News - Teaching old dogs new tricks

Eva shooting while Madeline marks the survey points in Wall Section 2

Madeline showing Panayiotis how to use MicroStation

Mads examining blocks with tool marks suggesting different craftsmen

Bjoern lecturing at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Author: Madeline Kelly & Eva Mortensen

After two weeks of crouching in "The Cave" and hanging on the edge of Wall Section 3, the surveying team was glad to take their harnesses off on Monday and move to the relative safety and comfort of Wall Section 2. Although aesthetically enjoyable and a pleasant source of shade, the lush vegetation of Wall Section 2 presented an obstacle to surveying and forced other team members to take on extra responsibility as "tree holders." Mother Nature was no match for the ZHP team, however, and by the end of the week we were able to complete Wall Section 2. Our surveying included new blocks discovered this week and it will be interesting to see how they relate to the rest of Koumoundourou Hill.

Despite popular belief, this past Thursday, the ZHP team proved that it is, in fact, possible to teach old dogs new tricks. Panayiotis Athanasopoulos, the "old dog" on site, received a brief tutorial on the mechanics of the Total Station from Eva Mortensen and Madeline Kelly and was soon racing to see who could level the machine faster. By the afternoon, Panayiotis was flying solo (mostly) conducting an exercise to test the accuracy of the control points in the Wall Section 2 grid.

Under close examination of the blocks in Wall Section 3, it was observed that two adjacent blocks were crafted with different tools. One block bears evidence of being worked with a wide-tooth chisel; its neighbour has markings suggesting another tool was used for its crafting. While it is possible that the two blocks are the work of the same craftsman merely employing different methods, Mads Møller Nielsen, who is responsible for the study, supports the theory that the wall was actually the work of multiple craftsmen.

After a successful lecture at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen attended by a 330 stong (paying!) audience, Bjørn Lovén returned to the project on Friday. It was a great honour for the project to present our work and research at this famous place to a fantastic crowd

Madeline Kelly reports: After two weeks at the Athens Agora with the site architect, Richard Anderson, and the other two students (one week with Sanne Hoffmann and one with Adrian Latortue), I was excited to begin work on the Zea Harbour Project. The Agora is an extraordinary site with layers of ruins progressing back through time and the 3D computerized models we created using the Total station provided valuable insight into the complexity of the structures. Although the atmosphere at Zea is noticeable different than that at the Agora, the wealth of experience and expertise that Richard so generously shared with me proved just as useful on Koumoundourou Hill.

While the Agora has a long tradition of archaeological exploration dating back to the 1930s, the Zea Harbour Project is relatively young (2001-present). As a result, every week seems to bring new discoveries, and, in turn, new insights. It is a truly extraordinary experience to work on such a significant site and to play a small role in recording some of the foundations (literally) of history that were almost lost beneath the modern world. When you enter the Agora, the monumental skeletons of the past pull you back in time, but at Zea the old and the new stand dramatically side by side. On the computer, the 3D modelling system allows us to simply ‘turn off’ the overlapping modern structures, a luxury we do not have in the field. I have greatly enjoyed becoming familiarized with this technology and watching the yacht club above the ancient fortifications simply ‘disappear ’ in editing.

The smaller size and intimacy of the Zea team compared to that of the Agora seems one of the project’s greatest strengths. Everyone is involved in all the different aspects of the excavation and the constant exchange of opinions and ideas propels progress forward. I have enjoyed my first week on the project tremendously. The Zea team is a great group of passionate people who manage the difficult task of being both enthusiastic and efficient everyday. I have learned so much these past five days and would like to thank Eva Mortensen especially for all her help and guidance. I am greatly looking forward to the rest of my time at Zea and cannot wait to find out what else there is to learn.