2009 STUDENT DIARIES   August 3, 2009 By Billie Christine Rolla Billie Rolla defining scarp in Trench PC 38 on the last day of excavation There are only three days left, and I am trying to take in every second that I can. Through all of the blisters, calluses, intense heat, dirt, and sore muscles, there is nothing more rewarding that enjoying Italian home cooking overlooking the most magnificent view anyone could ask for (although it does give under the Tuscan sun a whole new meaning). I have to admit that after the first week, I began asking myself, "What was I thinking? I'm a Latin teacher!" Squatting, by the way, is my new resting position, and the experience is character-building to say the least. That being said, I could not imagine ever living without having experienced this. Coming from a museum background, I have gained a whole new view and understanding of archaeology that will continue with me in my future studies of ancient art. I am so grateful for this opportunity, for the scholars I have worked with, for the unforgettable experiences, and for the awe-inspiring landscapes. And don't forget the wine! Although I don't want to leave, I know that this will stick with me always. Viva PC 38! Arianne Keens (front left) and Billie Rolla (front right) work in Trench PC 38   August 3, 2009 By Arianne Keens Arianne Keens excavating in Trench PC 38 The final week at Poggio Colla is here! The past five weeks have been physically challenging for me, but also extremely rewarding. I have used muscles I had no idea I had until we began excavating. Did you know that your toes can become numb from squatting all day and your hand can look as though you are still holding a trowel even when you aren't actually holding one??? The great news is that this "mature student" has remained healthy and is still vertical. Gloria Gaynor's infamous song "I Will Survive" has been my personal motto as I climb the steep hill to the Poggio Colla site each morning. My twenty-something year-old trenchmates have been a joy to work with and I would like to thank Avery, Billie, Cathy, Kellyn, and Matt for their patience and friendship. We have had such fun sweating in PC 38 and sharing our finds together. (Wait a minute! Is that bronze???) As I reflect upon my final week in breathtaking Tuscany, I realize how much I am going to miss life on the Poggio Colla site. I would like to thank my trench supervisors, Aksel and Alvaro, for their humor and encouragement as well as all of the staff and students who have made this summer so memorable. "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" takes on a whole new meaning . . . Arianne Keens, Avery Bayard, Billie Rolla, and Matt Naiman discuss progress in PC 38   30 July 2009 Danielle Belanger Danielle Belanger defining wall and scarp in Trench PC 33 Our final day of excavation has arrived. Tomorrow morning we will all wake up for our last morning of digging on the hill. After we leave the site tomorrow, it is all down hill, or should I say back-fill, from that point on. Each of the trenches has discovered their own important and unexpected finds, each trench often more curious about other peoples' finds than their own. Some bronze, vessels, tiles, and good times have made Poggio Colla an amazing experience. This week on site has been extremely hot, and our giddiness has been accentuated by the perpetual heat and sun exposure. The weather aside, I feel that I can speak on behalf of all the Poggio Colla students from this season in saying that we could not have chosen a better program to participate in this summer. The food I've eaten, people I've met, finds I've uncovered, and personal learning that I've undergone cannot begin to describe these past five weeks. These next few days of back fill will certainly be enjoyable (especially for those of us who would rather not find a bronze lump), but in the back of my mind will certainly be the nagging sensation that I at least got to enjoy archaeology and Italy in a way that I will never be able to in quite the same way again. I will only leave you with these final words of advice. Probably some of the most important guidance for life and for archaeology: "Drink more water." "Keep it clean." Ciao from Italia! Danielle Belanger Jessica Aither, Danielle Belanger, and Maia Van Dyke in "the coffin"   25th July 25, 2009 Avery "Aves Babes" Bayard Avery Bayard (standing) in Trench PC 38 I woke up this morning to find the house a very quiet and desolate place. Most of the students had left for the train station, leaving me time to catch up on some much needed rest, work on my notebook and research paper, and reflect on the past month we've spent at Poggio Colla. Now that I look back on it, it's all a very overwhelming whirlwind of memories. The torrents of rain, thunder, and lightning that our coach driver plowed through to get us to Vicchio. Shuffling about the kitchen at 6 in the morning and talking in sleepy, incoherent mumbles. Climbing up the hill with "Eye of the Tiger" blaring in the background. The satisfaction of peeling away another stratum or removing a fineware base from the earth. The Pavlovian reaction we've acquired to the words "Cookie break!" The British team. The Italian high school students. The film crew. Biscuit. The FOD. Trenches. Scarps. Walls. Tile. Iron. Bronze. Bone. Bucchero. Coarseware. Fineware. Black glaze. Gratti…The disappointment of stepping into the shower and realizing that our "tans" were just layers of dirt and sweat. Our attempts at speaking Italian to our Tuscan hosts with sometimes successful results (sometimes). Walking back from Guardia with flashlights in hand under a blanket of stars. Drinking in news from the US with every phone call and at every internet café. Ho Hum Racing. Pottery washing. Handwashing laundry. Alien babies. Mosquito bites. The occasional scorpion sighting. Belly Shirt Thursdays. Coop. Nutella. Kinder Eggs. Rib nights. Train rides. Sunny skies. The ever-beautiful Tuscan countryside. Chatter and laughter at the dinner table as the day fades into night… It's hard to believe that a month ago we were just a bunch of strangers hanging out in an airport café. Avery Bayard in Trench PC 38   25th July 2009 By Ali Neugebauer Ali Neugebauer taking a pass in Trench PC 34 I don't know what I went