We have now started excavating two trenches: test trench 1 on Thursday 15 November 2012 and test trench 2 yesterday, Friday 16 November 2012.
Zagora dig blog
Test trench excavation to begin
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum Online Producer
We will be excavating two test trenches. Following are photos of what the test trench sites looked like during clearing in preparation for excavation.
In coming days I will be able to show you some of the work of the excavation. However excavated artefacts may only be shown if we receive approval from the authorities to show them (or if they have been previously published).
Archaeological transect survey
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum Online Producer
The Zagora Archaeologcal Project team leaders, Professor Meg Miller, Dr Lesley Beaumont and Dr Stavros Paspalas, are doing their utmost to develop the most comprehensive possible picture of the site and also the area around it to find evidence of human use during the settlement period. This is necessary so they can plan the excavations for this season and potential future seasons.
Geology of Zagora
He has spent time at Zagora on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 12-14 November 2012.
He is looking broadly at anything of a geological nature that may have affected life at Zagora during the time of the settlement, around 900 – 700 BCE, and also for possible clues as to why the settlement was abandoned.
In particular, he is looking for evidence of Early Iron Age production (the Early Iron Age covers from about 1050 to 500 BCE).
Another archaeologist Q&A: Camilla Norman
I’ve added another entry to our Q&A with archaeologists page – the answers of Camilla Norman, who conveys the same enthusiasm, thirst for knowledge and sense of adventure as the other archaeologists who have kindly contributed to this section of our website. Camilla has combined her visual skills in her archaeology work with both artefact drawing in the field, her work having run the University of Sydney Archaeology Department’s slide library and also production managing Mediterranean Archaeology.
Archaeophotography of a test trench site
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum Online Producer
He had as his able assistant in high wind, Rudy Alagich, who did a fine job wrangling fly-away pieces of paper – in particular the A4 sized arrow on paper in a plastic sleeve, which was to be placed in many of the photographs so that the direction of north was known.
Archaeometry – surface luminescence dating of built structures
Ioannis spoke to me after his work in the field on Monday and on Tuesday to explain the process.
Most people have heard of radiocarbon dating – a method for finding out how long since something organic (human, animal or plant, such as bones or wood) stopped living. This is done by finding out how much radioactivity of Carbon 14 remains in the organic material, which indicates how long since the material stopped exchanging carbon dioxide with the atmosphere, or how long since it died.
We are using a different a different method of dating at Zagora for a different purpose. Luminescence dating is a method to determine how long since something was exposed to sunlight. In the case of our enquiry at Zagora, we want to know when a wall was built.
Archaeological reconnaissance
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum Online Producer
In order to do this, the site grid is being used to record all visible signs of ancient activity.
To get the most out of this post, you may want to read the posts about the grids, and also how the information gained is being digitally recorded onto tablets.
Zagora goes digital
by Irma Havlicek, Powerhouse Museum Online Producer
with Andrew Wilson, Archaeologist and Database Specialist
representing Arts eResearch at the University of Sydney
Developments in technology are enabling huge advances in how we can record – and later easily filter and aggregate – information, and the Zagora team are taking advantage of the benefits of such technologies.
A new system is being developed by Arts eResearch at the University of Sydney to enable digital recording on the spot of all relevant information for each grid.
A geometric grid for a geometric site
by Andrew Wilson, Archaeologist and Database Specialist
representing Arts eResearch at the University of Sydney
with Irma Havlicek, Powerhouse Museum Online Producer
This has to be done systematically so that we can gain an understanding of the entire site. The best way to do that is to walk the entire site, using grids. In this post, I hope to explain how the grid system works at Zagora.