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Field Projects

The Department of Classics currently operates three field projects, one of which is in the final stages of publication. Each of these projects involves graduate students in our department.

Mallaskastra Regional Archaeological Project

MRAP is a multi-disciplinary and diachronic archaeological expedition formally organized in 1996 to investigate the history of prehistoric and historic settlement and land use in central Albania, in an area centered on the Greek colony of Apollonia. The project is employing the techniques of intensive archaeological surface survey in conjunction with natural menvironmental investigations.

Fieldwork is sponsored by the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio,United States of America, and the Institute of Archaeology,Tirana, Albania, and is jointly directed by Jack Davis and Muzafer Korkuti, together with Lorenc Bejko, Michael Galaty, Skënder Muçaj, and Sharon Stocker. Since 2004, excavations have been conducted at the site of a previously unknown Greek temple in collaboration with Iris Pojani of the International Centre for Albanian Archaeology in Tirana and Vangjel Dimo of the Institute of Archaeology in Tirana, with support from the Packard Humanities Institute.

The web site for the MRAP project is: http://classics.uc.edu/mrap/MRAP_en.html.

Pylos

From 1991-1995, Jack Davis has been investigating the area of western Messenia in Greece using the techniques of archaeological surface survey, along with natural environmental investigations (geological, geomorphological, geophysical, and paleobotanical). The name of the project is PRAP (Pylos Regional Archaeological Project). During those years, fieldwork doubled the number of sites previously known in the area intensively surveyed. In addition, nearly all previously known sites in an additional 30 square kilometers have been reinvestigated; the spatial extent and chronological components of these have been defined with greater precision. This project is in the final stages of publication, one compenent of which is the PRAP web site, up since 1995. Since 1997, efforts have also focused on the presentation of the substantial number of unpublished finds from Blegen and Rawson's excavations at the Palace of Nestor, studies that have been organized and directed by Sharon Stocker.

Troy

Since 1989 the Department of Classics has been a partner with the University of Tübingen in the excavation of Troy. Professor Brian Rose leads the team, which is responsible for all archaeological information related to the Greek, Roman, and later levels of this city. The Troy project is now has some online information on their excavation, but the journal Studia Troica remains the best source for information on the current excavations.

The web site for the Troy Excavations is:
http://classics.uc.edu/troy/index.html

Episkopi-Bamboula

The Episkopi-Bamboula Project (2001-present) is an investigation of the prehistoric site of Bamboula near the village of Episkopi and the Roman site of Kourion on the south coast of Cyprus in the western part of the Akrotiri Peninsula under a permit given to the Department of Classics by the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus. It is directed by Professor Gisela Walberg. The site has played a significant role in the interpretation of the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. Everything suggests that it was an important trading center between the Middle East, Egypt and Greece. The site is an ideal location for the study of cultural exchange in the eastern Mediterranean. One of the goals of the excavation is to trace the process of change at the beginning of the Iron Age and another to assess the interaction between the site and the interior of the island during the Bronze Age. Bronze Age students have received field training on the site and worked on the finds in the museum in Episkopi.

The web site for the Episkopi-Bamboula website is:
http://classics.uc.edu/bamboula/

Isthmia

The East Isthmia Archaeology Project was established in 2005 by Steven Ellis and Timothy Gregory to develop an understanding – spatial, chronological, and functional – of the buildings east of the Temple of Poseidon at Isthmia. These buildings, in an area often referred to as the ‘East Field’, were first discovered in the early 1970s by Paul Clement (UCLA) and have since stood in varying states of survival, having evaded all attempts to even delineate one building from the next. By combining on-site architectural analyses with the digitization and reintegration of the site’s legacy data within a GIS, we are now able to define not only individual buildings, but also significant phases of building construction. This redefinition of the shape of space for this area of the sanctuary represents the first phase in our endeavor to develop a more complete understanding of the social infrastructure for the sanctuary at Isthmia, and to clarify the relationship of these structures to the surrounding built and natural environments. The project is jointly directed by Steven Ellis and Timothy Gregory, and is funded by the Louise Taft Semple Fund through the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati. The first major publication for the project will soon appear in Internet Archaeology.

Pompeii

Since 2005 the ‘Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia’ (PARP:PS) has been uncovering the structural and occupational history of the SE corner of Insula VIII.7 at Pompeii. Through a series of selective excavations, structural analyses, and geophysical surveys, PARP:PS is producing a complete archaeological analysis of the shops, workshops, inns, and houses at a largely forgotten corner of Pompeii that has great potential for enlightening Pompeian and Roman studies. All of these rather modest and non-atrium style habitations fronted onto the via Stabiana, one of the primary streets of the city, just inside one of the busiest gates, the Porta Stabia. The southern zone of the insula was built against the city fortifications, while the western and northern limits adjoined, respectively, the Quadriporticus and the Odeon of the so-called 'Entertainment District'. Through an incorporative and systematic approach to this range of urban spaces, we hope to disentangle some of the complex relationships that existed between private and public urban networks, as well as to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the roles that non-elites played in the shaping of an ancient city. PARP:PS is jointly directed by Steven Ellis and Gary Devore, and is funded by the Louise Taft Semple Fund through the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati. Preliminary reports have been published for the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons.