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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