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.

Week 5 - helicopters, radar, and X-rays (oh my!) ...

The fifth week of our 2011 field campaign was abuzz with activity. In addition to our ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Gabii, the project continues to collect data by additional means. As in past years, we carried out a pass of aerial photography on-site via helicopter (thanks to Sgr. Italo Marini of the Fly Roma School) in order to see our work from a different angle. The utility of aerial photography in archaeology has long been proven and, in the case of urban sites such as Gabii, it is especially useful for recognizing alignments and orientations within the site. Happily, thanks to our surveying capabilities the aerial photographs can be orthorectified and incorporated into the Gabii GIS - super exciting!

Our intrepid field director Anna Gallone on the helicopter mission to take aerial photos of Gabii.

Our technological saturation only increased as the week went on as we were happy to benefit from the presence of specialist colleagues from Roma Tre University and Davidson College, respectively. From Roma Tre we welcomed Professor Elena Pettinelli and her team from the physics department who this week began additional tests using ground penetrating radar (GPR) at Gabii. This geophysical technique recognizes archaeology and geologic features by creating subsurface radar profiles and our project is beginning to test the effectiveness of GPR at Gabii as a guide to better understanding the site. Our physics colleagues were even generous enough to come out to Frascati and talk to our group about physics and its applications for archaeology.   

Elena Pettinelli from Roma Tre University.

We were also happy to welcome Prof. Ruth Beeston from the Chemistry Department at Davidson College in North Carolina. In conjunction with Hilary Becker, Ruth was in Italy to carry out XRF testing in the lab of the University of Michigan / University of Calabria project in the Area Sacra di Sant'Omobono in Rome and she was generous enough to come to Gabii with her XRF equipment. The handheld XRF equipment is used for conducting elemental analyses and Ruth's day of testing at Gabii included samples of human bones along with other specimens, including geologic ones. Adding XRF testing to our arsenal of investigative strategies is a boon to the research agenda of the Gabii Project.

Ruth Beeston and Austin Raymond in the lab at Gabii.

Davidson College crew at Gabii: Will Milvaney, Hilary Becker, Austin Raymond, and Ruth Beeston.

With all of this flying, zapping, and radar-ing, we would be remiss if we did not mention the excellent progress made in terms of excavation at Gabii. Our teams continued to make progress in all of our excavation areas, something that was evident to all of our visitors this week, including the local inspector of the archaeological service. As we move on to the sixth, and final, week of the 2011 campaign we continue to derive great excitement from our students and sharing with them the process of discovery at Gabii. 

Fourth week at Gabii

A pattern of oppressive heat and humidity gave way after mid-week and we finished this, our fourth week of the 2011 campaign, under beautiful skies at Gabii. Gabii Project veterans continue to marvel at Gabii's unique weather patterns, seemingly still influenced by the crater lake of Castiglione, although the lake was drained a long time ago. The winds helped to make the temperatures lovely for fieldwork - although the occasional blown paperwork or silt in the eye was a downside to the windy weather. In terms of archaeology, we had a productive week. In Area C we continued to delimit a Republican structure and in Area E a lot of hard work cleaning top soil and colluvium is starting to reveal interesting and promising wall features, in addition to more evidence for Gabii's street system. Elsewhere on the site we continue to work to complete the excavation of a structure in our Area B as well as to document and model various features, including digital tomb modeling. Our lecture program this week included presentations by Hilary Becker (Davidson College) on the inland economy of ancient Italy and by Ruth Beeston (Davidson College) on XRF and chemical applications in archaeology. Mid-week we were invited to visit the excavations of our 'neighbor' Marco Fabbri who is working at the site of an archaic building on the rim of the crater of Castiglione. To top off a great week, a number of the team joined Jeffrey Becker and Hilary Becker for a visit to the ruins of Ostia Antica on Saturday. All enjoyed a fun day walking and talking amidst the ruins. As we move on to the fifth week of this year's campaign, we look forward to what is sure to be an exciting new round of discoveries. The project also joined Google+ this week, so come join our circle(s)!

Austin Raymond (Davidson College).

