Category Archives: 17吃瓜News

Fieldwork Report: Atakan Atabas

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Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

Atakan Atabas, 2025 Shirlee Meyers/G. Ernest Wright Fellowship Recipient听

When I left my hometown in central Anatolia to attend university, I never imagined that my path would eventually bring me back to the same region鈥攏ot as a student of technology, but as a researcher of the ancient past. My undergraduate years were spent studying computer science at one of T眉rkiye鈥檚 most prestigious universities, followed by professional work in the technology sector in Istanbul. Despite these achievements, I felt a growing distance from the land of my childhood. Archaeology offered me the chance to reconnect: to engage with the cultural heritage of Anatolia and, in doing so, to give something meaningful back to my community and my country.

I gave a talk about Kerkenes to a group of cyclists who visited the site during the Sorgun Bicycle Festival.
I gave a talk about Kerkenes to a group of cyclists who visited the site during the Sorgun Bicycle Festival.

One of the works that has always stayed with me is Nuri Bilge Ceylan鈥檚 Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. In one scene, a driver tells a doctor, 鈥淲hen you have a family, you鈥檒l have a story to tell. You can say, once upon a time in Anatolia, when I was working out in the sticks, I remember this one night, which began like this. You can tell it like a fairytale, Doctor.鈥�听 Whenever I am in the field, I think of this dialogue. To me, research is not only about data or analysis; it is also about collecting stories. Some call them academic findings, but I see them as connections-bridges between the past, present, and future of the Anatolian landscape. In that sense, I consider myself a mediator, one who helps bring different times and perspectives into conversation.

Turkish tea time! Workers gather to chat and share food and snacks.
Turkish tea time! Workers gather to chat and share food and snacks.

In the summer of 2025, I joined the Kerkenes Project in Yozgat, central Anatolia. For many international scholars, fieldwork in Turkey means collecting evidence, expanding networks, publishing papers, and advancing knowledge of the ancient world. For me, however, it is also deeply personal. Fieldwork is a return home: talking with workers from the village, walking the landscapes of my childhood, breathing the scent of native flowers, and tasting familiar foods that I ate growing up. At Kerkenes, I feel responsible not only for contributing to the project but also for representing the local community whose generosity sustains our work. This dual sense of responsibility reminds me that archaeology is not just scientific inquiry; it is also an ongoing dialogue between researchers and the people who live near the site today. I believe that understanding this relationship is key to understanding how academia can engage more meaningfully with society.

Looking for points for preparing survey grids.
Looking for points for preparing survey grids.

My own path鈥攆rom computer science to archaeology鈥攈as taught me the importance of interdisciplinary approaches. To restrict archaeology to narrow disciplinary boundaries is to diminish its potential. Often, archaeological questions require the mind of a sociologist, the skills of an engineer, the vision of an architect, the insights of a politician, or even the calculations of an economist. At Kerkenes, I have seen how archaeology draws together these diverse ways of thinking. Fieldwork also demands practical versatility: negotiating with local bureaucrats, collaborating with villagers, and adapting to shifting roles and responsibilities. In such a dynamic environment, effective communication is essential. Each season teaches me how to engage with people of different backgrounds, perspectives, and priorities. Thus, the Kerkenes Project is not only an academic training ground but also a place of intercultural exchange, collaboration, and personal growth.

Conducting an electrical resistivity survey on a foggy, cold day in the field.
Conducting an electrical resistivity survey on a foggy, cold day in the field.

For me, archaeology is not only about answering research questions but also about building relationships鈥攁cross cultures, disciplines, and generations. An excavation site is a meeting point where individuals from different nationalities, ethnicities, genders, socioeconomic classes, and educational backgrounds come together. It is also a meeting point across time, where modern researchers walk through the same landscapes that ancient inhabitants once knew. In this sense, we are not outside observers of history but participants in its unfolding narrative. We are part of the same story, shaped by the same land, only at different moments in time. Once upon a time in Anatolia鈥� there is always a story to tell.

Looking out over the foggy plain from the field.
Looking out over the foggy plain from the field.

Atakan Atabas is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida. His research focuses on digital archaeology, with particular attention to Anatolian art and archaeology. He has been a member of the since 2023, and his dissertation examines the orientations of buildings at Kerkenes and their relationship to the social organization of Kerkenes society.

