by Irma Havlicek
Permission has been granted by the Greek Ministry of Culture, paperwork filled out, schedules set, staff and volunteers recruited, flights and accommodation booked, insurance arranged, van/car hire planned (along with who will be designated drivers in Greece), and the vast variety and volumes of equipment and supplies selected, hired or purchased, along with planning how to get it all to Zagora. A huge task of logistics.
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum web producer
Kristen Mann was Trench Supervisor of Excavation Area 4 in 2013 and will be again this year. Kristen is doing PhD research, the main thrust of which relates to ‘spatial patterning of behaviour’ – that is, how the layout of buildings, rooms, spaces in and between buildings, pathways, communal spaces, etc. influences people’s behaviour.
Kristen is interrogating the layout and configuration of spaces at Zagora to try to understand how people lived there three thousand years ago, and to determine how archaeologists may be able to interpret behaviour from household arrangements.
Kristen is interested in access and use of space, and how people moved through and around the buildings and the settlement.
As a follow up to the post about satellite remote sensing, I thought I’d add a post about Adela and Petra’s respective paths (qualifications and experience) which led to their remote sensing work. This post is derived from the interview I conducted with Adela and Petra at Batsi in October 2013.
My training is in Archaeology. The remote sensing is a secondary interest. It’s a hobby and it’s also a technical expertise that I’ve found very useful for my own focus area which is, methodologically, I’m a survey archeologist. My main approach is landscape archaeology. I’m interested in regional study, regional investigations, and any methods that can help me assess large areas quickly and efficiently.
by Irma Havlickova, Powerhouse Museum Web Producer
and Dr Adela Sobotkova, Archaeologist and Satellite Remote Sensing Specialist
One of the techniques used during the Zagora Archaeological Project in 2013 was satellite remote sensing. This is the analysis of one or more photographs taken from a satellite to indicate where further exploration is likely to be most productive. In the case of the Zagora Archaeological Project, remote sensing was conducted in a radius of five kilometres around the site of Zagora, to look for evidence of archaeological remains or geological features in the environs of Zagora, further exploration of which may reveal more about the Zagora settlement.
Satellite remote sensing was conducted around Zagora in 2013 by Dr Adela Sobotkova (Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), managing the Zagora remote sensing) and her colleague, Petra Janouchova, (Ancient History PhD student at the Charles University in Prague, and Adela’s assistant).
Satellite remote sensing is a developing field as the quality of both satellite photography and the analysis software improves.
Powerhouse Museum Web Producer
For the first time at Zagora in 2013, soil samples were collected and processed through flotation in order to recover organic remains to find the charred, small, light material which floats to the surface of the water. This process had not been developed 40 years ago when the excavations of the 1960s and 70s took place at Zagora.
Organic plant material such as wood and plants decomposes over time, so such material from the period of the Zagora settlement no longer exists. If it has been burnt and transformed into charcoal, it can survive thousands of years which makes it extremely valuable in providing information about the kinds of plants which occurred at particular locations at different times.
The existence or absence of organic material such as tiny fish bones, shell fragments, seeds and charcoal in occupation deposits can provide evidence of ancient diet and domestic and industrial economy and activities at Zagora. We can also learn about the general environmental conditions in which the Zagoreans lived because organic material can inform us about plants that aren’t exploitable by humans but still throw light on the climatic and other environmental conditions there at that time. Fragments of heavier material such as obsidian, slag and pottery sherds can also be found through this process. If sampling for organic remains had not been undertaken, this information would be permanently lost.
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum Web Producer
Adela touches on the satellite remote sensing work she did at Zagora with her colleague, Petra Janouchova. Her post portrays the hard work but also the great fun that can be had in archaeology.
And congratulations to Adela and her partner, Shawn Ross, on the birth of their baby, Vivienne, in December.
by Petra Janouchova,
Archaeologist
Why did you want to work on Zagora?
I used to read about Zagora in my textbooks and it never occurred me that I would be one day able to come and work here. So when Adela (Dr Adela Sobotkova, from the University of New South Wales) asked me to come with her to do the Remote Sensing project at Zagora in 2013, I didn’t hesitate for a second.
I think that the site is amazing and and there is still so much to reveal in the future. It has enormous potential and I am lucky to be part of it at least for a short period.
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum Web Producer
If you’re in Sydney and wondering what to do with the children in your care these school holidays, why not give them an opportunity to explore an archaeologically themed activity? There are great programs these holidays at Sydney Observatory and the Nicholson Museum. The objects pictured at right were excavated from Fort Phillip at Sydney Observatory.
Sydney Observatory (up on Observatory Hill in Millers Point, just above The Rocks in Sydney) offers not only astronomy and meteorological exhibits and programs but also popular hands-on archaeological activities, linked to the archaeological work undertaken in recent years at Fort Phillip, within Sydney Observatory grounds. The excavations revealed substantial, intact foundations of the Fort (built in 1804-1806) and its bomb-proof chamber.
by Irma Havlicek
Powerhouse Museum Web Producer
Check out the entry of Dr Archondia Thanos, Honorary Research Associate and Lecturer at the University of Sydney in our Archaeology Q&As, giving her perspective of archaeology as a career.
Here’s a glimpse:
“Archaeology examines all aspects of the human condition. That is why it appeals to so many people. It allows us to understand the human journey through time, what has brought us to this particular point of our story as entities of the world and where we may end up hundreds of years from now. It is a great teacher. The future always seems to have happened before to some degree.”
Powerhouse Museum curator and archaeologist, Paul Donnelly (and my Powerhouse parter in the Zagora Archaeological Project), arranged for a display (pictured at right) at the Powerhouse Museum to introduce visitors to the Zagora project and to raise awareness about the particularly close association of the Powerhouse with archaeology.