Saturday, June 27, 2009

A beautiful start to digging Gabii


After torrential rains last weekend, June 21st dawned as a beautiful day - a perfect one, in fact, for working in the field. And now, we have completed the first full week of fieldwork at Gabii. Staff and students arrived on site for an initial orientation and equipment checkout, along with a tour both of the new excavation area and other parts of Gabii that have been the focus of past excavations. During our various tours members of the group reacted to Gabii's impressive topography, as well as the extent of what was once the walled city. For 2009 a sector of the slope of the crater of Castiglione has been chosen as the focus of investigations, with three areas defined within that zone. Surprisingly, perhaps, these three areas each present a varied and different picture and, at least preliminarily, seem to represent different points in the occupational history of the site. While it is too early to speak of chronology or interpretation, it does seem safe to say that the excavation of these three sectors will offer up a new and so far relatively unknown story about Gabii's urban history. And we are so glad to have so many staff members and students here to help tell that story. prepared, and hopefully we are ready to tackle the archaeology there.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Staff arrives at Gabii

The staff of the Gabii Project is beginning its work on site tomorrow, in preparation for the field season and the arrival on site of the full team on 22 June 2009. This week the staff faces various challenges - from the mundane chores associated with setting up work spaces and equipment to the more engaging tasks of discussing excavation and documentation methodology and the beginning of digital data collection at Gabii. We expect to have more news to share in this space very soon, so stay tuned.