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

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ECS Spring Brown Bag: Dr. Danielle Macdonald

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Sunset at Brac Island Croatia

Early Career Scholars Spring Brown Bag: Dr. Danielle Macdonald

Scientific Publishing in Archaeology: Ask an Editor

Join ASOR鈥檚 Early Career Scholars on听April 3, 2026 at 12:00pm ET via Zoom for a virtual Brown Bag talk from Dr. Danielle Macdonald about scientific publishing in archaeology.

Please join the 17吃瓜Early Career Brown Bag Lunch Series for a workshop on scientific publishing in archaeology, led by Dr. Danielle Macdonald, co-Editor of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. This session will provide insights into the publication process, including understanding peer review, manuscript preparation best practices, responding to reviewer comments, and current trends in scientific archaeological publishing, including open access models. There will also be an open Q&A at the end to ask questions about publishing in scientifically-oriented journals. Whether you鈥檙e a graduate student preparing your first manuscript or an early career scholar looking for some editorial tips, this workshop will offer practical guidance from an editorial perspective.

By Danielle Macdonald, Associate Professor of Anthropology (University of Tulsa)

The event, a part of our brown bag lunch series, is FREE for the 17吃瓜community, but registration is required.

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March Fellowship Madness 2026: Bracket of Impact

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March Fellowship Madness 2026: Bracket of Impact

March is here 鈥� and so is ASOR鈥檚 March Fellowship Madness!

This year, we invite you to step into our Bracket of Impact,where every gift advances the next generation of archaeologists. open doors to mentorship, hands-on training, and connections that shape the future of our field.

Here鈥檚 how the Bracket of Impact works:

Our goal is to raise $6,000 by March 31 which would fund scholarships for three more students. 100% of your gift will go directly toward funding student fieldwork participation. Every gift moves us forward, and every donor becomes part of a winning team by supporting emerging scholars.

As donations come in, we鈥檒l update our Bracket of Impact so you can track our progress and see which of your favorite artifacts below advances to the next round.

Whether , your support makes a measurable difference in a young archaeologist鈥檚 journey.

17吃瓜provides these scholarships with your partnership. You are enabling 17吃瓜to establish new scholarships and grants through endowed funds, but your annual support (i.e., gifts this year) will allow 17吃瓜to send more eager students and early career scholars into the field. You may also make a designated gift by choosing any category from the drop-down menu on the donations module.

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*If archaeological excavations are significantly disrupted or canceled in 2026, 17吃瓜may, at its sole discretion, decide not to offer fieldwork scholarships. Fieldwork scholarships cannot be deferred; applicants may reapply either for fieldwork funding in 2027 or for non-fieldwork summer stipends if 17吃瓜offers such stipends in 2026.

If 17吃瓜does not award fieldwork scholarships in 2026, it will consult with donors to determine whether they prefer to have their contributions held for 2027 fieldwork scholarships or redirected to support non-fieldwork summer research stipends in 2026.

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Fieldwork Report: Talia Neelis

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Sherds of my Labor: Supervising with Pottery Plethoras at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios

Talia Neelis, 2025 P.E. MacAllister Fieldwork Scholarship Recipient

In the five minutes it takes to wind along the back road from Kalavasos Village to the site of Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios, a cool purple light illuminating the foothills of the Troodos mountains morphs to a familiar hot orange. By the time we arrive to site, the blaze of the early morning Cypriot air signals that there鈥檚 no time to waste鈥� onwards from the toolshed to the trench!

My enthusiasm to spend the rest of my days in a deep squat caked in sweat and dirt began here two years ago, nestled in the Vasilikos Valley about 3 km from the southern coast of Cyprus. After excavating at other Greek and Cypriot sites in between, coming back to K-AD with enough experience to take on a leadership role really cemented my long-term aspiration to work in the field of Cypriot archaeology.

Dawn over the Troodos foothills from our bathroom window
Dawn over the Troodos foothills from our bathroom window

My enthusiasm to spend the rest of my days in a deep squat caked in sweat and dirt began here two years ago, nestled in the Vasilikos Valley about 3 km from the southern coast of Cyprus. After excavating at other Greek and Cypriot sites in between, coming back to K-AD with enough experience to take on a leadership role really cemented my long-term aspiration to work in the field of Cypriot archaeology.