into this dig thinking, but this is nothing I expected. I am finally at the point where I can say that it is better than what I thought it was going to be. Once you get past waking up every morning at 5:30, walking up a mountain, digging for eight hours, getting covered in dirt, washing pottery, having enough time for an army style shower, and then having an hour and fifteen minute lecture, it is really quite amazing. I came into the dig with the thought that this was going to be easy. This is everything but easy, yet it is still one of the greatest experiences I have ever had. I think my first big accomplishment was cutting out a tree stump with an ax. I, being a spoiled girl from Minnesota, have never gone near an ax before. Cutting out the stump made me realize that I could really do the work that archaeology required. This occurred in one of the first weeks at the site. After that, we were assigned trenches and I, of course, was assigned PC 34. For those of you who have never been to the site, PC 34 is in the sun ALL OF THE TIME! As previously mentioned, I am from Minnesota which means I do not do well with heat. So my next big accomplishment was realizing that I could manage in the heat and actually survive. From this point, my trench went on to find numerous amazing pieces of pottery and pithoi, and of course the famous loom weights of PC 34. I really began to enjoy the long days of hard work and the feeling of knowing I worked hard all day long. Ali Neugebauer standing (in pink) in sunny Trench PC 34 But the highlight of my trip so far had to be last Friday (24 July 09). Our trench had been given the okay to extend the trench and we knew that we needed to work hard. Our day started with Andrea telling us that we were going to work harder in the upcoming week then we ever had before-- just what you want to hear at 7:00 am after four weeks of already hard work--but the amazing thing was, my trench mates and I looked at each other and just responded that we could do it. We were split into two teams, one to work on the extension and get it leveled to stratum two and the other to work in locus 5 unearthing what we believe to be a floor level. About mid-day, our trench assistant Matt was too ill to continue to work. At this point I was thinking there was no way we could finish all the work with our trench down a member, but I think I was the only one with this doubt. Then it was time for lunch break, which is usually a half hour, but today our team made it shorter in order to get back to work in the trench. It started with one person going back, and then the rest followed. We had a goal and we needed to achieve it. During the next two hours, we worked incredibly hard and we accomplished our goal: we had made it down to stratum two. We got back to the house and we all passed out. I fell asleep without even taking a shower. Looking back on that day, it was by far the hardest I have ever worked at the site and yet my favorite. It showed how much our trench has bonded into a team and how much we are all working towards the same goal. I have never played a team sport, but I imagine that this is how a team would feel after winning a close game. I can't believe this is all over in two weeks and that I will be leaving Tuscany and returning to the States to write a 16-page paper. I will be leaving all of the great friends I have made, the amazing food prepared for dinner, the quiet village of Vicchio, the weekends of travel, the days filled with hard work, the co-op runs, urban needs, but I will be leaving with the memories of my Italian adventure.   15th July 2009 By Katie Breen Katie Breen excavating a pithos in Trench PC 34 We're approaching the four-day break with great anticipation, though we're going to miss the site before long. Much is happening in all the trenches. In PC34, we've finally leveled off the trench and can see the foundation cut for the feature 11 wall. We've also excavated (what we thought was) most of the pithos, but we've found two more layers underneath the original layer, and now we're beginning to think we have a pit rather than natural destruction…it's all so complicated! I'm starting to see all the work that goes in to making an excavation possible, and because we're responsible for keeping trench notebooks I feel like we as students are so much more involved in what's going on than I was before. The notebooks are going alright. Many of us are worried we're not doing things the way they should be done, but we were told that there's no one right way to go about doing it, as long as we document everything we need to document. I feel like it's a blessing and a curse keeping these notebooks: they keep us informed, but they require much thought, time, and energy when we have little to give after a long, hard day up on site. Katie Breen in Trench PC 34 during Week 6 5th July 2009 By Katie Breen Katie Breen in Trench PC 34 Our first week has come to a close and we've all agreed that this has been one of the hardest, most rewarding weeks of our lives. While we currently might not be in peak physical condition, we will be soon. Avery has started playing music on the way up the hill every day and it gets our blood moving for the next eight hours of work. I still can't believe that we get driven to the site every day. Yeah, we need to walk up a hill after we get there, but they drive us. And they bring us into town to replenish our supplies. It's pretty surreal how well they take care of us (though it balances out the hard work every day). The shower situation is good; no one waits longer than fifteen minutes around here. Laundry's not terrible, and hand-washing allows you to appreciate both your mother and your washing machine at home. I look forward to another week on the hill, especially now that the film crew is here. 9 July 2009 By Danielle Belanger Bill Beck and Danielle Belanger I can't believe it is already the second week that we've all been in Italy on the dig. Our days are flying by with the constant excitement, learning, and laughter that is taking place in lecture, on the hill, and while pottery washing. The weather has been beautiful and perfect excavation weather this week - with the exception of a few short rain showers earlier in the week. We have learned so much in our short