation has been detected at the site. On the contrary, the settlement expanded rapidly at the end of the 1st millennium BCE, reaching a quasi-urban size in the Hellenistic and Parthian-Roman period before being abandoned and never re-occupied again.

In view of the first proper excavation season, the site was also intensively surveyed in 2020 ��� thanks to the active participation of the EPAS Kurdish team members. In 2021, in collaboration with Petra Creamer (Emory University, USA) geophysical investigations were carried out at the site using a Bartington 601-2 Gradiometer, owned by the SPARC Lab at Dartmouth College, USA, highlighting, just below Mound 2, the remains of a large (40 x 40 m) building, with multiple rooms, internal courtyards, and hallways (Building A).

Petra Creamer (Emory) performing geophysics at Girdi Matrab (2021).
Plan of Phase B of Building A at the end of the 2022 field season.

With the objective of investigating part of this sub-surface evidence, a 20 x 25 m trench was placed above the south-eastern corner of the building, on Mound 2. After 5 weeks of excavation, we unearthed four rooms, all built with mudbrick walls over stones and pebbles foundations. Two of these rooms opened towards an internal courtyard, where a complete泭tannur泭(open-air oven) was also recovered. One of these two rooms yielded a completely intact floor composed by pebbles, pottery sherds and animal bones. The close proximity to the open-air oven, and the presence of a mudbrick platform, and a small internal fireplace in the room, made us think that the space was used for cooking activities.

The adjacent room, smaller and with an unusual mudbrick floor, has been interpreted as a storage space, certainly connected to the cooking activities that were taking place in the bigger room to the West. The remaining two other room open towards the Southern part of the building, possibly connected to the unexcavated part of the complex through an elongated open-air hallway, whose extent has been partly identified during the 2022 season.

The analysis carried out on the ceramic repertoire excavated this year at Girdi Matrab has confirmed several hypotheses that were originally formulated prior to the campaign. The assemblage is mostly composed by commonware, with little or no inclusion of western-inspired, commonly known types such as the ubiquitous echinus bowls and/or Hellenistic period fish plates. Interestingly however we have identified a discrete number of specimens whose morphological tradition lies in the Iron Age and late Iron Age pottery horizon of the region.

On the base of the analysis of the ceramic material, we can securely date this phase of Building A to the period that covers a span of time between the late 4th and very early 3rd c. BCE.

Close-up of the composite floor of the kitchen area of Building A (detail).
View of the storeroom excavated right next to the kitchen. Note the well-preserved mudbrick floor.

The GMAP team focuses on the investigation of the domestic economy of a rural site in between the imperial transformation from the Iron Age to the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE. To better understand the socio-economic change of the Hellenistic and Parthian period Mesopotamia we rely on the analysis of the faunal remains excavated at the site. Nathalie Brusgaard (University of Groningen, the Netherlands), associate director of the GMAP, oversees the study of the zoo-archaeological evidence.

The presence of a large amount of commonware, the identification of young animals such as pigs and sheep, which could have been raised on site, as well as adult bovines ��� which might as well be oxen trained and used draft animals ��� seem preliminarily to indicate that Building A at Girdi Matrab could be a farm or farm-like estate.

The KMAP team at the end of the season

We plan to continue investigating the泭 rural economic landscape of the plain of Erbil in the future seasons, and we thank 17勛圖for supporting our research into this part of South-West Asia under the Seleucids, the Parthians, and the Romans, a critical but often overlooked period and泭 one of central relevance for the understanding of the history of North Mesopotamia, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in particular.

-Rocco Palermo, University of Pisa (Italy) and Bryn Mawr College (USA)

With the collaboration of

Nathalie Brusgaard (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Aila Santi (SOAS, London, UK), Valentina Grasso (Catholic University of America, USA), Jordan Brown (University of California at Berkeley, USA), Gabriele Viola (University of Pisa, Italy), Lara Pucci Daniele (University of Pisa, Italy), Michele Salvatore La Porta (University of Pisa, Italy), Parsa Kheirandish (University of Pisa, Italy), Ali Banishary (Directorate of the Antiquities, Erbil)

泭

Learn more about the Girdi Matrab Archaeological Project at their泭泭or their泭!