I felt right at home supervising the new trench defining 鈥楻oom 3,鈥� laid just east of the space I had excavated in 2023. That鈥檚 not to say that it wasn鈥檛 daunting to lead a group of my peers through the processes and techniques of excavation, to organize various materials and extensive notes, and to make decisions for the good of the trench and the people.

Excavating at K-AD in 2023 vs 2025

As our team made our way through topsoil and into less contaminated contexts, we uncovered an extraordinary concentration of characteristic Late Cypriot (1650 鈥� 1050 BCE) pottery wares: we couldn鈥檛 trowel but two centimetres without revealing caches of White Slip, Base Ring, and pithoi sherds, and sometimes even complete vessels. The team had to be extra careful traversing our small ~7m x 4.5m trench, tip-toeing around the obstacle course made up of sherds that jutted out of the soil. When we weren鈥檛 articulating pottery scatters, we had the privilege of finding several nearly-intact wall brackets, a handful of bronze fragments, countless slag chunks, some specially marked vessels, and a couple remarkable triton shells.

Showing Room 3 some love at the end of the season
Showing Room 3 some love at the end of the season

While our fruitful trench could be a little overwhelming as a first-time supervisor, I was grateful that I could study such a wealth of material. Since my own research examines regional and diachronic fluctuations in ceramic production on prehistoric Cyprus, I came to the site every morning excited to explore the pottery wilderness that was Room 3.

Supervising for the first time made me realize how lucky I鈥檝e been to work under talented and dedicated excavators in the past. I borrowed leadership skills and pep-talking abilities (so much so that I was awarded 鈥榤orning motivator鈥� at our end-of-season superlatives!) from each and every one of my previous supervisors and directors to try to create the best experience for my team.

Here I am doing some baulk cleaning in the early stages of our trench
Here I am doing some baulk cleaning in the early stages of our trench

I鈥檓 incredibly grateful to project director Dr. Kevin Fisher and field director Sheri Pak for having me back and enduring my incessant questions, and to our team for their endurance, enthusiasm, and support during my meeker supervisory moments. My deepest gratitude to the American Society of Overseas Research for supporting me with the financial resources to participate in this community of knowledge; a community I endeavor to contribute to and draw on for years to come.

The 2025 team on the Amathus Acropolis
The 2025 team on the Amathus Acropolis

Talia Neelis is currently pursuing the doctoral track at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology鈥檚 Interdepartmental Program. She graduated from the University of British Columbia in the spring of 2025 with honors in Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies and Art History, where she completed her undergraduate thesis on anthropomorphic figurines and osteological records of the Late Cypriot period. She looks forward to going 鈥榖ack to the Bronze Age鈥� (tagline credit to the Kissonerga-Skalia marketing team) in trenches across Cyprus and beyond.

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

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17吃瓜Receives Award from Gerda Henkel Stiftung for Access Project at the Sudan National Museum

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17吃瓜Receives Award from Gerda Henkel Stiftung for Access Project at the Sudan National Museum

The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) is pleased to announce an award from the Gerda Henkel Stiftung supporting critical site security and infrastructure improvements at the Sudan National Museum in Khartoum. Working in coordination with the Sudanese National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), 17吃瓜will expand safe access to the property, with a focus on rebuilding the damaged enclosure wall and making priority repairs to the electrical, water, and sewage systems. This project will lay essential groundwork to support NCAM鈥檚 ongoing efforts to restore functionality to the Sudan National Museum complex.

Founded in 1971, the Sudan National Museum is Sudan鈥檚 largest storeroom for cultural property and serves as a central hub for offices, labs, and other administrative facilities that support NCAM鈥檚 work throughout the country. Materials from the Aswan Dam Salvage Project, as well as artifacts from over a century of archaeological research, form major parts of the Museum鈥檚 collection. In total, the Museum’s pre-war collections comprised more than 100,000 objects representing the full breadth of Sudan鈥檚 history.

