Swimming in the Danube Delta (7/9/2012)

On Monday, instead of digging, we all took a boat trip on the Danube (I know I originally said the Black Sea, but turns out the Black sea trip is this weekend). We were split into two motor boats, and left the harbor around 11 a.m.

The quote of the trip was, "there's so much life on the Delta!" And it's definitely true. The Danube Delta is flourishing with vegetation, frogs, birds, fish and other wildlife. We would coast through these narrow passageways into large, open waters of the Delta where a thousand lily pads bloomed. I have never seen so many lily pads in my life!

After an hour of boating, we finally came to a nice swimming spot and docked. I was so excited to swim! The water was perfect temperature; warmer than I thought it would be. And the bottom of the Delta is solid MUD. In an attempt to walk out of the water onto the shore, I was knee-deep stuck in mud to the point where someone had to yank me out.

Afterward, we ate a traditional Romanian meal of sausage (a large ate of vegetables for me), mustard, bread and beer.

Pilgrimage of Saints Epictetus & Astion (7/7/2012)

Saturday, we all walked three miles up the only paved road in Murighiol, past the dig site, to monastery where the pilgrimage of Saints Epictetus and Astion (the two saints which were found at Halmyris) was being held.

The ceremony lasted over four hours, but we only stayed there for one. Beforehand, John instructed us to dress appropriately; ladies must wear pants or skirts that cover up the knees, and modest shirts that cover your shoulders. Most of us were scrambling because none of us thought to being pants or modest clothing, since it's hot as Hades and we spend most of our time in the dirt. Thankfully, Anne lent me a long scarf which I wrapped around my waist into a makeshift skirt.

Before we even arrived at the monastery, when we were still a quarter mile down the road, we could hear monks singing and chanting.

People must have came from all over to this pilgrimage because there were hundreds of cars, tour buses and horse and carts. As we approached the gate entrance of the monastery's property, you could see the tops of a hundred umbrellas shading families from the hot sun.

The pilgrimage was an outdoor event, since they are currently building a new church. Orthodox monks wearing long robes, gold crosses and monastic headwear sang under a lean-to, while villagers stood or knelt in prayer before them. Bishops, wearing white robes and gold headwear, lead the prayers.

The remains of the saints were held under a separate covered structure, where people could get in line to view them. I was disappointed to see that the remains were covered in velvet cloth in a clear container, so you couldn't really see the skeleton at all. Still, villagers kissed the glass and knelt to pray, as widows wearing black robes and hair-coverings looked on.

Although I am agnostic, I thought the songs of the monks were absolutely beautiful. In fact, I videotaped some of it so you could hear it. I don't know how good the quality is, but hopefully you can make out some singing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMpeo3-vBjc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I also discreetly took a lot of photos of the villagers. I am interested by religion and like watching people paralyzed in prayer. It's something I never could do myself because I never felt a connection with "God" or a god, even as a child. So, in some ways, I envy the faith these people have in their religion. Still, I prefer to take an objective stance.

After spending nearly an hour at the pilgrimage, we all walked up the road to the nearest bar and had a few drinks (everyone here is either agnostic or atheist, but we all noted the irony).

"Shut up and dig"

It's the weekend, and I'm sitting in an internet cafe in Tulcea. Tulcea is a modern city that's 10 lei and a 40-minute bus ride away. This city feels 10 times the size of Murighiol, and there's not a horse and cart in sight (the most common form of travel in Murighiol). I'm sipping a kiwi smoothie in the shade on the cafe's terrace, as people, buses and cars hustle by in the 100 degree heat.

It's been a tough week of digging, troweling, pick axing, wheelbarrowing, hoeing and brushing for five hours per day in the scorching sun. It's only week one of four, and I can already see the dirt settling into my pores, despite how hard I scrub in the shower.

We are currently working on two 12 x 2 meter trenches, about a quarter of a meter deep so far, in the area of the harbor. Our crew is split into two groups (S1 and S2), and then each digger is paired off and works on their own 4 x 2 meter section of whichever trench they arassigned (mine is S2C).

So far, my trench partner Anne and I have found hundreds pottery shards, limestone floor tiles, stones from a Roman road, numerous animal bones and teeth (including a goats's jawbone with all teeth in tact) and glass. Other trench sections have yielded arrowheads, Roman blades, nails and imitation Greek pottery. We are still hoping to find more valuable things as we dig deeper, like Roman coins and "dolia" (large clay pots used to store perishables; also called "pythoi" in Greek).

During our snack break, we all walk back to the excavation house, a two-story red farmhouse with a tin roof that sits next to the site. Mihail and John use it to store all their tools, and there's also a working fridge in there and a skull which sits atop the fridge. There is a well in the back of the house that has really good quality water that's very cold. Everyone fills up their water bottles there, pours water over their heads (or on John...) to cool down. Our break last about 30 minutes, but sometimes longer on really hot days.