time here. Not only can we all now tell the difference between the different types of pottery but we have also learned the archaeology lingo for use in our daily activities in the trenches. The group of fellow students has been great at pitching in and teaching each other. We all have our strengths and everyone's willingness to discuss their ideas and opinions makes the learning experience that much more hands on. Every day has been filled with something unexpected and new. I look forward to what the coming month will bring. Bill Beck and Danielle Belanger excavating near the column base in Trench PC 33   An SMU-MLS student experience at Poggio Colla 2009 By Jody Stout Jody Stout (left) and Erin Shanks Having returned to Dallas after two weeks in Italy as part of the Etruscan Archeology class offered by SMU's Master of Liberal Studies program, yes, it's good to be home. I have returned to my pets, my own pillow, driving my car, and Mexican food. These are all good reasons to be home. But, reality can come rushing back all too soon. Summer session two begins tomorrow, my dentist wants to reschedule, my former student's tutor wants to consult, bills are due, my luggage is at least a day behind me. Only a couple of days ago, my life was an adventure, set in another time and place, devoted to an elite mission-perceiving and understanding the culture and legacy of the Etruscans. The first week of travel was devoted to visiting museums and tomb sites in Rome and across the landscape of ancient Etruria. The tours were all the more exceptional because they were led by Dr. Greg Warden, one of the world's leading scholars of Etruscan art history. Images of hillside villas, undulating mountains, brilliant sunflower fields, silvery olive trees, and lush gorges still linger in my memory. The cool stone walls carved to perfection 2,600 years before, the dank smell of mold issuing from the dark recesses of ancient tombs, the determined brilliance of ancient wall paintings-dancing Etruscans and lounging banqueters-are all still vivid to my senses. The second week of exploration was devoted to archaeological study at Poggio Colla, an Etruscan site about twenty miles north of Florence in the rustic Mugello Valley. This was the point in the journey I expected the greatest test of my abilities and experience, yet I was eager to learn the art of excavation. I was taking on the study of history and culture in a way that no amount of reading could satisfy. I envisioned myself reaching into the earth, revealing the matter of human experience with my own hands. I could not wait to begin digging. What I would dig up, was indeed the matter of human experience, some of it ancient, some very much of the present. Once nestled into an antique farmhouse in the historical town of Vicchio, my routine as an excavator began. I awoke in the mornings at 5:45 and threw on the least dusty clothes I could find, put together a hasty breakfast with my roommates, and hustled to make carpool. The 4x4 seemed a kind of monster driving through the little town, but was necessary for scaling the hill that would lead to the site. For a mile I twisted, bumped and rocked straight up hill, often laughing aloud in response to the hopelessness of maintaining any sort of composure in such a situation. Then I climbed up, on foot, another half a mile or so, the rest of the way to the site. Rotating among three active trenches, I used pick axes, and trowels and sifters and took orders. I was a completely different person with only a vague memory of who I had been when I left Texas, just days before. I had become a person that used the latrine--the one I helped dig. I sweated and burned under the sun; I bent until my back seared with pain, I knelt until my knees were raw. I squatted until I felt the pinch of every muscle I knew existed between my hips and toes; I even felt the rebellion of a few muscles I had never recognized before. I had many times, given into my age and exhaustion and sat down in the excavation trench--feeling the shame of it; supervisors' eyes heavy on me and my own disappointment heavier. I was blistered and achy and insecure. I was reminded of how terrifying it can be to be one of the least competent in the bunch. Always surrounded by people I had just met, I constantly questioned the impression I was making as a student, a woman, a person. Working with many students half my age, I felt alternately superior, having watched a great deal more television than they, and envious, having lost a great deal more muscle, stamina and optimism than they. Working under people whose knowledge and skills were formidable (some of them also, half my age), the need to please them played with the highs and lows of my days. In the evenings, a quick shower answered most grievances, and fried squash blossoms soothed all else. After leisurely communal meals, feeling the elegant buzz of red wine, I strolled through a wheat field and down the middle of a vineyard to find my way back to the converted farmhouse that was my home for the week. And it did feel like going home. Before I left, I knew I felt genuine affection for those people half my age and I recognized that my insecurities were no greater than theirs. My admiration for the supervisors and directors was matched by my gratitude for their patience and encouragement. I parted with memories of one-liners, songs sung, and of hundreds of little kindnesses-- a bottle of sunblock shared, a plate cleared, the weight of a backpack lifted, a seat deferred. And I remember all of these moments set against the most extravagant landscape the earth has to offer. I can still feel the exhilaration of the morning of my final day of excavation, uncovering the base of an ancient Etruscan vase-they were here! The Etruscans lived. They had a purpose; they had needs and means by which they met those needs. And I can prove it! Leaving Vicchio and Italy, I thought of the people I am glad to have known, even if just for a little while and I was aware of some uncertainties yet to be resolved, some insecurities lingering. I was and am aware that I am grateful for the discomfort--the aches, the challenges, and the self-awareness. I am reminded that I am alive, engaged, and not unlike the Etruscans, that my story is yet, unfinished.