The status of the Sudan National Museum and its collections had been a serious concern for Sudanese and international observers since the Museum was occupied by the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023. During the building鈥檚 occupation, reports spread of looting and removal of the Museum’s collections from the site. The liberation of the Sudan National Museum in March 2025 revealed heavy damage to the buildings and property caused by combat and the systematic looting of the property鈥檚 physical infrastructure. More importantly, NCAM鈥檚 review of the Sudan National Museum storerooms confirmed the theft of important pieces of the collections. Some objects left behind were smashed or burned, and exhibit spaces were vandalized. The physical inventory of these collections was scattered, making it difficult to identify fully what was stolen and what remains on the property.

The grounds and main entrance of the Sudan National Museum in 2025. The breach in the perimeter wall is located at the bottom right of the left image. (Source: Google Maps; NCAM)

The theft and vandalism of the Museum鈥檚 collections as well as the damage to its exhibits, research labs, and administrative spaces have severely affected NCAM鈥檚 ability to protect and preserve Sudan鈥檚 diverse heritage. This project takes concrete steps towards restoring these capacities. At the end of the project, NCAM will be better able to protect the heritage present in the National Museum and to return what has been stolen.

The perimeter wall at the southeastern corner of the property and an example of roof damage documented in 2025. (Source: NCAM)

Damage to wiring and circuit breakers on the property, including the burning of wiring to extract copper, documented in 2025. (Source: NCAM)

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Seger Grant Report: Tall al-Handaquq South

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2025 Joe D. Seger Project Grant: Tall al-Handaquq South Archaeological Project

Hanna Erftenbeck, Grinnell College and Natalia M. Handziuk, University of Toronto

With the support of the 2025 Joe D. Seger Project Grant, the conducted its first season of renewed work at Tall al-Handaquq South in Jordan. Previous excavations in the 1990鈥檚 exposed a well-preserved residential complex dating to the Early Bronze Age, contributing significantly to our understanding of people鈥檚 everyday lives during this period of early urban developments in the region.

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Figure 1: Map of Tall al-Handaquq South/Tall Abu az-Zeighan with survey grid and recorded artifact density.
Figure 1: Map of Tall al-Handaquq South/Tall Abu ez-Zeighan with survey grid and recorded artifact density.

HAP Co-directors Dr. Natalia M. Handziuk and Dr. Hanna Erftenbeck conducted a zero-recovery survey on Tall al-Handaquq South, which encompasses the northern part of a large, Early Bronze Age town, that extends into the archaeological site of Tall Abu ez-Zeighan. The goals of the 2025 seasons were to (1) assess the extent of the site, and (2) the density of archaeological materials on the surface, (3) document features visible on the surface, and (4) assess site preservation and possible threats.

Figure 2: Natalia M. Handziuk on the northern slope of Tall al-Handaquq South, looking North into the Wadi Zarqa.
Figure 2: Natalia M. Handziuk on the northern slope of Tall al-Handaquq South, looking North into the Wadi Zarqa.

The survey focused on the floodplains and terraces along the northern limits of the site. There, modern agricultural fields are located on the flood plains of the Wadi Zarqa. As shown on the map, the density was overall low in the area northwest of the slope, marking the limits of preserved archaeological material. We identified three terraces along the northern edge of the slope, on which find density was much higher, and the outlines of a wall or platform were visible running below the second terrace.

Figure 3: Wall or platform visible along the bottom of the second terrace on the northern edge of Tall al-Handaquq South.
Figure 3: Wall or platform visible along the bottom of the second terrace on the northern edge of Tall al-Handaquq South.
Further up the slope, the density increased further, and wall lines of different sizes were recorded on the surface. A trilithon dolmen and two cupmarks were recorded on the slope toward the southern limits of Tall al-Handaquq. While the dolmen is intact,
large holes indicate that it has been looted.
Figure 4: Dolmen in area 794 with looting hole.

Figure 4: Dolmen in area 794 with looting hole.

During the survey, we recorded several looting holes in and near the architecture visible on the surface of the slope and the terraces. Almost all of the pottery collected during the survey on Tall al-Handaquq South dates to the Early Bronze Age I through IV, with the majority of the pottery dating to the EB II-III period, confirming that Tall al-Handaquq South/ Tall Abu ez-Zeighan was settled intensely during this time period.

