2004 STUDENT DIARIES Week 6 - Krishawna Brown: Krishawna Brown (center) with Virginia Lewis and Robert Belanger. Hey guys! Well, we finally got some rain this past weekend which cooled down the days and nights to almost bearable! Things have been sort of slow this week in the FOD, we are almost done with our excavation as the weeks wind down. This past Tuesday my trench team was sent to the hill to lend a helping hand for a few days. Which means I have had the best of both worlds. I was able to be a part of both the Podere Funghi and the Poggio Colla excavations at the end, where more questions and treasures are buried! I was also given the opportunity to discover artifacts that I would not have normally uncovered in the FOD. It was GREAT, not to mention I was able to dig with different individuals and have a whole new experience. Tomorrow we will be back in our trench in the FOD for one more excavation day and to take our trench team picture, so be sure to check it out! Krishawna Brown (left) and Virginia Lewis excavating Kiln 2 in the Podere Funghi. Tonight is our lecture given by Dr. Warden in Italian to the local community. I have heard that it is a blast mingling with the Vicchio community. I am really excited. Krishawna Brown and Robert Belanger on the last day of Podere Funghi excavation. We have less than two weeks left and I cannot wait to see all of you at home and give y'all huge hugs and kisses. Love from the FOD, Krishawna TSN!!!   Week 6 - Andrew McClellan: Andrew McClellan meditating on his trench? The sixth week of work in the field brought an end, for the most part, to excavation in PF15, and PF 5E in the FOD. During this time we were rewarded for all our hard work with a break in the weather, as cool air and, for the first time since the cumulo nimbal anomaly of 1734, cloud cover converged on the umbilico de diablo. Although these godly gifts did help relieve some of the pains of daily work, they did little to hinder the influx of find worthy material which seemingly sprang forth from the soil. Tiles and vessels in Feature 2 of Trench PF 15. We removed a number of bowl and chalice-like vessels, as well as the "pseudo-pipe" and a variety of tile pieces, one of which was full width! The week also gave us an opportunity to rest our trowels (and throbbing "trowel-hands") and venture into the realm of dental-hygienic excavation. Scraping and picking replaced the long practiced jabbing, and occasional "whacking." Along with the delicate removal of material, the trench members also found time for group "bonding;" including sunscreen application (yes Laura, my back does block out the sun), musical stimulation (Rod Stewart must be destroyed), Sanda Story Time® and much needed back massages. Andrew McClellan maintaining scarp in Trench PF 5E. Outside of Vicchio, the weekend provided the opportunity for a long-sought trip to Venezia. The bending streets, houses, and waterways, along with the absence of car activity were, for the most part, necessary as part of the weekend healing process after a week of work. Also, due in, in T-minus one day and counting, Dr. and Mrs. R. Michael McClellan! Awaiting your arrival, I. Shout outs: Bruno and Beppina, my grandpa, gangathan balakaneshan, glen mills PA, and Lisa Turtle Andrew McClellan   Week 6 - Jeff Edwards: Hello everyone. Greetings from Poggio Colla and the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project. We are now in our sixth week of excavation with only three days of digging left. It seems as if the summer has gone by very rapidly and I must say that we are all rather sad about leaving soon. However, it is not without a sense of accomplishment that we will depart from the beautiful valley. There are many questions answered and some new ones raised, as is the nature of any archaeological project. Last night we had a lecture on the topic of Etruscan Religion and Ritual Space. This was very interesting because one of the questions we are asking about Poggio Colla is what the monumental building we have was used for. One theory is that the building atop the hill was a sacred space and may have been a temple. There are remains of what seems to be an altar and we also have votive offerings, although these artifacts do not necessarily mean the building was a temple. The Etruscans were known in ancient times for being a very religious people who were referenced as such in Roman sources. Etruscan priests, called Haruspex, were diviners that read signs in the sky, by observing the flight of birds for example, or the entrails of sacrificial animals. Oracles were an important aspect of ancient religious practices and Etruscans were renowned throughout Italy. So, one question that remains to be answered is what exactly Poggio Colla was used for. Jeff Edwards with a ceramic find in Trench PC 20. We can