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2000 MASTER OF LIBERAL
ARTS PROGRAM, SMU
Larry
Lehman: Report 1, Week 4
Left to right: Barbara Benac,
Sarah Benac, Theresa Smith, Christi Thompson,
Marsha Montgomery, and Larry Lehman on the patio in front of
their home near Vicchio. Photo by Larry Lehman.
The second batch of Master of Liberal Arts
(MLA) students has arrived. We’ve been watching this web
site with anticipation, anxious to join the action, and now at
last we are here. You can understand the motivation that brings
the undergraduate and graduate students to this place. Many of
them will eventually work in fields related to archaeology. The
MLA is a different creature. Just what is an MLA and what are
we doing on top of Poggio Colla?
Cindy Lutz excavating in Trench
PC 21.
The MLA program is designed to allow working
people who have already been graduated with a degree to pursue
a general, liberal arts course of study. Most of the classes
are in the evening on campus at SMU. Some have more exotic locations,
places like the Mugello Valley of Tuscany. For the most part
we are a bit older than the undergraduate and graduate students.
Many of us are motivated by a desire to learn for the sheer fun
of learning as opposed to pursuing a degree that will lead to
a career. We are a mixture of people from diverse fields like
banking, retail, real estate, oil, and accounting. We are in
school because that’s where we want to be, not just because
we think it’s where we’re supposed to be.
2000 M.L.A. students working in
Trench PF 5 during the first few weeks of the season:
Jerry Nelson (left) with Jurriaan Venneman digging, and Patricia
C. Bowles (right) sifting.
Some of us have watched those PBS specials
where ancient wonders were uncovered by people carrying a mason’s
pointing trowel as if it were a natural extension of their arms,
and we wondered what it was like. Some of us labored through
countless textbook exercises in undergraduate and graduate school
studying what others did in the past. This is our chance to be
a part of a team that is developing new knowledge and new information.
Ultimately, it is the thrill of the hunt. In this case instead
of inviting your favorite cervid to dinner, we are searching
for clues to an ancient race and culture long gone from these
beautiful hills. Day after day we carefully and patiently dig
holes in the ground with small trowels and hand picks waiting
for a glimpse of something special. Just as a hunter can stare
at a deer at the edge of the woods for long minutes without realizing
that bush is really a buck, one can begin to uncover another
piece of broken pottery that isn’t broken after all or an
odd rock that is actually very old bronze. One moment we’re
all chatting and digging, then the next everyone silently watches,
savoring the excitement and thrill of the moment.
 
Larry Lehman (left) and Christi
Lehman (right), back for a second year, shown here in Trench
PC 21.
Christi and I came here last year to learn,
to enjoy Italy, and to experience something new and different.
No one told us that archaeology can get under your skin. Few
of our friends know the difference between an amphora and a krater;
and most think that a kylix was Oscar Madison’s roommate
in The Odd Couple. It doesn’t matter whether our work yields
artifacts which are exciting or mundane, we will spend the next
two weeks renewing some acquaintances from last year, we will
make some new ones this year, we will eat and drink well, we
will enjoy a beautiful little corner of the world, and we will
be a part of something most people only see on PBS. Joining us
are Marsha Montgomery, Theresa Smith, Barbara Benac, and her
daughter Sarah Benac.
 
Left: Teresa Smith (blue hat) sifting
at Trench PC 19 with Kay Johnson.
Right: Marsha Montgomery (white hat) sifting with Randi Graham
at Trench PC 20.
Larry
Lehman: Report 2, Week 5
Students and staff listen
to Justin Winkler describe PC 20 during trench tour.
The MLA students just completed a busy
and exciting first week. Monday began with a tour of all the
trenches to bring us up to date. This is a field school, so that
same morning right after the introductory overview we were on
our hands and knees learning how to use the tools of the trade:
A mason’s pointing trowel, a hand pick, a bucket, a dust
pan, and of course a hand broom. Christi and I had learned all
this last year, still, it does take some time to learn initially
or to relearn to feel with the tip of the trowel and to see the
difference between sandstone and pottery.
During the course of the week we had ample
opportunity to practice and to hone our new skills. We rotated
among the trenches so each of us could gain experience in a different
setting and under the direction of a different trench supervisor.
In some cases we simply moved dirt or defined features such as
rocks. In others we each had a chance to experience the thrill
of finding a piece of bucchero dating back to the Archaic period
or even earlier.