Figure 5: Hanna Erftenbeck documenting wall lines in areas 912 and 951.
Figure 5: Hanna Erftenbeck documenting wall lines in areas 912 and 951.

The Tall al-Handaquq Archaeological Project (HAP) expresses its deep gratitude to 17吃瓜and the Joe D. Seger Project Grant for their generous support. This project was conducted in collaboration with and under the guidance of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Special thanks go to Rami Frehat, who offered valuable insights into the regional setting of Tall al-Handaquq South and supported us on the ground each day. We are grateful to the team at ACOR for their support in starting a new project and for providing us with lab space during our field season. Mohammad Shabsogh provided logistical support throughout the season, and we are deeply grateful.

Figure 6: HAP 2025 Team photo.
Figure 6: HAP 2025 Team photo.

Learn about applying for a 2026 17吃瓜Project Grant.听

Deadline: February 23

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Fieldwork Report: Anna Taibi

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Growing through the Dust: Skills, Challenges, and Community in the Mosul Dam Reservoir

Anna Taibi, 2025 Strange/Midkiff Families Fellowship Recipient

The season that just concluded has definitely been one of the most intense of my (still short) fieldwork experience! In October and November 2025, thanks to ASOR鈥檚 scholarship for fieldwork participation, I took part in ReLand鈥檚 2025 campaign in the Mosul Dam Reservoir, KRI. The project鈥檚 goal is twofold: monitoring threatened sites located on Mosul Lake鈥檚 shore and, during cyclical phases of re-emergence, conducting emergency excavations to document settlements and their interaction with the surrounding landscape.

This year, due to an exceptional drought, hundreds of sites have emerged from the lake鈥檚 water, and, sadly, as a remote survey had already highlighted, these millennia-old features have immediately been targeted by looters. As a project member, during the first three weeks of the campaign, I helped record evidence of this kind of damage during the field survey, documenting different types of looting traces.

Recording a big looting pit, likely made by hand or shovel
Recording a big looting pit, likely made by hand or shovel.

In the second part of the campaign, I worked at the site of Tell Gombass, a small Late Chalcolithic village, once located on a spur of a wadi, not far from the Tigris itself. Here, for the second year, emergency excavations were carried out. In particular, I was appointed as trench supervisor to excavate an ovoidal mud-brick (pottery?) kiln that just re-emerged. On this occasion, I had to challenge myself to lead a small team, ensuring a good quality of the documentation. But that鈥檚 not all: through the patient and expert guidance of our topographer, I managed to develop new skills in the topographical field and refine methodologies tailored to the diverse needs of the archaeological mission.

Excavating and documenting a Late-Calcholitic kiln鈥�
Excavating and documenting a Late-Calcholitic kiln.
Me, Ali and the total station
Me, Ali, and the total station.

Previous skills have helped me through this international campaign: I鈥檓 getting better, but I still haven鈥檛 learnt Arabic nor Kurdish very well, so never has my Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultursministerkonferenz (DSD) been so helpful as to interact with Tarek, our chief worker from Syria, who spent 20 years excavating with German teams in Western Asia. His long field experience and knowledge had been one of the precious elements of the excavation campaign: although we worked in two different areas, we always kept up with each other鈥檚 work, and I鈥檝e taken his generous advice to heart. This experience has definitely allowed me to work closely with Kurdish team members, fostering mutual learning and shared expertise while contributing to more inclusive and sustainable heritage practices.

In the afternoons, I took care of the small finds documentation, getting the chance to measure, photograph, and document different types of artefacts, architectural elements, and ornaments that humans have produced in the Duhok region through millennia.

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Afternoons
Afternoons.

Last but not least, during my last week in KRI, I helped organise a tour of the excavation for Gombass鈥� elementary school pupils and students from the University of Duhok. It has been a precious moment to raise awareness among local populations about the cultural and historical significance of their landscape, and for my education as an archaeologist who wants to put ethical and post-colonial theories in practice: I believe that our work means nothing if not immediately given back to the people this heritagescape directly belongs to. This outreach experience has been particularly meaningful for me, as I have a strong interest in community organization, equitable governance, and cultural heritage preservation. After all, it is one of the main objectives of this project to preserve the memory of those communities that lived along the riverbanks, and the millennia-old settlements they inhabited, ensuring that their histories are acknowledged and valued.