Evan Goldstick (Michigan), Samuel Palumbo (Bryn Mawr) work with supervisor Jamie Sewell.

Ruth Beeston talks about chemistry and archaeology.

Part of our group at the sanctuary of Attis in the Campus of the Magna Mater. (l to r, starting with back row: Brandon Tomasso, Jacob Kovacs-Goodman, Evan Levine, Sheira Cohen, Jonathan Flynn, Julia Reilly, Aida Ali, Jackson Vaughn, Tim Hart, Ruth Beeston, Michael Beeston, Hilary Becker, Austin Raymond, Evan Goldstick, Nick Bartos, Christina Cha, Ilana Hill, Zoe Fox, Lauren Coughlin.

Part of our group at the Capitolium. (l to r, starting with back row: AJ Chrapliwy, Jackson Vaughn, Sam Palumbo, Evan Goldstick, Amanda Swango, Tim Hart, Austin Raymond, Sheira Cohen, Jeffrey Becker, Jacob Kovacs-Goodman, Brandon Tomasso, Sophia Staley, Laura Steitz, Carrie Wallace, Lauren Coughlin, Jonathan Flynn, Nick Bartos, Julia Reilly, Zoe Fox, Alison Rittershaus, Aida Ali, Ilana Hill, Christina Cha, Evan Levine.

Gabii Project at the Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut Rome

On July 8, 2011, at 18.00, the occasion of the presentation of the new volume Regional Pathways to Complexity: Settlement and Land-Use Dynamics in Early Italy from the Bronze Age to the Republican Period by Peter Attema, Gert-Jan Burgers, and Martijn van Leusen (Amsterdam, 2011) will provide the occasion for a presentation by Nicola Terrenato on the recent work of the Gabii Project under the title "The Gabii Project: Recent discoveries and perspectives".

The event is open to the public.

Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut Rome

Via Omero 10/12

00197 Rome, Italy

For more information, contact the Gabii Project (gabii.project (at) gmail (dot) com). For information on the venue or directions, please contact the Royal Netherlands Institute at Rome <archeo@knir.it>.

Gabii 2011 • first week

Monday 20th June

Monday morning was fiercely hot and more humid than it has been - but no matter, we were on-site with nearly our full complement of staff and students. Since this was 'day one', the morning was given to orienting newcomers and re-orienting returning hands. Nicola Terrenato welcomed the group to Gabii and we also were briefed on various safety matters by Carlo Monda. Tours of Gabii's urban area and Iuno sanctuary were followed by tours of the various excavation areas. After lunch, students divided themselves into their respective excavation groups and got to work cleaning their sectors. For those of us watching them, their excitement was evident - as is ours as we begin another season's work at Gabii. In the early evening we re-convened to discuss documentation procedures for this year's excavation.

Nicola Terrenato welcomes the team.

Students introduce themselves to the group

Cleaning begins in Area D

Marcello Mogetta discusses stratigraphic recording.

Tuesday 21st June

Day two! Today was a beautiful day - sunny, but with our favorite Gabii breeze that cools but also creates oh-so-fun dust devils that zoom across the site. We also were joined by our sometimes orbiting friends: military pilots screeching across central Lazio, touch-and-go landing practice at Fly School Rome, and the mowing crew of the SAR. So, a busy day on the site! Once on-site today, everyone went straight to it. In Area B we have cleaning operations to complete the excavation and documentation of structure mostly exposed in 2010. In Areas C and D  a similar story is to be found, with lots of cleaning to be done to isolate features revealed by baulk expansions this spring. Since so much surface cleaning went on today, it was much fun to orbit around the site and see student reactions to artifact recovery. Even if only a sherd contained in a non-contextualized 'zero' layer, that first artifact can be a profound experience. It is particularly delightful to watch a meaningful understanding come across the face of a student whose prior experience has been with archaeological materials on the printed page or in the museum case - in one's hand it is a different story. Similarly, pottery washing in the lab, accompanied by instruction from Abby Crawford (BU), seemed to register with all involved. All in all, a good and productive day. 