We also play with a stray dog who has found a home here at the site and with us. We named him Charlie, after a character from the TV show It's Always Sunny in Philedelphia. He is still very young, perhaps not even a year old, and he looks like a mix between a jack russel and a chihuahua. At first, he was very timid, maybe even a little bit afraid of us. But now he sits on the porch of the excavation house each morning, awaiting our arrival. As we open the van doors, he runs over to greet us. He is the sweetest dog, with lots of energy but when you pick him up he just completely collapses in your arms.

There are hundreds of stray animals here in Murighiol, and it breaks my heart to see how skinny some of them are. But I will be particularly heartbroken when we have to leave Charlie here. He too is quite thin, but we have been feeding him. We have really taken him as our own. When we first saw him, he had ticks all over his face and body and was pretty dirty. We took off the ticks and gave him a bath with well water and baby shampoo we bought from the general store. Allison and I just bought him a small sack of dog food while here in Tulcea. My trench partner Anne is really trying to arrange for Charlie to come home with her. But there's a process that requires a visit to the vet, and two weeks quarantine after he's in the US. We all have agreed to chip in as much as we can toward any expenses, so that Charlie can have a good home. It's quite possible he will die here otherwise. The odds are against him.

Our day usually goes as such: wake up around 6:45 a.m., eat breakfast at 7, take a quick van ride to the site at 7:30, fill up on water and put on sunscreen and bug spray at the house, then walk to the site carrying all tools and wheelbarrows, work till 10:30 (taking water breaks in between), break for snacks, then work till 1 p.m. Our van comes to pick us up at 1:30, lunch is at 2, dinner at 7:30, time in between and after is free.

I'm really enjoying working with everyone. The labor isn't easy, but we are encouraged to take water breaks whenever, and it feels so satisfying to see the hard work you've done (even if it has transmitted itself onto your skin and clothes). For those of you who are wondering, I have yet to go for a run or do any other exercise besides what we do on site. And, to be honest, I haven't felt the need (nor the energy) to do so. Everyone takes naps between lunch and dinner, and I've been sleeping like a baby at night.

Weekends are generally free but we have a few things planned this weekend. Tomorrow (Sunday) is the pilgrimage in celebration of the two saints which were found on site at Halmyris, so we all want to go to that. Instead of digging on Monday, we are all taking a two hour cruise to a beach resort across Purple Lake. I can't wait to go swimming!

Tour of Halmyris (7/2/2012)

I woke up at 6:45 this morning to get myself washed up and dressed for the day, before heading to breakfast with Allison, Andrea and Mihail at seven. Breakfast consisted of an egg omelet with veggies and bacon, a side of sliced fresh tomatoes and cucumber and homemade apricot jam and fresh butter with toast. Again, I feel bad speaking up about the bacon, so I just did my best to eat what I could of the omelet, while discreetly feeding the bacon pieces to a slim cat purring at my feet. The apricot jam, however, was fantastic. It wasn't too sweet, as some jams can be, and it tastes as fresh as ever. We also were served some kind of lemon, herbal tea (possibly mint) that was also delicious.

After breakfast, we took a five-minute drive to the archaeological site. We spent the next two hours walking around the site with John, who gave us a full history of its occupation.

You don't realize how vast it is until you really walk around everything and get a feel for what the fort was like in it's prime. The fort boasts visible ruins of six meter high walls with 13 towers and adjacent defense ditches and turf walls. In ancient times, the site lay on the bank of the southern arm of the Danube. But over time, the river moved north and the terrain around the settlement gradually silted. Miles of corn crop and wild canibis now grow where the river once flowed. When this essential element of the biotope became hardly accessible, the equilibrium environment deteriorated. From then on, Halmyris was vulnerable to attacks from barbarians, and the settlement was eventually abandoned sometime after 700 A.D.

Nevertheless, Halmyris was occupied for some 11 centuries, containing no less than 13 identified archaeological levels. But three main periods of occupation have been established; the native Geto-Dacian settlement, the early Roman fort and the late Roman fort.

Although John says the civilian settling outside the fort walls was most likely a poor one, where soldiers were the wealthiest class, the military part is so well built and fortified. There is a private bathhouse behind the walls as well as a basilica sponsored by Constantine the Great, who hired the best builders and muralists from Constantinople.

The site contains many mysteries, one of which includes the infamous "pits of hell," giant stone-built pit holes located far outside the fort, whose purpose has yet to be determined. There is also a secret tunnel in the bathhouse, which must be 15 meters deep and extends more than 30 meters underground. It is unknown where the tunnel ends because no one has braved the journey, although its built very well with supports still intact (most likely built by Roman soldiers). Some people think the tunnel connects to the "pits of hell," which may have been used as an escape route.

I learned a lot about Halmyris' history today, and it was nice to refresh my knowledge of Roman culture. Tomorrow, we start digging. And I. Can't. WAIT.

Welcome to Murighiol (7/1/2012)

The group met at 10 a.m. to take a four-hour bus ride to the village of Murighiol, where Halmyris is located. The bus didn't have air-conditioning nor functioning windows (apparently it's some kind of Romanian superstition to have more than one window open simultaneously).

