THANK YOU! Here is where I am going

Yesterday, I was incredibly fortunate to hit my target of $4700. Before I continue with this post, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated to my project or shared it through social media, friends and family. Archaeology, especially in Australia, is horribly underfunded. Private donations like yours mean that I can now purchase an Infrared Camera. I promise to keep you informed on every aspect of my project, so you know exactly what your donation has helped fund. 

 

When I designed this project, it was originally solely focused on Zagora. However, in discussions with a few other projects, I have now been invited to apply the methodology I am designing on some amazing projects. Unfortunately, I am still waiting on official confirmation that I can travel as part of my Australian Government Endeavour Research Fellowship (who need to give permission for any travel more than 5 days in length). But presuming they recognise the amazing opportunity I have been presented, these are the projects I will be visiting:

Pylos

 http://www.griffinwarrior.org/griffinwarrior-burial.html

When I met Sharon Stocker, one of the directors of the project, she went through the site with me in detail. Bedrock is relatively shallow, so I am hoping that any pits, like graves, should be storing more moisture than the surrounding region. Depending on the time of day, this should hopefully reveal itself as a nice cold spot, due to the way heat disperses from high-moisture areas. The hope is to fly around the Griffin Warrior tomb and see if any rectangular areas show up. I am so incredibly excited about this opportunity. They do amazing work at Pylos and I am so honoured they have asked me to play a part.

Methone

 

I haveworked at Methone for the last three years. The site is famous due to an eventthat occurred in 354 BC. Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great,was laying siege to the town. From the nearby wall, a Methonian archer letloose with an arrow and shot Philip in the eye. He survived, although his eyehad to be removed. Methone eventually gave up and Philip, despite his soreness, let the inhabitants live. Methone is a beautiful site, but is instark contrast to Zagora. At Zagora you walk 2km from the site to the car,ascending some 110m in elevation on the way back. At Methone, we can park a cara few meters away from where we work.

Fortunately,last year we were able to test UCLA’s thermal camera at Methone and had somepromising results. This year, we will fly the site dozens of times, hoping toreveal some subsurface finds to be the focus of future excavations. With the(NOW FUNDED- THANKS) camera, which has radiometric control, we have an opportunity offinding some really amazing things.

Troezen

When thePersian army marched towards Athens in 480, the vast majority of the populationfled and “proclamation was made that every Athenianshould save his children and household as he best could; whereupon some senttheir families to Egina, some to Salamis, but the greater number to Troezen”(Herodotus Book VIII, 41).

Troezen is a phenomenal site. Limited archaeologicalexcavation has occurred in the area. However, over the last few years anarchaeological team has surveyed the Acropolis and nearby slopes. We know thetown had a stadium, a theater and more, but none of that has been discoveredyet. I am hoping to go to the site for a few days and to try help shed light onwhere some of these major buildings might be. At Pylos we look for graves, atTroezen we look for monumental buildings.

 http://troizenarchaeology.com/ 

All of this should occur within four months, with a significant amount of time spent in Athens in between. What is exciting is that each site offers up something new. From graves to buildings, it will provide a mass of data for me to crunch. It should not only help assist in demonstrating that thermography is an amazing remote sensing technique, but it will also provide data for these projects which will hopefully be invaluable.