Tim Hart (Michigan / IPGRH)

Aaron Chapnick (Buffalo) recording a feature with students.

Wednesday, June 22nd
The team seems to be getting into its daily rhythm - wake up, bus, on-site to gather tools, and off to work. We are operating three excavation areas again this year, thus three teams at work, plus the group in the finds processing lab and the topography team. From the directors' point of view, it is enjoyable to orbit the site and watch these groups working together. Today cleaning progressed and new excavation is underway in our Area C.

Zoe Fox (Bryn Mawr College) in Area B.

Jamie Sewell, AJ Chrapliwy (Michigan), and Evan Goldstick (Michigan) in Area C.

Jamie Sewell works on a section drawing.

Thursday, June 23rd
Today was an intensely hot day on the site. Excavation of an imperial cappuccina-type inhumation burial advanced significantly, as did work on section drawing in a modern feature in area C. Students are also rotating through the finds and environmental processing labs, learning the important ceramic typologies to be found at Gabii and assisting the environmental staff in recovery of ecofacts from soils samples. This process of environmental sampling stands the real chance of producing important environmental data like carbonized seeds and bones that can eventually help to reconstruct important aspects of the lifeways and diets of the inhabitants of the ancient city.

Supervisor Claudia Melisch works in Area B.

Samantha Lash (Michigan) and Austin Raymond (Davidson) in Area B.

Sabian Hasani (Michigan) in Area D.

Lauren Coughlin (UMBC) in Area D.

Friday, June 24th
Today, the final day of week one, happened under serene skies with a touch of cloud cover. It was a shorter day as the Soprintendenza elected to close the archaeological area earlier than usual, but nonetheless a great deal of progress was made in our excavation areas. All three areas are poised to move into stratified deposits in week two, the prospect of which is of course exciting. It is also evident that the 2011 team is developing a good camaraderie already at this early date.

Students work with Abby Crawford (BU) and Laura Wilke (Cornell) in the finds processing lab.

Emanuele Casagrande Cicci surveys in Area C.

Claudia Melisch, Alessia Nava, and Sabrina Zottis.

Andrew Johnston (Harvard) with students Jackson Vaughn (Kalamazoo), William Milvaney (Davidson), and Christina Cha (UCLA) in Area C.

...and we're back at Gabii

On what proved a lovely and temperate week of weather in central Italy, the Gabii Project team got back to work on-site. Field director Anna Gallone and colleagues have been working for the previous two weeks to prepare the site, extend some excavation sectors, and generally make ready for a good season; today marked the start of that season with a group of our core staff showing up for work. We all return to Gabii charged with energy for this year's campaign, which promises to be a campaign in which we complete sectors that have been the focus of work over the previous two seasons and also begin to explore newly expanded portions of other sectors. All of these sectors, of course, coming together to help tell what is proving to be a complicated story of urban ups and downs in the ancient city.

Our work this week focused on the preparation of the excavation site for the arrival of the full team on this coming Sunday, June 19, and the completion of various excavation tasks remaining in our 'Area A' from 2010. We are pleased to welcome back many returning staff members - as well as a record number of returning undergraduate students. We will again be joined by students from the Summer Program in Archaeology of the American Academy in Rome, as well as by several recent alumni/-ae of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome. We hope you will watch this space for updates throughout the season, as well as take the opportunity to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. We'd also like to encourage you to check out our student blog, Ager Gabinus.

Anna Gallone and Marcello Mogetta

Nowlin presents at "Death, Decay, and Discovery"

J. Nowlin

Jessica Nowlin, Ph.D. student in the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World at Brown University and a member of the Gabii Project's topography team, will present a paper as part of the upcoming symposium "Death, Decay, and Discovery: An interdisciplinary workshop on taphonomic approaches to understanding burial practice" on April 9, 2011. The workshop, organized by Brown University post-doctoral fellow Allison Davis, brings together mortuary archaeologists and taphonomists to discuss the utility of these approaches in answering larger archaeological questions. Nowlin's paper, "More than Pretty Pictures: The Use of Three-Dimensional Modeling in the Documentation of Funerary Remains" concentrates on the use of digital photogrammetry at Gabii for modeling funerary contexts. In 2009 Nowlin's work on digital models of sensitive  sub-Geometric elite tombs at Gabii has resulted, in part, in the forthcoming publication of said tombs in J.A. Becker and J. Nowlin. 2011. "Orientalizing Infant Burials from Gabii, Italy." BABESCH 86:9-21. 

