My journey as an Archaeologist began in 2016 when I got accepted into the Archaeology program at UNCG. Before that, I finished my library degree, and while I enjoyed my program and gave it everything I got, something felt off. So I decided to try something new and exciting, something I never thought would be possible, and go into archaeology. And I am happy to say it was a perfect fit!
During my freshman year, I didn’t know yet about my deep interest in studying human bones that I would discover later. I just wanted to learn about the Classical World. I took Greek Archaeology, Mythology, Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Greek as a second language. That’s how I met Dr. Joanne Murphy. She is a great professor and a director of the Kea Archaeological Research Survey (KARS). Every summer, students could sign up for this project and go to Greece for six weeks to work in the archaeological laboratory, get lab experience, and learn how to work with artifacts. Of course, I had to go.
The field (lab) school started on June 2 and ended July 17, 2017. The first week was the tour around mainland Greece. We walked around Athens, visited Mycenae, Corinth, Isthmia, Tiryns, Argos, and Nemea.
Here are some of the memories from the first week:
Climbing up to Parthenon was a rather hard endeavor, but once there, a picture with the whole Athens below was a must!
Among the things and places we saw that first week, the Lion Gate of Mycenae deserves special attention. It’s grand, breathtaking, and so much more impressive than any picture in a textbook!
We were also able to walk into a tholos tomb. A Late Bronze Age house of the dead.
When the first week was over, it was time for us to leave the mainland and go to a small island in the Cyclades that would become our home for the rest of the trip. This is how Kea met us:
(to be continued…)
Digs and Bones 