ARC 293 Archeology Practicum - The American University of Rome

ARC 293: ARCHEOLOGY PRACTICUM JULY 2011There will not be much opportunity to consult books on the excavation. Students whohave not taken archeology before are advised to look at some of the books in the listlabelled ‘general archeology’. No one expects you to read them all! But you should lookthrough two or three of them to begin to familiarize yourself with terminology and howarcheologists dig sites. You should also try to get a look at some of the more specializedbooks on Butrint, though it is recognized that these might be more difficult to obtain.However, to have some background knowledge will be helpful to you on the excavation.a) General archeology:Bahn, P. 2000. Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.Oxford. Also available free online via Google Books.Gamble, C. 2008. Archaeology: The Basics. Routledge, London. Also available free online via Google Books.Greene, K. & Moore, T., 2010. Archaeology: An Introduction. 5 th ed. London: Routledge.Hodder, I. 2003. Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.Johnson, M. 1999. Archaeological Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.Renfrew, C. & P. Bahn, 2004 (4 th ed.). Archeology: Theories, Methods and Practices,London: Thames & Hudson.You can also get a good idea of the process of excavation by looking at videos on thewebsite of Time Team and Time Team America. If you find you can’t view the videosfrom your area there are also DVDs of their digs.b) Butrint:Ceka, N., 1999, Butrint. Butrint FoundationGilkes, O., Albania: An Archaeological Guide Albanian HeritageHansen, I.L., & Hodges, R., (eds.) 2006 Roman Butrint: An Assessment. Oxbow BooksHodges, R., 2006 Eternal Butrint: A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Albania.Butrint FoundationHodges, R., 2008. The Rise and Fall of Byzantine Butrint. Butrint FoundationKaraiskaj, G., 2009. The Fortifications of Butrint. Butrint FoundationMitchell, J., 2008. The Butrint Baptistery and its Mosaics. Butrint FoundationConductArchaeological excavations are physically demanding and students who suffer from anyhealth problems should seek medical advice before signing up for the course. Conditionson archaeological excavations vary considerably. The university will make every effort toaccurately inform the student of the living and working conditions, but ultimately cannotcontrol these. Students should be aware of the fact that archaeological excavation isunpredictable – no-one knows what will be found. The student who expects that it will acontinuous round of one exciting discovery after another is likely to be disappointed. Itcan often be back breaking and tedious. It is serious work and demands concentration andpatience. An archaeological excavation is like a boat, there is one person in charge, this is4

ARC 293: ARCHEOLOGY PRACTICUM JULY 2011the Site Supervisor and whilst the student is on the excavation s/he is expected to complywith the requests of this person and work as a member of the team. This may require youto make a few sacrifices and perhaps do work that you would prefer not to do. This is partof the commitment, if you feel that you would be uncomfortable in this situation you areadvised to reconsider your participation.Conduct Outside of the ExcavationSocialising after the end of the working day is an important and very enjoyable aspect ofarchaeology. However, you are expected to be respectful of local people and their cultureat all times and not to engage in conduct that brings the field school, Albanian Heritageor The American University of Rome into disrepute. Please remember that what might beconsidered acceptable in the bars on your home campus might not be appropriate in thecontext of a small town in southern Albania.5