Saturday, February 18, 2012

Veal to discuss ancient fuel economies in Ann Arbor

Robyn Veal of the University of Sydney will discuss ancient fuel economies in a talk at the University of Michigan on February 23, 2012. Veal is particularly interested in the role played by wood and wood charcoal fuel in the ancient Mediterranean. In her talk she will consider evidence from Bronze Age sites in Sardinia as well as evidence from Gabii where she is presently studying charcoal remains recovered by the Gabii Project.

If you're going, here are the details:

“Ancient Fuel Economies: Bronze Age Pran’e Siddi to Roman Gabii”
Dr. Robyn Veal (British School at Rome and University of Sydney)

February 23, 2012, from 12.00 to 1.00pm
1109 Geddes Avenue • Ann Arbor MI 48109 • (734) 763-6095
Location: Ruthven Museums Building Room 2009

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Gabine research and the web

The Gabii Project team is a multinational group and is, during the winter and spring, dispersed among many countries, several continents, and quite a few time zones. Despite being in different places, the work of the project goes on as we work not only on post-excavation projects but also on moving various studies to publication. In this off-season work, the project is increasingly aided by the collaborative potential offered by internet platforms; team members routinely confer and meet to discuss research projects and plan excavation strategy and policy for future seasons.

Today, the team tried a new experiment, that being a collaborative research seminar online - thus, webinar. Through the miracle of Skype (thanks, Skype!), we convened for nearly four hours with almost 20 team members for a thought-provoking and stimulating session. We heard reports on various work in progress, including work on the dating and contextualization of Gabii's orthogonal plan (Marcello Mogetta), investigation of recovery rates for metal artifacts (Laura Banducci and Jason Farr), human osteology (Kristina Killgrove), quarrying of the local tufo, lapis Gabinus (Jason Farr), and anthropomorphic terracottas (Chiara Pilo). In addition to these reports we also discussed, thanks to Laura Motta, Marcello Mogetta, and Ivan Cangemi, an ongoing sampling experiment on-site that allows us to consider unit volume and recovery rates for various anthropic and organic materials. 

The webinar was a great success and an excellent case study in harnessing the power of the web to promote collaboration and discussion. The team plans future webinars in the next months to continue our fruitful discussions of this morning.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Terrenato to present AIA lecture in Winnipeg, Manitoba

On February 12, 2012, Nicola Terrenato will present a lecture entitled, "The Gabii Project Excavation in Central Italy: The Mystery of the ‘Lead Burrito’" for the local society of the Archaeological Institute of America in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. At the center of the talk is an unusual lead sarcophagus excavated at Gabii in July 2009. 

The abstract of Terrenato's talk is here.

The event will be held at 3.00pm at the University of Manitoba 
University College 237, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

For information on the society, the lecture, or other questions about this event, contact the Winnipeg society of the AIA.