Tree of Hippocrates

I've arrived on the island of Kos, the birthplace of Hippocrates. The tree wrapping around this temple is alleged to have thrived here since the time of his birth. Seems an awfully long time for a tree to survive. There is even some ugly green scaffolding propping the tree up.

My journey to Kos made me chuckle. I took a flight that seemed more like a bus ride. My plane, with about forty people on board, took off and landed about 15 minutes later on the island of Leros. Four people got off, one got on, and we were airborne again. Kos was another 15 minute hop, and I was the only one to get on or off the aircraft. I entered the terminal, and the only other human in sight was a security guard. A moment later the baggage carousel sprung to life, and out came my one lone bag. The security guard and I just stood there laughing for a couple of minutes. Luckily there was a taxi waiting for me right outside the door.


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Octopus

Shot of fresh octopus drying in the breeze. Feral cats lurk hopefully around the cabinet.

Last night on Astypalia, tomorrow afternoon I head to Kos. There are a few things I'll miss about the place. The beach and the water are amazing. No light pollution means great stargazing. The balmy windy nights make you want to sleep in a hammock on the beach. And last but not least, the Greek people have been warm and hospitable hosts.

But I miss California, Jeff and the cats.


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Monday sucks

Monday was a bad day in the field school world. I could barely get out of bed at six, as we had been sleeping in all weekend.

It was hot, humid and still all day. Heard it described as drowning in your own sweat. Sweat poured off of me as I wrestled with the tripod.

I was then informed that every measurement I had taken over the last four weeks was wrong because our calipers had some weird inch/mm screw up.

When we got back from the lab we returned to a huge army of ants in the kitchen.

Finally we were told that our calculations on the computer program needed to be done again because they wanted more details that were not called out in the original instructions. My room mates and I were so unhappy that we headed to the nearest bar for a drink. Here is a photo of my Scotch.


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Supermarket

Shot of the local supermarket in Livadi. The woman behind the counter is Katerina, the store is her family business. She speaks good English and often acts as translator in our behalf. She calls taxis, tells the bus driver where to take us and teaches us some basic Greek.

We can find just about anything we need at her shop, including freshly baked bread on the weekends. The ice cream in the big freezer is everybody's favorite. Deliveries of heavy objects, such as bottled water are toted in a crate on the back of her motorcycle.

She has relatives visiting her from Miami, we're all supposed to go out on the town one night. That means hitting the first bar at 1:30 am. Yikes!



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Good Friday

Shot of a local sponge cart. I got a couple of nice ones, including a really fine one for the face.

Friday was great in Astypalaia. We were dreading the walk up the hill at sunrise, as we had been out late celebrating the departure of one of the supervisors. However, just as we stepped onto the street, a neighbor drove up in his car and offered us a ride to the top. Well, it's about two thirds of the way up, as the final ascent is pedestrian and motorcycle only. We were so thrilled that we piled into his car. Ecstatic, we thanked him profusely in our limited Greek all the way to the summit. We arrived just in time to see a drunken reveler tumble down the hill and bounce off of one of the windmills in the square. If I have't mentioned it before, the bars close at six, and we often pass drunkards straggling down the hill as we march up.

The other exciting event was getting home made ice cream in the lab. It is our customary end of the work week treat, we all look forward to Friday afternoons.

Other than that it is the end of week four and lots of people are looking forward to returning home. I'll be heading to the island of Kos for a couple of days before my long journey back to LA.

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Ossuary

The structure in the center of the frame ( the one with the curved top) is an ossuary. Most families on the island have one on their property, some are more elaborate and highly decorated than others.

Locals still practice secondary burials in Astypalaia. So the deceased is first buried in a cemetery, and then after 5 years the bones are dug up and placed into an ossuary with other family members. It makes excavating a cemetery a bit more complicated, as you can get commingled individuals.

Digging up and transporting the bones back home is traditionally women's work.

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Sieve job

This is a shot of the early stages of a typical sieve job. Note that only the neck and handles of the vase are intact. We are left with lots of soil. We pick out any large loose bones, and then sieve the rest through two sizes of screen.

The girl in the back is my roomate and lab partner Perle. Thankfully she never sings show tunes.



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High end storage

This is a shot of the main room of the field school. It was Astypalaia's school until the late 80's. Last year the mayor gave UCL permission to use it for research. Occasionally locals come to visit us while we work, they tell stories about when they were young and went to school there.

Each one of the plastic boxes on the table contains the bones of one baby. We bag each bone in a ziploc bag fitted with a piece of jiffy foam for protection. The label goes in front, then foam, the bone goes in back. Then it is put into the box like a filing system. We file the cranial bones first and work our way down to the feet. If we had such a system at UCLA we'd need the whole floor of Kinross. Neonatal remains don't take up much space.

The big cabinet in the back holds all of our supplies. The students in the back are lining up to use our only sink.



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Scotch on the beach

I know that many field schools have tough conditions, but for the most part it is pretty cushy here. This is a shot of Ammos cafe, a waterfront high end establishment in Livadi. As I write, I'm sitting here sipping a glass of high end Scotch. I'm celebrating surviving three weeks of field school.

Tourists and locals are approaching us as we trudge around town, asking us a million questions about what the archaeologists are doing up on the hill. I politely inform them of our activities and dissuade them from dropping in unannounced, that privilege is reserved for the mayor and his entourage.

They have decided to let us take pictures in the lab, as long as we don't zoom in on the remains, so I may be able to post photos of the school and the work that we do next week.

Saw the greatest thing this week, but I didn't have a camera. The island roads are so steep, that when trash day comes people have invented an ingenious way to bring their cans back up the hill. One guy gets on a motorcycle and he drags the can with one hand and drives with the other. Quite a sight.