Little archaeologists at work鈥� in their home
Little archaeologists at work鈥n their home.

Last but not least, during my last week in KRI, I helped organise a tour of the excavation for Gombass鈥� elementary school pupils and students from the University of Duhok. It has been a precious moment to raise awareness among local populations about the cultural and historical significance of their landscape, and for my education as an archaeologist who wants to put ethical and post-colonial theories in practice: I believe that our work means nothing if not immediately given back to the people this heritagescape directly belongs to. This outreach experience has been particularly meaningful for me, as I have a strong interest in community organization, equitable governance, and cultural heritage preservation. After all, it is one of the main objectives of this project to preserve the memory of those communities that lived along the riverbanks, and the millennia-old settlements they inhabited, ensuring that their histories are acknowledged and valued.

I feel that participating in this long campaign of ReLand鈥檚 project has had a significant impact on my development as an archaeologist and as a future researcher. From survey skills to new and exciting responsibilities as a field supervisor, up until the possibility of developing and practicing non-colonial approaches to field archaeology, this campaign has given me far beyond the expertise luggage I expected to get back home with. I鈥檓 grateful for having built new tools and learnt methodologies, and I can鈥檛 wait for upcoming chances of professional and personal growth.

Team visit in Maltai, Duhok province鈥�
Team visit in Maltai, Duhok province

Anna Taibi is a native of Palermo, Sicily, where she is working on her Master鈥檚 degree in Mediterranean and West Asian archaeology. She completed a BA in Cultural Heritage at the University of Palermo in 2023 with a cum laude dissertation on post- and decolonial approaches in archaeology. She is now delving into her commitment to community-based fieldwork while approaching new interests, such as the archaeology of production. She has participated in surveys and excavations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (ReLand project) and in Sicily, where she鈥檚 serving as a trench supervisor at the Phoenician-Punic site of Motya since 2024.

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

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Fieldwork Report: Hannah Borotsik

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Just a Girl and Her Whiteboard

Hannah Borotsik, 2025 P. E. MacAllister Fellowship Recipient

Athens holds a very special place in my heart, and it has become one of my favourite cities in the world. I have met some of my best friends and have had some of the coolest experiences of my life here. I was so excited to be able to return to Greece for a fourth summer and for my third summer working at the Athenian Agora excavations with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. I started in 2023 as a volunteer, and then in 2024, I returned as an assistant supervisor assigned to work in the apotheke. This past summer, I had the privilege of moving up to the role of apotheke supervisor. I never thought I would get the chance to say that I was a supervisor at the Athenian Agora Excavations, but this was the summer when I got the opportunity of a lifetime.

A common position to find me in鈥� laying out tile. Photo by James Razumoff
A common position to find me in鈥� laying out tile. Photo by James Razumoff

My position involved managing the material coming into the apotheke and supervising all the volunteers who were assigned to flotation and pottery/bone/shell/tile wash. At the beginning of the season, my main goal was to make the processing of material coming to the apotheke as smooth as possible for everyone involved. I established different organizational systems, including having a large whiteboard, inboxes, labels, and designated spaces for different workflows. Since I worked with many different areas and members of the project on a daily basis, I thought a brief example of a 鈥渄ay in the life鈥� for me at the Athenian Agora would be the best way to share how I spent my summer:

We get many cat visitors every day and some even liked to hang out in our trays. Photo by Hannah Borotsik
We get many cat visitors every day and some even liked to hang out in our trays. Photo by Hannah Borotsik

At the beginning of each day, I would start in the basement of the Stoa of Attalos, which serves as the apotheke for the Agora excavations. I would review the unwashed material and update my whiteboard with the information about the material that came up from the site at the end of the previous day. The whiteboard contained information for closed baskets from each trench in order to track the progress of washing, sorting, and reading by our wonderful pottery, bone, and shell specialists. Since the Agora is a total collection excavation, there is a lot of material coming up, and being able to communicate where all the material was at any given moment was extremely important. This was a method that I established in the 2024 season, and it became a staple of the basement鈥檚 organization (as well as a staple of my identity on the project).

