JaneC.WaldbaumArchaeologicalFieldSchoolScholarship-Report.EasternBoeotiaArchaeologicalProject,2017

NovellaNicchitta

Figure1EBAP'steamfor2017

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ThisyearIhadthepleasureofparticipatinginmyfirstarchaeologicalproject

as a new student in Classics, being part of the team of the Eastern Boeotia

ArchaeologicalProjectinGreece,directedbyDr.BrendanBurkefromtheUniversity

ofVictoriaandDr.BryanBurns fromWellesleyCollege.Myparticipationwasonly

possiblethanksbothtotheArchaeologicalInstituteofAmericaandtheUniversityof

Victoria,thatsupportedmerespectivelywiththeJaneC.WaldbaumArchaeological

Field School Scholarship andwith the International Student InternationalActivity

Fund.

Theexcavationsite isnearthemodern

cityofArma in centralGreeceand focuseson

ancient Eleon, which was already cited by

Homer.1The site has archaeological evidence

from theMiddle andLateHelladicperiods, to

theArchaicandtheClassicalperiods,withthe

site being in use until Medieval times. Such

evidence comes from crafts (such as pottery,

bone decorations, and painted figurines),

architectures(suchasthe17thcenturyBCBlue

Stone Structure, the Archaic ramp at the

entranceofthesiteandthePolygonalwall)and

bonesfromburialcontexts.

Excavationsstartedthisyearonthe28th

of May and it proceeded until the 8th of July. The beginning of the season was

characterized by some rainy episodes that slowed down the work right at the

beginning,butwemanagedtoproceedatagoodspeedafterwards.Theteam’sroutine

wasveryregular:startingworkingat6:30am,orearlierdependingontheintensity

1HopeSimpsonR.–LazenbyJ.,1970.TheCatalogueofShipsinHomer’sIliad,Oxford.

Figure2AncientEleon

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oftheheat.Theworkonthefieldwouldconcluderegularlyat1:00pm,whilefrom

5:00pmto7:00pmwewouldwashandsortbonesandpottery foundinthe field

duringtheday,orwewoulddophotorecordinganddataentry.Ontheoccasionsin

whichanewtomb

was discovered,

there was no

scheduled hour,

until the

excavation of the

area was

concluded, as by

law. On those

occasions, the

workingdaycould

have been fairly

long,butcertainly

fulfilling.Alternatively,we

wouldtaketurnstoworkintheapothekeonpottery,wheneverneeded.

Eachjuniorarchaeologistwasassigned,onaweeklybase,toadifferenttrench

supervisor, who had specific expertise on his/her area of the site. In such away

everyonewouldgainpracticeinallthedifferentareasofthesite;moreover,thesmall

sizeofthegroupsinthetrenchesallowedustobetrained,instructedandsupervised

verycloselyandefficiently.

Theworkthisyearwascentredintwomainareas:theBlueStoneStructure

andtheNorthWesthousingcomplex.WeopenednewtrenchesontheeastoftheBlue

StoneStructure,whereattheendoftheseasonwerevealedthewholearchitecture

oftheexternalsidewall.Duringthisprocesswecouldseethedifferentstratigraphic

layersofthetumulusthatwascoveringthecomplex.Onthenorthern-eastsideofthe

BlueStoneStructure,wealsofound,withsomesurprise,somecapstonesandtombs.

Excavatingthistrenchrequiredalotofeffortanddedication,duetothepresenceof

Figure3Potterywashing.Photofromhttps://ebapexcavations.org/

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several exposed skeletons, sometimes with some painted and interesting

accompanyingwares.

Duringtheexcavationofthetombs,underthesupervisionofDr.Herrmann

andhisteamofmaster’sstudentsfromtheTexasStateUniversity,Ihadthechanceto

beexposedforthefirsttimetohumanosteologyandthusIcouldalsolearnaloton

howtoexcavateaskeleton.Oncethesurroundingloosesoilhasbeenremoved,the

bones are maintained in their position and shape. Successively, a more detailed

processbeginswith trying todefine thebones,with thesmallest tools inorder to

contour and individuate their first characteristics. The identification can be

problematicascharacteristicsandshapescanbe

smoothedordestroyedovertime.

InthehousingcomplexintheNorth-West

side of the site, we expanded the excavation of

previous years, revealing more of the

architectures among which some walls, niches,

hearths. In this area a huge quantity of cooking

andstoragepotterywasfound,aswellasanimal

bonesandsmallobsidiantools,with fewcopper

andalloyfindings.Theoveralldispositionanduse

ofthespacehastobeyettobeclearlydetermined.

Figure4JacobKaras,JosephBellowsandIexcavatingbones

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Through this incredible experience, I had the chance to work with

knowledgeableexpertsandtheircohesivegroup.Learningfromeveryoneintheteam

enriched me as a junior archaeologist and it also has instilled an irrepressible

curiosityonthefutureexcavationsofthesite.Iamverygratefultothewholeteamof

theEBAPforteachingme

all the skills that I need

andtotheArchaeological

Institute of America and

theUniversityofVictoria

forhavinginvestedinme

by financing this

experience.

Figure5MeandtheBlueStoneStructureonthebackground