 
Left: Sarah Benac digging in Trench
PC 21. Right: Barbara Benac in Trench PC 19.
On several days Greg Warden or Michael
Thomas gave us interesting lectures with slides to bring to life
the material we had read in our textbook. So much is not known
about the mysterious Etruscans. Part of the excitement of this
project is knowing that with our work here we will help add to
the knowledge about this ancient people.
The residence for M.L.A.
students is on the road up to the excavation,
with views of the Mugello Valley and mountains. Photo by Larry
Lehman.
After the evening lecture we usually dine
at the Guardia house. Whether at Guardia or Vigna we always eat
well beginning with a pasta dish followed by meat and vegetables.
Following dinner we return to our home which is called Campomazzi
and is perched high on a hillside facing to the North and East.
Mornings here are a delight. During breakfast we look out across
the valley and watch the sunrise mists begin to dissipate. Sometimes
at night I get up at 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. just to go out and look
at the brilliant night sky. The Milky Way is something we don’t
get to see in Dallas, but we do here in the Mugello Valley.
Mountains of the Mugello.
Photo by Larry Lehman.
On Thursday we were assigned the task of
going to Florence to visit the famous Archaeological Museum.
There we studied Etruscan cinerary urns, sarcophagi, bronzes,
jewelry, and Greek and Etruscan ceramics. It gave us an idea
of what we are seeking in the dirt on top of Poggio Colla. It
also gave us an opportunity to appreciate the highly developed
artistic skills of the Etruscans.
Over the weekend our MLA group split up
and headed in three different directions. Barbara and Sarah Benac
went to Rome where they spent two busy days seeing as much as
possible. Marsha Montgomery and Theresa Smith went to Florence
where they saw a great deal of history, particularly art history.
Christi and I caught a train to Orvieto which sits on a hilltop
in Southern Umbria. In addition to a beautiful Duomo, Orvieto
has a marvelous Etruscan museum and necropolis. The best part
of the weekend came Sunday evening when Greg Warden drove us
way up into the hills above Vicchio to a restaurant called La
Casa di Caccia. We had pasta with truffles, rabbit, beef steak,
venison, and what is reputed to be the definitive panna cotta.
The view was spectacular and the food was even better.
Larry
Lehman: Report 3, Week 6
By the beginning of our second week we
have developed a routine. Theresa and Christi work each day at
the House of Giotto with the conservators. Using a digital camera
they take pictures of the "finds" of this and previous
years, pictures that are easily transferred to a computer. Each
day they carefully position and photograph 70 to 80 items. The
rest of our lot, Barbara, Sarah, Marsha and I, head off to Poggio
Colla to work as excavators. We continue to rotate among the
trenches because this year the various trenches are rather different
from one another, and so that we can learn different methodologies.
Each trench supervisor has her or his own preferred style and
method of excavation and operations.
One of hundreds of digital
photos Theresa Smith and Christi Thompson
shot of catalogued objects in the Casa di Giotto.
We arrive on site around 8:00 each morning.
Before beginning our labors we cover our exposed skin with sun
block. Many of the younger students are working on a deep tan.
The older MLA lot has a different set of priorities. With our
knee pads and trowels we set to our assigned tasks until the
9:30 cookie break. Then it’s back to work until our picnic
lunch at noon. After a morning in the hot sun I’m content
with a sandwich of that wonderful Tuscan bread, Italian bologna
(occasionally we are treated to prosciutto), and cheese. Others
enjoy the fresh sliced tomatoes and melons. Following the lunch
break we work until 3:00 when we are taken down the hill and
returned to our home at Campomazzi. There we wash our dig clothes,
read, relax, and wait for the evening activities. One of the
real treats of this trip is supper. Beppina at the Vigna house
and Wilma at the Guardia house spoil us with their wonderful
cooking.
Marsha Montgomery (red shirt)
and
Barbara Benac (white hat) in Trench PC 21.
Again this year we were privileged to hear
lectures by Mark Corney who is from the University of Bristol
in the United Kingdom. One might think that two slide presentations
giving an overview of non-invasive archeological techniques targeting
the ancient inhabitants of Southern England might be just a bit
dry and dull. One would, of course, be very, very wrong. Mark’s
lectures are that rare combination of interesting, informative,
and entertaining.
Survey Consultant and Professor
Mark Corney drawing in the field.
Tuesday marked my 50th birthday. With the
help of the Operations Manager, Kevin, my wife Christi arranged
a surprise after dinner with a wonderful torte from a local bakery.