Weeks III and IV at Gabii

The last two weeks have flown by us, scarcely leaving time to make a post on the blog!  We are in the midst of a heat wave here in Italy, but you would be hard pressed to tell considering how hard our team is working - they are undaunted by the heat.  The last two weeks have been exciting and quite busy.  We were fortunate to have Mario Torelli (Perugia) visit us on Friday, July 10 and it was great fun to show him around the site and benefit from his insights.  This week our colleagues from the Archaeological Prospection Services of Southampton visited us to check various magnetic anomalies discovered during the 2007-2008 survey phase; we were also lucky to have several sets of parents and relatives of team members visit us, so Gabii has been a busy place.  But for the most part, we have been digging - and doing a lot of it!  Our Area B has finally emerged from the overburden of Roman tombs and occupation evidence is finally appearing.  Elsewhere on the site we continue to analyze various bits of evidence, including an in-depth examination of animal bones and the ongoing collection of environmental samples.  In all, we are extremely please with the progress we are making and look forward to the week coming up.

Fiat/Chrysler Scholars at Gabii

The Gabii Project is pleased to announce the creation of the "Fiat/Chrysler Scholars" program to support the participation of University of Michigan students in the fieldwork at Gabii. These "Fiat/Chrysler Scholars" will have the opportunity to participate firsthand in the exciting fieldwork at Gabii and take part in cutting-edge archaeological research. We are grateful to the Chrysler Foundation and Fiat SPA, who have each made a gift of $25,000 to The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) at the University of Michigan. The directors of the Gabii Project have selected the first group of "Fiat/Chrysler Scholars" and we look forward to updating you on their experiences at Gabii in 2010.

The 2010 Fiat/Chrysler Scholars from the University of Michigan are:

• Lauren Bennett (majoring in Latin)
• Bailey Benson (majoring in Anthropology and Classical archaeology)
• Ivan Cangemi (PhD student in Classical art and archaeology)
• Jason Farr (PhD student in Classical art and archaeology)
• Cynthia Kazanis (majoring in Anthropology and Classical archaeology)
• Melissa King (majoring in Communication Studies and History of art)
• Samantha Lash (majoring in Classical archaeology)
• Michael Pry (undeclared)
• Camille Reynolds (majoring in Classical civilization)
• Jessica Ryan (majoring in Classical archaeology and Classical civilization)

Gabii Project in Lazio e Sabina VI (2010)

The Gabii Project's article in Lazio e Sabina VI, edited by G. Ghini, (2010) appeared today from Edizioni Quasar.

N. Terrenato, A. Gallone, J. A. Becker, and S. Kay. 2010. “Urbanistica Ortogonale a Gabii: Risultati delle nuove prospezioni geofisiche e prospettive per il futuro.” In Lazio e Sabina VI: Atti del Convegno. Sesto Incontro di Studi sul Lazio e la Sabina. Roma 4-6 marzo 2009, edited by G. Ghini, 237-48. Rome: Edizioni Quasar.

In the news: Lead sarcophagus from Gabii

As has now been released to the press, an unusual Imperial Roman lead sarcophagus was excavated at Gabii in 2009 by the Gabii Project. This new story originated with a small feature by National Geographic News, along with a news release from the News Service of the University of Michigan. A sampling of the resulting press coverage can be found digested and linked here on our blog.

The sarcophagus, which weighs around 1000 lbs, is fashioned from sheets of lead folded so as to encase the deceased, thus the 'burrito' moniker that accompanied the news story and has become something of a popular tag on Twitter and other sites. The unusual nature of the sarcophagus comes from the fact that it does not follow the normal pattern for these objects - and indeed, only several hundred imperial lead sarcophagi are known. The sarcophagus in question here was formed by wrapping sheets of lead around the deceased, crimping the 'head' end and leaving the 'foot' end open and exposed. So, while the corpus of square lead sarcophagi with lids and lead sarcophagi liners is reasonably well defined, the lead-wrapped inhumant remains unusual. We are grateful for the offers of advice and help that are coming in from colleagues from all corners - thank you!