The 2025 version of my whiteboard when the number of buckets of pottery felt like it would never end. Photo by Hannah Borotsik
The 2025 version of my whiteboard when the number of buckets of pottery felt like it would never end. Photo by Hannah Borotsik

Next, I would decide on which basket, or more often than not, baskets of pottery would be washed for the day. This depended on many different factors, including the number of volunteers assigned to wash, the number of available trays, and the number of buckets of pottery and tile belonging to a basket. The largest number of buckets in one basket from this season was three full buckets of pottery and thirteen tile buckets (this one took a while to wash). At this point, the volunteers assigned to the pottery wash area would arrive from the site for the day, and after bringing everything outside, I would divide the group into flotation and pottery wash.

Besides training and helping volunteers wash material, I had many responsibilities that I took care of during our work hours. I had to make sure that the dried ceramics, including the tile, were ready for our pottery specialists to analyse and count, weigh, and photograph. In some cases, I assisted with these procedures (for example, choosing the tile samples). I bagged and weighed dried bone and shell, after which I recorded the information into our iDig system. I made sure that any material that was ready for the trench supervisors to pack or things that needed to be made a special finds were in their respective inboxes. I wrote tags for trays inside and outside. I organized the baskets that were in queue to be washed. I strategized the best way to tackle the large backlog of tile, once larger baskets began to appear. At the end of the day, I facilitated the clean-up and organization of the apotheke, which mostly consisted of me giving the volunteers directions on what order I wanted each tray to go in and where I wanted them to go in the basement (and they did a great job every day!). These are just a few of my daily responsibilities, since every day came with new opportunities to improve workflows. After work, I sometimes stayed later to finish organizing and prepare for the following day or I worked on the procedural manual for the apotheke. At the end of most days, I went home and took a nap. One of the most important aspects of my job was to be the point of communication between our three open trenches and those working in the apotheke. As a result, my job consisted of many moving parts and more often than not, learning something new every day.

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I am sitting with my buckets and whiteboard, updating the information for the unwashed shell and bone on my spreadsheet. Photo by James Razumoff
I am sitting with my buckets and whiteboard, updating the information for the unwashed shell and bone on my spreadsheet. Photo by James Razumoff

I was grateful to return to the Agora for my third summer and, although I was nervous to hold a supervisor position at such a well-known dig with only a few years of experience, my fellow supervisors, field director, and director were wonderful role models and helped me to become confident in my position. I learned so much more about being a leader and finding my leadership style, and I got more in-depth training on the many procedures that take place on excavation after the material comes out of the ground. All of these lessons have made me a better archaeologist. I am so thankful for the trust that was placed in me, and I will never forget my first-ever summer as a supervisor.

I am taking a break under the flotation trays. Photo by Theresa Cole
I am taking a break under the flotation trays. Photo by Theresa Cole

Hannah Borotsik is a first year PhD student in Classics at the University of Western Ontario, where she has just completed her Masters. She is also a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is interested in Ancient Greek religion, specifically traditions and rituals, and their relationship to social and political contexts. She has participated in digs at the Helike project and the Athenian Agora and has also worked on material from Newfoundland and Labrador.

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

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Call for Early Career Scholars Committee Members

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Early Career Scholars: Call for New Members

The Early Career Scholars (ECS) Committee is looking for new members. The committee requires a commitment of one hour-long meeting and 2-3 hours of outside work per month. We especially seek those interested in supporting ASOR鈥檚 Early Career (undergraduate to pre-tenure) community through creative, informal mentoring opportunities.

If you wish to be considered by the committee, please fill out the application form here. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

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2025 Geraty Grant Report: Tall Hisban

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Giving Back: Community Archaeology and Education at Tall Hisban: 2025 Update on the Lawrence T. Geraty Community Archaeology Endowment

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The 17吃瓜Lawrence T. Geraty Community Archaeology Endowment was established to honor Dr. Lawrence T. Geraty鈥檚 pioneering commitment to community engagement in Near Eastern archaeology. The endowment supports initiatives that strengthen relationships between archaeological projects and local communities, including participatory research, heritage festivals, youth training programs, and digital heritage initiatives.