discern much from the artifacts unearthed here. For example, we know that there were elites living here because of all the fineware and bucchero vessels excavated. There are many examples of bucchero chalices, some of which came from our trench, PC 20. I am always amazed at the work of our conservators when visiting the lab. The fragments we send down are sorted and sometimes reassembled into nearly complete vessels. These finds are important and help us tell the story of life here 2,500 years ago. As with any archaeological project, the answers to these and many other questions will not be resolved until the site is completely excavated and the material and data have been studied by experts. One of my goals is to become an expert in the field of archaeology and this field school is just a small step in that journey. For those reading this who may have a similar dream, The Mugello Valley Archaeological Project is a great place to discover what field work is like. Poggio Colla is a site that I would like to return to some day. One reason for returning is the opportunity to advance my knowledge and perhaps be an assistant supervisor and eventually supervise the excavation of a particular trench. This is an aspect of archaeology that I like, for I know there is always something to learn. Archaeology is a multidisciplinary field that includes specialists from many of the arts and sciences. At some point in my education I know that I will need to narrow my focus of studies and concentrate on one particular civilization. I know that it will be an ancient civilization in the Mediterranean region, either in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, or the Near East. Being an undergraduate I know there is time to think about it. Jeff Edwards shows two fragments of a ceramic vessel he found in Trench PC 20. Finally, I will discuss what is going on the area I am excavating in Trench PC 20. We have just finished the pass through Stratum 5, our black destruction layer in Locus 4. The stratigraphy was somewhat confusing a few days ago because of all the activity of the Etruscans, i.e. the redeposition of soil from digging and building their terracing and defensive walls. Reading stratigraphic layers can sometimes be difficult. This is one reason that our scarps (trench profiles) are so important. We can tell much about what happened in the past by looking at the deposition of different stratigraphic levels. For example, we know that our Stratum 5 is the Phase One destruction layer that was pushed off the side of the hill after the building was destroyed. We can tell this because the soil is black (from the burning that occurred), and the amount of crushed bucchero, coarseware, and fineware vessels. Another important find this week was made by Nicole. She found a large worked block in Locus 6, which corresponds with the two in Locus 3. These blocks are from the Phase One building and there is still speculation as to what they may represent. For instance, they could be blocks from a monumental stairway or gateway, but we will not know for sure until further excavation and study can occur. Today Bradley Schneider had an important find. It was an iron spear point that may represent the presence of the Gauls here at Poggio Colla. We know that there were hastily built defensive walls and the site was destroyed, however, the question remains as to who the Etruscans were threatened by and why the site was destroyed. These are some of the big questions we hope to answer in the coming years. Tonight we will all be going in to Vicchio where Dr. Warden will give a lecture to the Italians about our site. It will be a nice way to do a little anthropological participant observation and I am sure that all of us will be on our best behavior. Anyway, that's all for now. I just want to say hello to all my friends and family back home. I miss you and will see you soon.   Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7   Director, Gregory Warden gwarden@mail.smu.edu Director, Michael Thomas michael.thomas@tufts.edu While the team is in Italy during the summer field season, send e-mail to: mvap3@dada.it To email an individual on the team, enter the person's last name in the subject heading. Excavation house phone: 055-844-9834, or, when calling from the US: 011-39-55-844-9834. Introduction | 2004 Field Season | Poggio Colla Field School | What’s New | Staff | Students Site History | Directors' Diaries | Student Diaries | Excavation Friends | Facilities | Conservation | Surveys Robert Belanger | Katherine Blanchard | Josh Moran | Caitlin Vacanti | Ivo van der Graaff | Robert Vander Poppen QuickTime VR | Site Set-Up | Dig Daily Life | Excavation Process | Field Manual | Lectures | Season's End Archives | Finds | Research Projects | Publications | Bibliography | Mugello Area | Home