An exciting first week at Gabii

A week has passed since the official kick-off of the 2013 season, and it has been a very productive one!  Staff and students integrated quickly and smoothly, and worked hard all week, despite some scattered thunderstorms that hit the area around Gabii. Important results have been achieved, which are already transforming our perception of the site.

The Area D team

Activities this year are concentrating in two distinct sectors of the dig. In Area D, which is located on the southeast edge of the excavation, Marilyn Evans and her team are investigating the lower strata of an Archaic compound that was partially explored in 2011 and 2012. Judging from what we can see so far, we expect to reach interesting occupation levels of the seventh century BCE really soon.

Cleaning the upper terrace of the Area F building

On the western side of the dig, the volunteers led by Andrew Johnston and Jason Farr are exposing the huge Area F building. This multi-phased monumental structure occupied an entire city-block of the urban grid, facing the main thoroughfare. It was originally organized in two terraces, separated by an impressive ashlar wall. Work will progress on both terraces, with the goal of understanding and dating the construction sequence.

Documenting the collapse of the ashlar wall in Area F

This is only some of the tantalizing evidence that is emerging. Stay tuned for more highlights!

A new crew member: the Gabii Project van

Gabii Project 2013 begins!

We are all very excited for the start of the 2013 season!

All the participants arrived safely in Rome, and settled in the apartments in Trastevere. The first day of work began with a welcoming speech by Prof. Terrenato, and featured an on-site orientation, but everyone was eager to start moving dirt!

We'll keep you posted on the exciting finds!

Gabii Project spin-off awarded NEH Grant

A project directed by Fred Limp (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville), Rachel Opitz (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville), and Nicola Terrenato (University of Michigan) has just received a Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant ($49,719) from the NEH Office of Digital Humanities (announcement here).

The Grant, titled 21st Century Data, 21st Century Publications: 3D Model
Publication and building the Peer Reviewer Community, will support the development of a new publication framework, using the Gabii Project's dataset as a test case. The first phase of the project will be launched in August, after completion of the 2013 field season at Gabii.

Gabii at the 114th AIA Annual Meeting

The Gabii Project Director Nic Terrenato (University of Michigan) is going to present a paper titled "Embriology of Central Italian Cities: Recent Insights from Gabii and Rome" at the 114th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (Seattle, WA). The talk is part of the Plenary Session: The Ancient City, and is scheduled for Saturday, January 5th at 3:20 PM. Open to all Gabii aficionados attending the meeting!

Gabii Project 2013 Field Program on AFOB

The Gabii Project has just launched the 2013 Field Program application process.

Students and volunteers wishing to participate in the 2013 excavation season should visit the Gabii Project website and submit the on-line application form.

Details and instructions on how to apply are now also available on the AFOB listings.

Check it out!
 

Gabii Project at the Third Annual BAIR Conference

J. Marilyn Evans (UC Berkeley) is going to present a paper titled  "Funerary ritual and urban development in archaic Gabii" at the Third Annual Berkeley Ancient Italy Roundtable.

Evans' talk, scheduled for October 27th 2012, presents the recently discovered archaic tombs at Gabii and considers them alongside related evidence to explore the social and political changes involved in the city's urban development during the sixth and early fifth centuries B.C.E.

 

Click here to learn more about the conference.

Gabii Project at the Redford Conference in Archaeology: Taking Archaeology Digital (University of Puget Sound, 25-28 October 2012).

Rachel Opitz (CAST-U of Arkansas) is going to present a paper titled "Going Big. Data management strategies for the large scale excavations at Gabii (Italy)" at the upcoming Redford Conference in Archaeology: Taking Archaeology Digital (University of Puget Sound, 25-28 October 2012).
Opitz's talk, which is scheduled to appear in a panel on "Paperless Recording and Data Management" (October 27), will discuss problems of data management strategy in active research excavations and the use of web platforms for collaboration and dissemination. The presentation will focus on the methodology developed by the Gabii Project, particularly on the way close-range photogrammetric modelling is used and integrated with topographic survey to produce top plans, phase plans and other traditional (and required) documents, and on the lessons learned in four years of work at the site.