The other MLA students presented me with a bottle of Limoncello,
a local liqueur. I also received two badges to wear which had
a double meaning considering our work here: Over the Hill &
Older Than Dirt. I felt very fortunate to be able to spend my
birthday in such a beautiful place because the hills and the
sky of Tuscany really are very beautiful. However, on those days
I carried one of the jerry cans of water up the side of the hill
and I felt each and every one of those 50 years. Well, most of
them anyway.
Greg sent the MLA’s to Siena on Wednesday.
We caught the 7:39 train to Florence, and from there we took
the 9:10 Rapida (direct) bus to Siena. The bus has two advantages
over the train. First, the trip is an hour or so shorter, and
second, the bus terminus in Siena is inside the walls of the
old city, right where we wanted to be for the day. We studied
the Duomo, toured several museums, and visited the Piazza del
Campo. This piazza is considered by many to be one of the most
beautiful, if not the most beautiful, in Italy (meaning in all
of the world). Some of our group walked to the top of the clock
tower, some did not. Siena is also reputed to have the best enotecca
in all of Italy. Unfortunately, our time constraints did not
permit a stop there. Perhaps when Christi and I come back to
Italy next spring we’ll be able to perform a more in depth
analysis of this type of retail establishment.
MLA student Sarah Benac (left) with April Kramer, Juriaan Venneman,
and Kay Johnson at the Circolo il Paese festa given for the excavation.
On Thursday evening we joined the staff
and students of the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project for
the festivities in the town of Vicchio. We were served a meal
of pasta, crostini, and a local white wine by the townspeople
in recognition of our efforts. Following the meal we went to
an open-air courtyard where Greg Warden gave a slide presentation
in Italian. Although I understood little of what Greg said, I
was pleased to see that an intact bowl I excavated from the Podere
Funghi last year and an unusual bucchero cup handle I excavated
in Trench PC 20 this year were among the finds featured in his
slides. During the working day the trench supervisors repeat
a mantra that "we are here to find out about things, not
just to find things." Still, there is no denying the excitement
and thrill of uncovering these small pieces of antiquity.
Friday was the last day. Christi and Theresa
went to work a short day with the conservators and I went up
the hill to spend a half day back in Trench PC 20. Justin assigned
me a corner in which to work where I had to excavate some broken
pieces of tile from between two rocks. It was slow work, but
nothing exceptional or unusual. And then I found a small bronze
bead. I didn’t even know exactly what it was until Justin
examined it and told me. That was special. In the overall scheme
of things one little bronze bead isn’t significant, however,
for me it was an important find. The Etruscans are famous for
their metal work, especially their work with bronze. My little
bead was nothing like the Cortona Tablet now on display in the
Archaeological Museum of Florence. It was just a small bead less
than a centimeter in diameter by maybe three millimeters thick,
and it appeared to be crumbling apart. That I was able to pull
it out intact meant that I was lucky and that I was developing
a certain, limited skill in the use of a trowel, and that was
one of the reasons for coming here in the first place.
Tuscan breads, bruschette,
and vino rosso.
During these two weeks we have learned
a lot about archaeology and about the mysterious Etruscans. We
met some nice and some interesting people, and we were also able
to renew some acquaintances from last year. We were able to visit
Florence, Orvieto, and Siena. We’ve enjoyed great food and
wonderful wines. The Tuscans have turned the preparation of mushrooms
and truffles into an art form, but that is a subject for another
time. On behalf of all the MLA students, thanks to the students
and staff at the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project. Thank
you for letting us participate. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
and your skills with us. It has been a grand adventure.
Director, P. Gregory
Warden gwarden@mail.smu.edu
or during the excavation season: mvap@dada.it
While the team is in Italy during the summer field season, send
e-mail to: mvap@dada.it
To email an individual
on the team, put that person's name in the subject heading.
Excavation house phone:
055-844-9834, or, when calling from the US: 011-39-55-844-9834.
Introduction | 2000
Field Season | Poggio Colla
Field School | What’s New
| Staff | Students
Site
History | Director’s
Diary | Field Director's
Diary | Student Diaries
| Excavation Friends | Facilities
Conservation
| Surveys | Trench
PF 5 | Trench PC 18 | Trench
PC 19 | Trench PC 20 | Trench
PC 21
Annual
Reports | 1999 Field Season
| 1998 Field Season | Research Projects | Publications | Bibliography
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