Interested in applying for a 2023 Charles Harris Project Grant? Learn more about applying泭here.

New ASOR-Affiliated Projects

New ASOR-Affiliated Projects: February 2023

Currently,泭115 projects are affiliated with ASOR. This includes 86 field projects and 29 publication projects. Fourteen projects (13 new projects and 1 project renewal) have received 17勛圖affiliation since last summer. Read more about these new ASOR-affiliated projects below!

ASOR-affiliated projects adhere to 17勛圖policies, most notably the泭Non-Discrimination Policy,泭Policy on Professional Conduct, and泭Code of Conduct for the 17勛圖Annual Meeting and Other 17勛圖Sponsored Events. These policies affirm ASOR���s commitment to high standards for research integrity, academic mentoring and ethical professional behavior. Project Principal Investigators may泭apply for 17勛圖affiliation泭for their projects through the泭Committee for Archaeological Research and Policy (CAP). 泭Principal Investigators of ASOR-affiliated projects are eligible to apply for泭17勛圖Project Grants泭and泭Shepard Urgent Action Grants. Students working on ASOR-affiliated projects are eligible to apply泭for泭Scholarships for Fieldwork Participation.

New ASOR-Affiliated Projects

, Israel (Felix H繹flmayer and Katharina Streit)

Aerial view of Tel Lachish looking southwest. (c) Jared Dye ��AI-��AW.

The Austrian Expedition to Lachish focuses on the Middle and Late Bronze Age remains at the site. Since 2017, excavations have been conducted in Area S on the western edge of the site, uncovering several settlement phases of the early Late Bronze Age (15th and 14th century BC), and in Area P north of the Judean palace-fort, where additional parts of the Middle Bronze Age (17th and 16th century BC) palace were excavated.

Caesarea Coastal Archaeological Project (C-CAP), Caesarea Maritima, Israel (Asa Eger, Beverly Goodman, and Andrea de Giorgi)

The transition in the eastern Mediterranean from the Christian Late Roman Byzantine to Islamic rule beginning in the 7th century CE is a time full of uncertainty, migrations, conflict, and reconfiguring of people, economies, communities and cultures. While these changes are known in broad strokes due to historical records, archaeological information allows us to better understand the more direct meaning of these changes for those who lived at the time, as recognizable within the material record. In May-June 2022, the CCAP field school project invites students and volunteers to unravel the mysteries of Caesarea Maritima���s medieval and Islamic years, including both on land and underwater archaeological and geoarchaeological hands-on experience. Participants will immerse themselves in the world of the post-Roman Empire Islamic eastern Mediterranean, experience and reveal first-hand physical evidence of ancient natural disasters, and learn how to hear the stories from the objects that were left behind.

Kalavasos-Laroumena and Arkhangelos Archaeological Research Project,泭Cyprus (Mara T. Horowitz)

The Kalavasos-Laroumena and Arkhangelos Archaeological Research Project (K-LAARP) investigates social change in the Middle Cypriot Bronze Age on the south coast of Cyprus.

,泭Iraq (Tiffany Earley-Spadoni and Glenn Schwartz)

Kurd Qaburstan is an urban-sized Bronze Age site in northern Mesopotamia, southwest of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Perhaps to be identified with ancient Qabra, the 118-hectare site consists of an 11-hectare central mound 17 meters high surrounded by a 107-hectare walled lower town. The project was initiated in 2013 by Dr. Glenn Schwartz, and is currently directed by Dr. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni.

,泭Al Hiba, Iraq (Holly Pittman)

Excavations at ancient Lagash focus on understanding the urban organization during the Early Dynastic period. Remote sensing together with targeted excavation seeks to reveal craft production areas, domestic housing, and institutional installations.

Oblique view of Lagash.
Drone photo of the trenches opened in Fall 2022.