At Tall Hisban, support from the Geraty Endowment has helped make possible the Hisban Heritage Festival, student-led community history projects, and the Madaba Region Heritage Internship. Its impact is visible in renewed partnerships, expanded educational opportunities, and a deepened sense of shared stewardship between archaeologists and the people of Hisban.

On a warm June afternoon in 2025, the courtyard of the Hisban Women鈥檚 Association overflowed with song, laughter, and the aroma of traditional Jordanian sweets. Villagers, students, and dignitaries gathered to celebrate the Hisban Heritage Festival, marking more than five decades of partnership between the people of Hisban and the Madaba Plains Project (MPP). The festival opened with greetings from the Department of Antiquities, the Hisban Women鈥檚 Association, and Andrews University.

In his keynote remarks, 脴ystein S. LaBianca, Senior Research Professor of Anthropology, reflected on the evolution of archaeology at Hisban鈥攆rom excavation to collaboration: 鈥淎rchaeology here is no longer about extraction. It鈥檚 about relationships, about listening, and about telling stories together鈥攕tories that include shepherds and schoolteachers, potters and farmers, grandmothers and grandchildren.鈥�

A highlight of the festival was the public display of archival photographs from the original Heshbon Expedition (1968鈥�1976). For many families, these were the only surviving photographs of fathers and grandfathers. This 鈥渧isual repatriation鈥� returned history, dignity, and memory to the community whose labor shaped the early excavations.

Pottery painting at the Hisban Women's Center.
Pottery painting at the Hisban Women's Center.

Research by Andrews University undergraduate students featured prominently. Spencer Chase, Nicole Lombard, Laurel Renner, and Julia Whitcomb, presented work on Hisban鈥檚 relationship to the Roman Decapolis, utilizing archaeological data, literary sources, and GIS visualization. Melani Dubon and Nathalie Gonzalez conducted oral history interviews with descendants of workers from the early expeditions, linking archival field notes to living memory.

Presentation of early ethnography by Melani Dubon and Nathalie Gonzalez.
Presentation of early ethnography by Melani Dubon and Nathalie Gonzalez.
Melani Dubon presenting a poster at the 2025 17吃瓜Annual Meeting
Melani Dubon presents her research during the poster session at ASOR's 2025 Annual Meeting in Boston.

Stacie Hatfield, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, emphasized that 鈥渢he next generation of archaeologists must be facilitators鈥攃onnecting academic rigor with community engagement.鈥� This participatory model is now central to the MPP approach.

The Madaba Region Heritage Internship, coordinated by Al Raqeem for Services and Training, Sela for Training and Protection of Heritage, Andrews University, and the University of Liverpool, extends this commitment regionally. The Pottery Internship trains young Jordanians in ceramic analysis and conservation, while the Archaeotrail Internship prepares them to create bilingual (Arabic鈥揈nglish) content for the Madaba Archaeotrail app. Interns graduate with certification and a professional portfolio, contributing to a new generation of Jordanian heritage leaders.

Together, these initiatives demonstrate what 17吃瓜has long championed: that archaeology is most meaningful when it builds bridges between past and present, research and renewal, local voices and global audiences. As one participant at the festival remarked, 鈥淲e used to think archaeology was about the foreigners who came to dig. Now we know鈥攊t is about us, our stories, and our future.鈥�

These ongoing efforts鈥攊ncluding the Hisban Heritage Festival, the Madaba Region Heritage Internship, and the proposed Learning through Heritage initiative鈥攔eflect meaningful partnerships supported by the 17吃瓜Lawrence T. Geraty Community Archaeology Endowment and Andrews University.

Paulo Oliveira, Melani Dubon, Spencer Chase, Isable Srour, Stacie Hatfield, Oystein Labianca, Ilda Faiella, Lolo Renner, Julia Whitcomb, Maria Elena Ronza, and Nathalie Gonzalez.
Paulo Oliveira, Melani Dubon, Spencer Chase, Isable Srour, Stacie Hatfield, Oystein Labianca, Ilda Faiella, Lolo Renner, Julia Whitcomb, Maria Elena Ronza, and Nathalie Gonzalez.
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