The next phase of study of the sarcophagus will begin shortly with non-invasive tests employed to ascertain something about the contents that are currently shielded by the lead wrapping, which in itself has important value as an artifact. The sarcophagus is heading for the American Academy in Rome in the next days where Mellon Professor T. Corey Brennan has been invaluable and incredibly supportive in facilitating this next phase of research. Prof. Brennan's blog entry is here.

This sarcophagus - about which we are still learning - prompts us to consider events at the far end of Gabii's life as an urban center and also raises interesting possibilities about studying a well-preserved (albeit unusual) status burial in Imperial Latium. While those in the blogosphere are hoping that we find a dangerous vampire, mummy or ancient demon inside, we're betting on a regular Roman, most likely of an elevated social rank.

The research at Gabii is supported by the University of Michigan and its Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, as well as by organizations that include the National Geographic Society. The kind support of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma and, in particular, Dr. Angelo Bottini and Dr. Stefano Musco, is also gratefully acknowledged. We are also grateful to our friends at LAND srl who so carefully prepared the sarcophagus for removal from the tomb and transported it to safe storage.

THE SARCOPHAGUS 'IN THE NEWS'

U.S. media

• Free Republic. 29-March 2010
• e! Science News. 29-March 2010
  
• WDIV Detroit. 30-March 2010
• WWJ • 950 Detroit. 30-March 2010
• LiveScience.com. 30-March 2010
• Click on Detroit. 30-March 2010
• Yahoo! News. 31-March 2010
• Fox News. 31-March 2010
• Suite101.com. 31-March 2010
• Encyclopedia Britannica Kids. 2-April 2010
• American Academy in Rome's blog coverage. 2-April 2010
• Blog entry of the University of Michigan Press. 6-April 2010
• Archaeology magazine, July/August 2010 issue. 'From the trenches'
  

Canadian media

• National Post. 30-March 2010
• Montreal Gazette. 31-March 2010
• Calgary Herald. 31-March 2010
• The Vancouver Sun. 31-March 2010
• Edmonton Journal. 31-March 2010
• Ottawa Citizen. 31-March 2010
• Canada.com. 31-March 2010
• Global Toronto. 31-March 2010
• Hamilton Spectator. 7-April 2010

U.K. media

• Heritage Key Digest. 30-March 2010
• The Independent. 31-March 2010

Italian media

• Antikitera. 30-March 2010
• Il fatto storico. 31-March 2010
• corrispondenti.net. 1-April 2010
• Centro Ufologico Taranto Magazine. 1-April 2010
• La Stampa. 14-April 2010 interview with Anna Gallone
• Le Scienze. June 2010 issue - news digest item.

Asian media

• South Asian News. 30-March 2010
• National Geographic News - Japan. 31-March 2010
• newKereala.com. (India). 31-March 2010
• Bí ẩn chiếc quan tài gần 2.000 năm tuổi (Vietnam). 3-April 2010
• Nguoi Viet Online (Vietnam). 4-April 2010
• Vietnamnet.vn (Vietnam). 10-May 2010

Hungary and Romania

• Terra Magazin (Romania). 31-March 2010
• tudomany.ma.hu. (Hungary) 2-April 2010
• Hirado.hu. (Hungary) 2-April 2010
• hirszerzo (Hungary). 3-April 2010
• Ziare.com (Romania). 3-April 2010
• Realitatea.net (Romania). 3-April 2010
• MNO Magyar Nemzet Online (Hungary). 2-April 2010
  

Other world and web-based media

• SciTech Report. 29-March 2010
• LabSpaces. 29-March 2010
• RedOrbit. 29-March 2010
• Phenomica. 31-March 2010
  