Mudawwara Ottoman Fort, Jordan (Andrew Petersen)

Mudawwara fort is a ruinous Ottoman fort located on the Hajj route in southern Jordan. Although the fort was only built in the eighteenth century the site is mentioned in pilgrimage itineraries from at least the ninth century CE. The fort is currently in a very vulnerable state and the aim is to record the architectural remains and carry out excavations at the site in advance of conservation and restoration work.

泭

泭Uzun Mera and Peshka, North Macedonia (Darko Stojanovski, Sarah Lacy, and Tracje Nacev)

Uzun Mera.
Peshka Cave.

The Neanderthal Crossroads Project is the first Middle Paleolithic field school in the Balkan region. Students will get the opportunity to learn surface survey and trench excavation techniques at a Middle Paleolithic archaeological site, Uzun Mera, as well as exploratory investigations at additional caves including Peshka Cave. The Middle Paleolithic history of the central Balkans is still not well-known, despite it being the clear crossroads for hominins into and out of Europe. North Macedonia is a gorgeous, NATO-member country in the central Balkans that is safe and relatively inexpensive. Please reach out with questions about our schedule, travel logistics, or CoVID protocols; we would love to have you join us this summer!泭

泭Egypt (Anke Weber)

The Project is dedicated to the excavation, conservation, and publication of the tomb of pharaoh泭Ramesses III (ca. 1221 ��� 1156 BC) in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Valley of the Kings.泭Between 1885 and 1914, the tomb was flooded several times, causing severe damage in its rear泭compartments, and making it inaccessible to visitors. Since 2017, The Ramesses III (KV 11) Publication泭and Conservation Project has worked continuously on the preservation and publishing of the site. The泭mud and rubble which had accumulated in the rear parts are gradually being cleared, in the course of泭which valuable information on the tomb���s decoration and even fragments of its former furnishings have泭come to light. Its unique architecture and decoration program make KV 11 an important source for泭Ramesside beliefs concerning the afterlife. The final aim is to prepare the tomb for reopening and泭making it fully accessible to the public at large. To document and protect the tomb from further decay,泭specialists from different countries work together in the fields of archaeology, conservation, geoarchaeology,泭microbiology, osteology, philology, photography, and Egyptological research. The project is泭hosted by Humboldt-Universit瓣t zu Berlin and led by Dr. Anke Weber.

(c)The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, The Ramesses III (KV 11) Publication and Conservation Project, photos: Johannes Kramer

, Qach Rresh, Iraq (Petra Creamer)

Aerial view of the project research area.

Rural Landscapes of Iron Age Imperial Mesopotamia (RLIIM) is a combination excavation-remote sensing project conducted on the Erbil Plain of Iraqi Kurdistan, just 15km south of Erbil near the modern village of Tirpa Spiyan. Excavations focus on a small, rural agricultural settlement of the Assyrian Empire, Qach Rresh. The project uses drone imagery and magnetometry to map the subsurface and landscape features of the village and its surrounding landscape to understand how the occupants of these small villages interacted within the broader imperial framework. Additionally, post-Assyrian material at the site allows us to investigate questions related to the collapse of the Assyrian empire as seen from the countryside, as opposed to a large urban center. We conducted our first season in Fall 2022, and our permit issued by the KRG Department of Antiquities allows for another four years of investigation before renewal. The project���s team is a combination of Kurdish and foreign members, directed by Prof. Petra Creamer (Emory University). We prioritize the training of our team members in various archaeological techniques, emphasizing technology and remote sensing along with more traditional methods.

Ulqin Archaeological Project: Landscape Survey and Geography, Southern Montenegro (Daniel Plekhov, Elic Weitzel, and Erina Baci)

The Ulqin Archaeological Project is a large-scale, diachronic regional survey of the Ulqin Municipality in southern Montenegro. Human occupation of this region dates to the earliest periods of human presence in Europe, with many subsequent cultures, states, and empires leaving their marks on the landscape through time. Our survey aims to document and study these traces. Through doing so, we will investigate how dynamics of human settlement and land-use in this region have changed through time and consider what effect they continue to have on the social and environmental characteristics of the region���s people and landscapes today. To that end, our project is focused as much on the archaeological remains of past periods as it is on the ongoing practices of local communities in the present. By combining archaeological methods with those from the fields of geography, ecology, and cultural anthropology, we will provide historical context for the development of modern-day settlement and agropastoral practices, and explore how communities today continue to inherit, adapt to, and transform the legacies of the past. Beyond studying the archaeological record of this region to understand its history and development, our project is also oriented towards the documentation and preservation of its rapidly disappearing heritage landscapes.

