Reports from the (Virtual) Field

In celebration of International Archaeology Day (Saturday, October 17th, 2020) join us to hear how three graduate students in Classical Archaeology and Anthropology adapted their summer research in the face of the international COVID-19 crisis.  Three millennia of hydraulic engineering have littered the plains between the Tigris and the Zagros Mountains with the traces of canals and other waterworks, with profound hydrological effects; Jordan Brown (Anthropology) will discuss how remote sensing and quantitative geomorphology offer insight into the aims and long-term effects of these water resource management strategies. Trent Trombley (Anthropology) will present preliminary results of a bioarchaeological research project on municipally excavated human remains conducted in response to urban development projects in Santarém, Portugal, to better understand the role of religion and funerary rites in the Portuguese middle ages. Rebekah McKay (Classical Archaeology) will discuss the Nemea Virtual Field Season’s efforts to organize and interpret excavation data from a decade ago. In analyzing the forms, catalogs, and notebooks from the 2010-2012 field seasons centered around the Hero Shrine of Opheltes at the Sanctuary of Zeus in Nemea, the team was able to interpret the evidence of centuries of labor dedicated to the construction and maintenance of the shrine including the formation, and re-formation, of a large “tumulus” mound and feats of engineering aimed at mitigating the destructive effects of the nearby Nemea River.