This week I’ll introduce another exceptional team working at Mt. Lykaion: the geologists. It’s a team of just two—Dr. George Davis of the University of Arizona and his able assistant, Karl Yares—but they’ve managed to accomplish a tremendous amount over the course of the season. From field mapping the region to digitally processing all [...]
Entries from June 2009
June 20, 2009
Spotlight on Architecture
The archaeology of the past century has seen a deepening
appreciation of the fact that excavation, even as it adds to our
knowledge of the past, destroys that past beyond recall. Unlike the
results of a scientific experiment, the results of excavation are
unrepeatable; no one will be able to dig the same trench again to see
if a [...]
June 13, 2009
Start of Excavations: June 6-12
Our first few days of digging held a surprise for us: miserable weather. Those of us in the field had to contend with low temperatures, high winds, driving rain, and even occasional hail. Who thought we’d need to pack raincoats and polarfleeces for a summer in Greece? But there was probably a [...]
June 5, 2009
Arrival in Greece: June 1-5, 2009
In the first few days of any field season, it’s always a little strange to relinquish all our other roles in life—as students, parents, programmers, professors, retirees, geologists, historians, linguists, philosophers—and turn into full-time archaeologists. But so far this year the transition has been remarkably seamless. Things began on the right foot: no [...]