• Softpedia. 31-March 2010
• Press Enterprise. 31-March 2010
• Ciência Hoje: Jornal de Ciência, Tecnologia e Empreendedorismo. (Portugal). 31-March 2010
• El Solitario de la Vega Real. (Spanish). 1-April 2010
• svt (Sweden). 3-April 2010
• Spektrum Direkt. 31-March 2010
• Avalon: revista digital gratuita (Spain). 3-April 2010
• ntvmsnbc (Turkey). 31-March 2010
• aktualne.cz (Czech). 3-April 2010
• Forte (Estonia). 9-April 2010
• Postimees (Estonia). 30-March 2010
  
• Milliyet.com (Turkey). 31-March 2010
• Historiek.net. 1-April 2010
  
• Poisk news (Russia). 18-April 2010
• El Reservado (Spain). 29-April 2010
  
• Autumn 2010.  A German radio interview with Anna Gallone about the process of scanning the lead sarcophagus with neutrons in Munich.  ("Bleisarg unter der Neutronenlupe: Im Forschungsreaktor untersuchten Archäologen eine antike Rarität").

Gabii Project at '7° Incontro di Studi sul Lazio e la Sabina'

The seventh Lazio e Sabina conference will take place at various academic venues in Rome from March 9th through March 11th 2010 and the Gabii Project will again be represented among the presentations. Field director Dott.ssa Anna Gallone will present a paper on March 10th entitled, "Gli scavi dell'University of Michigan a Gabii." The paper, co-authored with project director Nicola Terrenato and vice field director Marcello Mogetta will be part of the morning session, beginning at 09:30 am, at the American Academy in Rome.

The full conference program can be found here.

Two upcoming Gabii Project talks in Canada

Project directors Nicola Terrenato and Jeffrey Becker will present interim lectures on the work of the Gabii Project in the next two weeks.

- On March 3, 2010, at 2:30 PM, Nicola Terrenato will present a talk entitled, "The Gabii Project: a new excavation in a major Latin city" in the Department of Classics at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. The lecture will be in Watson 517 and is open to the public.

- On March 11, 2010, at 4:30 PM, Jeffrey Becker will present a talk entitled, "The Gabii Project, 2007-2010: preliminary conclusions and future perspectives" in the Department of Classics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The lecture will be held in Togo Salmon Hall 701.

Gabii Project: 2010 field program

The Gabii Project announces its 2010 field program!

The Gabii Project will again offer a field program for students and volunteers in 2010; the program will run from June 20 until July 31, 2010.  Applications will be accepted online via the project's website and the deadline for applying to the program is January 31, 2010; all qualified students are eligible to apply, not just those associated with the University of Michigan. Notifications of acceptance will be made by March 1, 2010, and accepted volunteers must submit their payment in full by March 25, 2010, in order to secure their spot.  The cost for the 6-week program, inclusive of room and board, insurance, equipment, and local transportation, will be $4,500 (USD).  Academic credit is not offered for participation in the field program.  The information below outlines some of the basic details of the field program; more complete information can be found on the project website.

• Accommodation:
• The Hotel Villa Mercede in Frascati, Italy, will serve as the Gabii Project's base of operations.  The team will be accommodated there and will take their meals during the week at the Balubino restaurant, while lunches will be provided on-site.
• Volunteers will be accommodated in shared rooms (2 to 4 people per room) with a private bathroom.
• Convenient local train service links Frascati to downtown Rome and regional buses provide other transportation options.
• Work on-site:
• Volunteers will work on site 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.  Applicants should note that this is a labor-intensive program and be aware that working in the hot sun is to be expected.  Applicants must be in good health, have passed a recent physical examination, and provide up-to-date records of current inoculations.
• Volunteers will work in small team supervised by experienced excavators.  Additionally, the field program will expose participants to all facets of fieldwork, including working with ceramics and other archaeological materials, environmental sampling, flotation, topography, conservation, and documentation.
• Regular site tours will help keep all team members up to speed on the progress of excavation work.
• Instruction:
• The above-mentioned rotation on-site will be accompanied by various instructional opportunities from 'hands on' instruction in excavation technique to small group instruction on archaeological materials and topography.
• The 2010 field program will include a lecture series (averaging 1 lecture per week) on topics related to the methodology field archaeology and to the archaeology of Central Italy.
• Several weekend outings will be arranged where guided tours will be offered.  In 2009 weekend trips included the Forum Romanum and Palatine Hill as well as Ostia Antica.
• Atmosphere and Experience:
• The Gabii Project is a large team (75-80 people) effort.  Teamwork is the key to our success, but the working conditions can be intense.  The successful applicant will be ready to work as part of a large team and welcome the opportunity to work and learn cooperatively.
• The combined experience of the Gabii Project’s multi-national staff offers volunteers the opportunities to learn and practice some of the latest and most cutting edge techniques of field archaeology.

