News - Back in the Field

Eva and Adrian planning the survey of the ‘Cave’

Sanne shooting while Eva marks the survey points on Wall Section 3.

Author: Adrian Latortue

Back in the Field

Welcome back to the Zea Harbor Project! Greetings! Once again the Zea Harbour Project is working in the Piraeus, finding the pieces fitting the Piraean puzzle. The land Summer Campaign Team of 2009 is Dr. B. Loven (director), E. Mortensen (surveyor), P. athanasopoulos (archaeologist), M.M. Nielsen (archaeologist) and our new members this year. As always, the Zea Harbor Project welcomes the new students, this year Madeleine Kelly, Adrian Latortue, and Sanne Hoffmann to the summer campaign team. We are delighted to have them aboard and look forward to working with them.

Monday June 8th marked the beginning of the summer campaign of the Zea Harbour Project and an exciting new excavation site on Koumoundourou Hill. As a continuation of prior work in 2007 (see the NewsPoints from 2007) by the Zea Harbour Project team, the newly discovered site will offer further insight into the construction of the ancient harbour and coastal fortifications in the Piraeus.

The site is located on a rather inconvenient side of the Yacht Club of Greece on a hillside that steeply slopes into the harbour. In addition the ancient structures are under a protruding balcony and overhang of the yacht club. “The cave”, as we named it, has a narrow entrance, a low overhang, and is hidden behind bushes and a wall constructed as part of the yacht club, with nails and metal studs protruding everywhere! These have been covered up for safety. Further, the terrain around the site isn’t at all spatially permitting and the area for the team to operate in is limited. The sloping hillside and small walkway has raised some further safety concerns regarding the steep slopes and as a result extra precautions have been taken, but more on that in our next NewsPoint ;-)

Due to the constraints of the site, establishing strategic and accessible coordinates for surveying has been particularly challenging. Under admirable guidance and patience from veteran team members, we have been able to effectively establish these points and successfully launch the survey of Koumoundourou Hill. Today we have been successful in surveying the innermost ancient structures of “cave” and are excited with the discoveries we have made just within this week. Thus far we have seen that there are seven courses preserved in a fortification wall, which is two more courses than we initially thought had been preserved! In addition, the excavation reveals that there are at least two phases of construction in the fortification wall, and the fortification walls extend farther than we previously thought! Not bad for a weeks work…

Adrian Latortue reports: As a surveying intern and new member of the Zea Harbour Project team, I have received a warm welcome and significant guidance in conducting archaeological fieldwork. Within the first week I have not only become familiar with using surveying equipment and software but I have also learned a great deal more about the field of archaeology and the work of the Zea Harbour Project. More importantly, opportunities such as surveying a yet to be excavated site and co-writing the first news update for the website have truly immersed me in the great team dynamic that defines the Zea Harbour Project. Without a doubt, the unique culture, and the outstanding members of the Zea Harbour Project Team will make this summer more than rewarding.

Cheers and welcome again!