I remember being five and watching Jurassic Park for the first time. It wasn't the T. Rex or special effects that grabbed my attention, but rather a much simpler detail. Toward the beginning of the film, Dr. Grant and his team of archaeologists are hard at work on an excavation site, digging for dinosaur bones and gingerly brushing dirt and dust off the fossils. I want to do that, I thought to myself then.
Archaeology is often glorified in films like Jurassic Park, Lara Croft: Tomb Taider and Indiana Jones, where the archaeologist goes on wild, near-death, action-packed adventures. In reality, the life of an archaeologist is anything but (or so I've been told). Despite Hollywood's unrealsticly glamorous depiction and my mum's polar opposite opinion of archaeology, I've decided to find out for myself what an archaeological dig is all about.
When I studied abroad in Greece over a year ago, one of my professors there, Dr. John Karavas, invited me to join him and other students on an archaeological dig in Romania that summer. However, I already had my internship with Christie's set up which overlapped the dates of the dig. John and I have kept in touch since Greece, and this past winter he reminded me again of the opportunity to volunteer for the same dig this summer. It was an offer I could not turn down and the reason why I have started this blog back up.
In three days, I will be taking an eight and a half hour red-eye flight to Frankfurt, where I have an hour layover before taking a two and a half hour plane ride to Buccharest, Romania. I have been waiting for this all year, and I can't believe it's nearly here.
The excavation site in question, which I will be working on, is at Halmyris by the Danube river. It is situated near the lower reaches of the Danube Delta (and c. 30km west of the Black Sea). Modern place name is Murighiol and the nearest town is Tulcea.
Halmyris has been the subject of ongoing investigation since 1983 by the Romanian Institute of Archaeology, and there is still a lot of ground to cover, so I'm told. It has a full occupation history of some 1,300 years; originally a Geto-Dacian settlement, later a Greek colony (hence the name) and by the first century A.D. a Roman fort, harbor, trading post and civil settlement. It carried on as such throughout the Late Roman/Byzantine period until it was abandoned in the early seventh century A.D.
I am told investigation has focused on the actual fort so far. John tells me it was one of the most important forts in this particular frontier sector, as it guarded and monitored all traffic through the Danube coming in from the Black Sea (a major communication and trade route in antiquity). For this reason, it was always the base of a squadron of the Roman fleet (Classis Flavia Moescia) and of 400-500 strong legionary detachment. Later on, it was the base of operations of the Cuneus Equitum Arcadum, a 300-strong cavalry formation. According to evidence thus far, it was abandoned in the reign of Heraclius (seventh century A.D.), following the withdrawal of Roman forces from the entire province, John says. Though, latest findings might suggest a date of occupation to the 10th century A.D. The area excavated so far is confined to the northern part of the fort. It includes the northern gate, three towers, public buildings, a bathhouse and the remains of two Christian basilicas. In one of them, I am told a crypt was found, containing the actual and unspoiled remains of two saints, Astyon and Epictet, who martyred at the fort in 290 A.D. A pilgrimage, dedicated to their memory, usually attended by hundreds--if not thousands--of people, is held at the site on July 8.
Of equal importance is the adjacent civil settlement. By the third century A.D., it is mentioned as a "civitas" (city) which confirms a population of more than 5,000. It later became the seat of the local bishopric; by the fourth century, it is mentioned as one of the region's 10 most important cities (in the company of Tomis, Callatis, Histria, Olbia and Charax). Gradiometric surveys have confirmed that the civil settlement alone occupied an area of more than 30 hectares, John says, suggesting a population of more than 8,000. The civil settlement has not been investigated, but surface findings have so far yielded 3,500 coins, among other things.
The dig itself is a long-standing and very reputable one, falling under the auspices of the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the Romanische-Germanische Zenteal Kommision (Mainz, Germany). According to John, the current principal investigator of the site, Professor M.M. Zahariade, had been working there with the support of the Earthwatch Institute in Boston for a number of years. John has been working on the project for the past five years and will be directing the investigation of the area of the harbor (both civilian and military), where I will be working. On the basis of the preliminary investigation held in the summer of 2011, finds included many bronze artifacts, weaponry, jewelry and more than 25 coins, Roman dice and pieces of a Roman board game. Thus, I'm told it promises to yield many more things and should be a very exciting season!
The official excavation season will start Monday, July 2 and end on Friday, July 27; though, I will arrive in Buccharest on Saturday, June 30. The excavation team will consist of volunteers, mostly from U.S. universities, but some Romanian and British students are to be expected. We will all stay at the apparently very picturesque village of Murighiol, which is situated along the Murighiol lake (Purple Lake) and roughly 500 yards from the Danube river.
Internet connection is supposedly non-existent, John says, despite the promises he has received. So, I am unsure how often I will be able to check email and update this blog. But I will be staying one night in a hostel in Buccharest upon landing in Romania before traveling to Halmyris, and I will have free Internet in my room so I can check in with everyone then and write a new post.
Between now and Friday, I will be buying a plethora of mosquitoe repellent products (they eat me alive) and packing as lightly as humanly possible for a Winsor (which is not all that possible). The next time you hear from me, I will be in Romania!
Wish me luck!
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