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Why all neonates?

Took this shot walking to school at sunrise.

Today I learned how to ID and side neonate calcaneus and talus. They are often mistaken as lumbar vertebral bodies. Simon is great at bone identification, and has a boyish enthusiasm for teaching his students. I find him a competent, soft spoken man who is quick to laugh.

I have excavated four burials, all neonates. Only two older (1 yr) kids have been found. Where are all of the other kids? Some theorize that our cemetery is a place where girls were sacrificed and buried. Others believe that infants were buried here due to some special magical property of the island. Answer is still unknown. Adult cemetery some kilometers away has few juvenile remains. Hmmm.


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Fork List

There are several things that irritate me in Greece, I've threatened to poke you in the eye with a fork if you do any of the following.

1. Harm any of the feral island cats. Cats roam in great numbers around Astypalaia, they are skinny and people aren't so nice to them. Any further insult to a feline will earn a poke.

2. Serve me a ham and cheese sandwich. We get truly horrible ham sandwiches three days a week. I may never eat another one.

3. Sing show tunes. One of my roomates sings show tunes 24\7 in a loud theatrical fashion. Even though I've equated the sound with fingernails on a blackboard, she persists. Luckily I have two other rookies who held me back.

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Field School Drama

Shot of the Castro bar, situated just underneath the Venetian castle.

Drama ensued when a large contingent of drunken Americans went up the hill to party at the hip Castro bar. The bartender told some of the group that he breaks into the lab, steals neonatal phalanges and makes necklaces out of them. He recounted how he removes hinges from the windows for easy access. He promised to make another visit this week to steal more human remains.

Word got out and he was confronted about the theft. He was so infuriated that he stormed into our lab unannounced and threatened a couple of students. Our Greek archaeologists on site calmed the man down and he was made to apologize to the anxious students. A couple of lessons were learned. News travels fast on a small island, and it's not a great idea to be a stereotypically loud drunk American. Needless to say, but the picturesque Castro Bar is now off limits.


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Neighbors

Here is a shot of some of my neighbors. Lots of roosters crowing too, the island is pretty rural. Have not tried goat stew yet, but it is an island specialty. Spent a lazy afternoon at the beach floating in the sea. Tomorrow I may rent a chair and umbrella for four euro.

Monday it's back to fine sieving soil, searching for ear ossicles and cusps of neonatal molars.


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Fish with a head

Got served a whole fish with a head and tail for dinner tonight. The sight of their eyes peering off of the plate sent the vegetarians scurrying. People were more interested in ripping the heads off of the fish and posing with them, and less interested in a source of lean protein.

Finished excavating my first baby, seems a very typical neonate. All I need to do in the morning is take a series of photos (cranial, postcranial and dentition), and then it's on to the next one. I won't be able to post photos, UCL is protective of the data as it has yet to be published.


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Week 1

Photo of our patio/eating/lecture area. Usually a nice breezy area to just sit and chat. Goats and roosters wander the veggie gardens next door to our studios.

Week 1 consisted of a crash course in identifying infant bones. The vast majority of the remains are neonatal, teeth all still in the crypt.

On Friday I started to process my first burial, bones are in great condition. I even recovered an incus in the screen. It is a point of pride with the UCL folk that such tiny bones can be recovered. Nobody has ever recovered a stapes though, I'll get a prize if I spy one. FYI the infant and adult bones are the same size. I wear my reading glasses while sorting material on the screen, it's like paleoethnobotany all over again.


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Greek Coffee

View of the ruins of the Venetian castle atop the island.

Today Simon gave us a cooking demonstration on Greek Coffee preparation. The secret seems to be in the very find grind. Also, you should not let the coffee boil, it should be just about there, that keeps bitter flavors from being extracted.

Tried an octopus croquette, must admit it was quite tasty. I also enjoyed eating whole small fish with heads and tails still attached. Might have to give those bocarrones in Spain another try.



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Astypalia

I've finally made it to the island. This is a quick shot of the church on the top of the island. We trek up this enormous hill in 95 degree weather, and it is a tremendous struggle for me at my advanced age. Everyone else on the trip is 20 or so. I have three roomates, we share 1 room, a bath and a kitchen. More info soon.



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Fixed comments, Cath arrives safely

I made a change to the blog settings that should resolve the problem posting comments, so comment away...

By the way, I hear through Cath's parents that she arrived safe and sound in Astypalaia. Apparently, mobile phone reception is a bit spotty on the island, so we'll have to be more organized about when we will call.

Jeff

Comments

Shot of modern Athens encroaching on the Ancient Agora with storm clouds brewing in the background. A fierce thunderstorm let loose in the middle of the night, with lots of white hot lightning.

A couple of people have tried to comment on my posts, and it doesn't seem to be working. Maybe just email me any comments or questions - cbaclaski@yahoo.com. I head out to the island today and as wifi is scarce, you may not hear from me daily. I'll save posts and upload them when I get a connection.



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Paleopathology

This one is for the human osteology folks. Look what I found in the National Archaeological Museum! They had two male skeletons on display, and one of them had some great pathology. I know that the picture is not great, but look for the dripping candlewax bone formation (DISH) on the thoracic verts. This poor old guy even has some parrot's beak osteophytes on the lumbar verts. His left patella had osteophytes, but not so much on the right. His right maxillary first molar had a big apical abscess, and his incisors had multiple deep hypoplasic lines. The skeleton was so complete, the hyoid was present and intact! If you get to Athens, these two guys are on the second floor in the galleries displaying vases.



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