For more information, please contact Prof. Jeffrey Becker, the Managing Director (gabiiproject (@) umich.edu)

Gabii Project: 2010 staff recruitment

The Gabii Project is Seeking Supervisors and staff members for the 2010 field season

The Gabii Project is an international archaeological initiative focused on the excavation of the ancient Latin city of Gabii located 18 km east of Rome, Italy.  After two seasons of survey and study, a 5-year campaign of excavations began in June 2009 under the direction of Professor Nicola Terrenato of the University of Michigan.  The dates of the season for staff members are June 13 through August 7, 2010; staff members must be available for the duration of the excavation season.


We are seeking experienced excavation staff members to serve as trench supervisors and assistant trench supervisors; we are also seeking specialist staff for the field laboratory, including those with experience in illustration and conservation.  The ideal candidate will have completed a field school program and have at least one prior season of fieldwork experience.  Experience with stratigraphic excavation, Harris matrices, and GIS applications is a plus; while not a requirement, the ability to communicate in Italian would also be advantageous. 


In some cases the project will be able to subsidize the cost of room and board for staff members and, in exceptional cases, may be able to subsidize travel costs for certain staff members. Necessary equipment and daily transportation to and from the site will be provided for excavation staff.


Staff members must be in good health, have passed a recent physical examination, and submit documentation of current and up-to-date inoculations.  Staff members must also be committed to working as part of a large team and providing leadership and guidance for students in the field. Staff members must also have a current passport, valid until at least October 2010, allowing for entry into Italy.


If you are interested in submitting an application for a staff position with the Gabii Project, please send a cover letter, current curriculum vitae, and a letter of reference from someone familiar with your fieldwork experience and credentials to:


Prof. Jeffrey Becker

Managing Director, The Gabii Project
c/o Department of Classics
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West, Togo Salmon Hall 706
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada  L8S 4M2

jabecker@mcmaster.ca or gabiiproject@umich.edu


The application deadline is December 1, 2009.  Electronic submissions are encouraged.  Arrangements may be made for informal interviews either at the AIA/APA meetings in Anaheim, Ca., in January 2010 or via other means.

Gabii Project fifth week

The fifth week of the Gabii Project has come to an end and the majority of the team has departed from Frascati. The project is most grateful for the energy, hard work, and enthusiasm that marked the 2009 season, and thanks all of the team members for helping us to achieve so much in this first excavation season. In the coming weeks a season roundup will be posted here, so stay tuned ...

Third week comes to an end ...

Again it is Saturday evening in Frascati. A number of the Gabii staff spent the day in the field, both excavating and surveying. In all, the third week of this year's campaign at Gabii was a great success, with good weather allowing significant progress at the site. In our 'Area C' we begin to see the emergence of architectural remains, and throughout we are amazed at the formation of the site of Gabii after its destruction, as an unbelievable amount of silt has accumulated over time atop the ancient layers. As these remains emerge from their silty realm, we feel we are beginning to at least glimpse some possible phases at the site, but of course it remains premature to speculate about any dates. The trajectory of Gabii's urban history is, until now, so dimly understood that in all likelihood there are many new - and possibly even unexpected - chapters to be written. So as we press forward into the fourth week of work, we have an eye on understanding what we have been working on this season as well as an eye toward inserting this new material into the overall context of Gabii