Romania is a very flat land, and there wasn't much to see during the drive except for miles upon miles of bright yellow sunflower fields (which were quite stunning, actually). Sunflower seeds and oil are a popular commodity here. For those of you who have been to Greece, Romania looks very similar, but much poorer and without the hills. The village of Murighiol, where we are staying, is home to only a thousand people, and most of the houses are disheveled with thatched roofs. Some of the nicer-looking homes are stuck and have orange or grey tile roofing. The roads are unpaved, uneven dirt. There are stray dogs and cats everywhere, like Greece, and often people allow their farm animals to roam the village unattended. But since it is such a small town and everyone knows everyone, John says, if someone were to steal something or break into someone's home, the villagers would find out about it and could probably figure out who did it. So, crime as we know it isn't a problem here.

Myself and eight other girls are staying at Mihail's house, while the six boys and two remaining girls are staying in quaint cabins located just outside where we eat our meals each day. Dr. Mihail Zahariade is a sixty-two year-old Romanian archaeologist, who is head of the Romanian Institute of Archaeology. He and John are co-principal investigators for Halmyris. He is very sweet and hospitable, and speaks English well but very slowly. His house is quite nice in comparison to some of the other houses in the village. It's a ranch style, white stucco house with air- conditioning, a large unkempt garden and a wrap-around porch that overlooks Purple Lake. The house has the main part where Minail lives, with a kitchen and living room, ad then it has three unconnected bedrooms, each with two or three beds and a bathroom. I am staying in one of these three bedrooms with Allison, a senior archaeology major at Dickinson, and Andrea, a senior art history an classics double major at Weslyian.

After settling in, John gave us a quick tour of the village (its very small), and then we met up with Mihail for dinner.

As most of you know, I do not eat any meat, poultry or dairy products. And the word "vegetarian" (let alone "vegan") doesn't exactly exist here. Romanians are big on eating meat with every meal, and potatoes come with everything whether they're mashed, boiled or fried. Oh, and don't forget the beer. Lots of beer. Romanian beer has twice the amount of alcohol than in the states.

John and I have had a little trouble trying to explain to our cook, who doesn't speak English, what vegetarian means and why I can't eat anything that's cooked in butter. But I realize this is a situation where I need to be a bit more flexible, and so far I am just trying to be easygoing and eat what I can that's on my plate.

Otherwise, our meals are well-prepares and fresh. We are served breakfast and then two or three courses for both lunch and dinner.

After dinner, we all headed over to a sports bar to watch the World Cup final. Mihail and John were rooting for Italy, while the rest of us cheered on Spain as they won 4 - null.

It's been a long day of traveling and meeting new faces, and I know I will pass out the minute my head hits the pillow.

First night

A two and a half hour delay, a missed connection flight and 12 hours of air travel later... I finally made it! (I actually wasn't so sure I was going to after missing my connection flight from Frankfurt to Bucharest).

I ended up arriving at Bucharest International Airport (Henri Coanda) around 5:30, where I met my professor John and three other students on the trip. From there, we took taxis to our respective hotels and hostels. Another student on the trip, Graham (who so happens to be from CALIFORNIA, Sami Tutone!), and myself are staying at the Butterfly Villa Hostel.

It's my first time staying at a hostel, so I didn't really know what to expect, but I figured I shouldn't expect much. It's a quaint stone building that has a courtyard and a locked gate entrance (as most of the hostels here do, from what I've seen). This hostel seems to be run by young adults who live here full time. Thankfully, I am staying in a single room on the first floor; otherwise, I would have had to drag my luggage up a narrow winding staircase (much like the ones in Athens).

My room is small; similar in size to my freshman year "economy single" dorm, except a bit longer. A pine bunkbed sits against the far wall, where there's a large window overlooking the courtyard. The floor and walls are tiled in beige and taupe limestone, with a decorative border separating the two colors. I'm thankful for the stone walls and flooring because there is no air conditioning, and the tile will help keep the room cool at night (though I'm only staying here for one night, anyway).

After John dropped us off at the hostel and we freshened up, Graham and I walked to a nearby pub a few blocks away, where the group was to meet for dinner. Fortunately, Graham knows his way around the city quite well. This is his third time volunteering for this dig, so he is familiar with Romania. I, on the other hand, hadn't a clue where to go, so I followed him to the pub like a lost puppy.

There, we drank and ate with John and the rest of the crew, which consists of about 15 people (mostly students of John; some have graduated, like me).

Everything is very cheap in Romania, and the dollar goes far here. It's 1 Romanian lei to 0.3 USD. So everyone was buying beer, having dessert. I ordered some whiskey. The boys looked at me like I had three heads.

Although I came into this not knowing anyone, everyone seems to be easygoing and friendly, and we've already started planning a trip to a resort on the Black Sea this weekend.

Tomorrow morning, we are all meeting John outside the Funky Chicken Hostel (yes, that's the name) at 10. From there, we will take a bus to the town of Murighiol, where we will be living and digging for the next four weeks.

T-Minus Three Days

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!