Wild weather prevents work at Zagora

Choppy waves at Batsi
Choppy waves at Batsi on Thursday 23 October 2014. The team stays at Batsi on Andros while working on the Zagora Archaeological Project (ZAP). © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
by Irma Havlicek
Online content producer

The Zagora directors check the weather forecasts assiduously to help plan whether or not it is safe to work on site at Zagora. If wind at Beaufort 9 or higher, or heavy, constant rain is forecast, the directors cancel work on site for that day. Although everyone is keen to complete as much work to as high a standard as possible during the season, safety is paramount, and risk is assessed in order to be minimised at every step.

Team members are advised at dinner the night before if work is not to proceed on site the following day. If work on site at Zagora is not possible, all team members are allocated to other important project tasks.

Dark sky over Batsi
This was the dark sky over Batsi on Thursday 23 October 2014. The building at the left is the Karanasos hotel where some of the team are staying. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek

The photos here show the work done by Zagora team members on Thursday 23 October when heavy rain and high winds made it unsafe to work at Zagora.

Some team members went to the museum to clean finds

More team members than usual were sent to work at the Andros Archaeological Museum to help with washing material recovered from Zagora.

ZAP team members heading in one of the hired project vans to the Andros Archaeological Museum to work
ZAP team members heading in one of the hired project vans to the Andros Archaeological Museum to work on Thursday. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
ZAP team members who worked at the Andros Archaeological Museum on Thursday. From left: Marco Schugk, Valeria de Scarpis, Cheryl Brown and Hannah Gwyther
ZAP team members who worked at the Andros Archaeological Museum on Thursday. From left: Marco Schugk, Valeria de Scarpis, Cheryl Brown and Hannah Gwyther. © AAIA; photo by Annette Dukes
Marco Schugk wearing an apron in the Andros Archaeological Museum
Washing dried earth off finds is dirty work, so wearing an apron to protect your clothes is recommended, as Marco Schugk is wearing here. © AAIA; photo by Annette Dukes

Some worked in the office in Batsi

Some team members also worked in the office at Batsi. These offices are very generously provided to the Zagora Archaeological Project by Thanassis Schinas and his wife, Angeliki Marinaki, who run the popular Lagoudera restaurant (specialising in fresh seafood) beneath the office, and within a minute’s walk of our accommodation in Batsi.

In the photo below, Andrew Wilson is training team members in using GIS (Geographic Information Systems); used to create the overall plan of the site as well as details of the excavated features within trenches.

They’re using points very accurately located on site at Zagora with the Total Stations to make digital drawings of the excavated buildings. This is an entirely digital process – going from the digital survey data in the field to the digital drawings in the GIS.

ZAP team members working in the Batsi office
From left, Andrew Wilson, Andrew Smith, Olivier Vanwalleghen and Megan Sheppard Brennand, working in the Batsi office. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek

In the second office, below, Kristen and Antonio, trench supervisors, are checking and completing their documentation for their trenches.

Rehan is preparing the detailed documentation for the conservation of the some of the structures on site.

Team members working in the office at Batsi
Team members working in the office at Batsi on Thursday. From left: Rehan Scharenguivel, Kristen Mann and Antonio Bianco. In this shot, you can see the rough sea across the road. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
Team members working in the office at Batsi
Team members working in the office at Batsi on Thursday. From left: Kristen Mann, Antonio Bianco and Rehan Scharenguivel. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
Anne Hooton, the ZAP archaeological illustrator/artist working in the Batsi office
Anne Hooton, the ZAP archaeological illustrator/artist was also working in the Batsi office on Thursday, which she does when she is not working in the Andros Archaeological Museum or on site at Zagora. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek

Most of the people working in the Batsi office didn’t even notice I was in there taking photos, they were concentrating so hard on their work.

Others sorted through soil debris for organic remains

Other team members assisted Roza Beshara in the Kantouni dining room, meticulously sorting through wet-sieved soil debris from the trenches looking for organic remains. Seeds, marine debris such as fish bones or shell fragments, charcoal or obsidian will provide evidence about what activities took place in which areas of the site.

ZAP team members looking for organic remains in soil debris from Zagora
ZAP team members looking for organic remains in soil debris from Zagora. From left: Callum Ferrell, Julia MacLachlan, Aleese Barron, Tessa Morgan, Claire Vincent, Emma Williams, Elaine Lin, Roza Beshara and Susan Wrigley. As you can see here, between the concentrated sorting work, there were comradely breaks to confer on the identification of some of the finds. ZAP team member, Brady Keisling, kindly went to the hardware shop to purchase the lamp, which he then rigged up to provide more light for this exacting work. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
Susan Wrigley and Julia McLachlan looking for organic remains in soil debris
From left: Susan Wrigley (using the light on her smart phone to help with illumination) and Julia McLachlan at the Kantouni on Thursday looking for organic remains in soil debris from Zagora. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
ZAP team members looking for organic remains in soil debris from Zagora
Roza Beshara, who is managing the flotation and soil debris sorting work here (under the guidance of Dr Evi Margaritis), is standing in the blue Zagora 2013 T-shirt. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
Callum Ferrell and other team members sorting through soil debris at the Kantouni
Callum Ferrell sorting through soil debris at the Kantouni on Thursday. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
and Elaine Lin at the Kantouni looking for organic remains in soil debris from Zagora
From left: Emma Williams and Elaine Lin at the Kantouni on Thursday looking for organic remains in soil debris from Zagora. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek
From left: Elaine Lin and Tessa Morgan at the Kantouni on Thursday looking for organic remains in soil debris from Zagora
From left: Elaine Lin and Tessa Morgan concentrating hard so as not to miss any small grain of evidence of organic remains among the soil debris. © AAIA; photo by Irma Havlicek

A lot was achieved on Thursday. And on Friday we were back on site again when weather conditions had improved (though were still challenging, with high winds and intermittent rain: such is the life of archaeologists at Zagora).

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