, Egypt (Jay Silverstein and Robert Littman)

Tell Timai is the Nile Delta city of Thmouis, a site famous for perfume production, its role in the Great Rebellion discussed on the Rosetta Stone, and its prominence in the rise of Christianity in Egypt. Excavations in the coming years will focus on a series of religious structures from the Late Period to the泭Coptic Periods.泭

, Kach Kouch, Morocco (Hamza Benattia)

The Western Mediterranean has been characterized by complex social and economic dynamics, with the movements of Late Bronze Age communities settling the African shores yet to be fully deciphered. The site of Kach Kouch (Oued Laou, Morocco), a settlement with no parallels in north-west Africa, offers a unique chance to understand these dynamics and their place within debates about the hyperconnectivity of the Mediterranean in the late 2nd and early 1st millennium BC. The strategic location of Kach Kouch, controlling the access from the estuary of the Oued Laou river to the inland valleys of the Western Rif mountains, makes it ideally placed within a wider exchange network connecting local communities with the rest of the Mediterranean. To date, the archaeology of this region has been written overwhelmingly from a colonial perspective, even though evidence points to early connectivity of this area since the 6th millennium BC. This project focuses on the study of Kach Kouch and its territory, including the bassins of Oued Laou and Stehat, from a long dur矇e perspective and with an emphasis on the role of local communities in the historical process. This project serves as a field school for young graduates and undergraduates in archaeology of the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage of Morocco (INSAP).

Hilltop settlement of Kach Kouch, the Oued Laou Valley and the Mediterranean.
Fieldwork at Kach Kouch.

, Denmark (Finn Ole Nielsen, M. Nicolas Caretta, Michael Thorsen, Ditte Kofod, and Roxana Youkhana)

The site of Vasag疇rd is located on the southern side of the island of Bornholm, Denmark. Vasag疇rd is separated by the 100m L疆s疇 valley from two nearly identical Neolithic sites and consists of a tomb system where a dolmen and a passage grave can be found close to the settlement. The grave system and causewayed enclosures are dated from c. 3500 BC, and constitute the most north-eastern occurrence of this complex type in Europe. During the excavations of 2013-2017, almost three hundred broken and completely flat, engraved stones were uncovered, marked with patterns of radiating straight lines. Named ���sunstones��� or ���solar stones���, archaeologists from the Bornholm Museum have postulated that these artifacts were likely part of the rituals carried out by Neolithic sun-worshipping practitioners about 5,000 years ago. New excavations will help to increase and improve the information about the site and the Neolithic Period in the Baltic region.

ASOR-Affiliated Project Renewals

Carthage, The Precinct of Tanit (tophet) and Ba���al: The 17勛圖Punic Project: The Stager Excavations (1975-1979),泭Tunisia (J. A. Greene, B. K. Garnand, and L. E. Stager���)

This publication will present the results of the archaeological excavations at the so-called tophet or ���Precinct of Tanit��� in Carthage, Tunisia. These excavations were undertaken as part of the 17勛圖Punic Project (1975���1979) with funding from the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Chicago and Harvard University under auspices the UNESCO Campagne de Sauvegarde Carthage. The first volume will present a complete descriptive catalogue of artifacts, the second volume a detailed interpretation of stratigraphy, osteology and typology (urns, amulets, cippi/stelae), alongside interpretations of classical and biblical literary sources and epigraphic evidence, in order to present for the first time a holistic泭interpretation of Phoenician/Punic votive dedication of infants. This singular site has provided the vast majority of the Phoenician/Punic iconographic and epigraphic repertoire known from ca. 800���146 BCE.

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