Meggie Macdonald

At this time of the year, when archaeological projects in Greek and Roman history are not in the news, when the dig season in Egypt has yet to start, and when everyone has holidays on their minds, I felt it would be valuable to include a list of some of the current archaeological and academic projects that are still ongoing in the field despite a lack of press coverage.

Archaeology Magazine’s website has an excellent list compiled from the summer 2009 season of underwater sites that made the news when they first appeared but have since fallen out of the public eye, as the intensive archaeological excavations and analyses continue.  In particular, a Phoenician ship discovered off the coast of Cartagena has yielded vital information suggesting that Phoenician traders were interacting with peoples on the Atlantic coast west of the Straits of Gibraltar in the sixth century BCE.  There is also evidence of the diet – primarily nuts – that these ancient sailors could have expected during these long merchant voyages.  A Roman stone carrier was also discovered and, four years on, the site is still thrilling archaeologists.  Nautical archaeologist Deborah Carlson notes that this ship was carrying a marble column that, once assembled, would have been 30 feet high and included a Doric capitol.

There was also a Roman sewn ship discovered in Croatia in May of 2009 at the site of ongoing excavations of the Roman town of Kissa that has sunk into Caska Bay since the Romans inhabited it.  The remains of this ship will enlighten researchers about the process of manufacturing such a light, portable vehicle in this area of the Roman world.

The English Heritage website has also compiled a short list of ongoing projects in the UK that, from the moment of their identification, have had the Roman archaeological world all atwitter.  The most obvious of these are the Chester amphitheatre first discovered in 2004, the Roman villa at Groundwell Ridge, and the Cawthorn Roman camps.

Surprisingly missing from this list is the 2005 discovery of a Roman circus in Colchester, the first of its kind to be found in Britain, thus dispelling all theories about British art depicting the horse races based on stories and travels disseminated to the natives by non-Britons.  This discovery followed quickly on the heels of that of the amphitheatre at the same site in 2004.  The circus has been commemorated with a mosaic created in the Roman tradition by modern artists, and its unveiling was captured in this youtube video.

Also missing from the English Heritage site is the work currently ongoing at the site of the London amphitheatre, discovered in 1988 underneath the late medieval Guildhall of Britain’s capital.  An impressive if surprisingly short tour of the archaeological remains is available, after descending through the Guildhall Art Gallery into the dark underground beneath the Guildhall plaza itself.  Engineers have included a slate ring on the outer floor of this plaza that identifies the limits of the original Roman arena.

The Sagalassos Archaeological Project in recent years has yielded some of the most amazing artifacts ever discovered.  The site, first identified in the nineteenth century by French archaeologists, has since been found to include a large bath complex.  Beginning in July 2007, archaeologists discovered the remains of colossi of Hadrian, the Empress Faustina, and the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.  The colossus of Hadrian made its international debut at the British Museum’s ‘Hadrian:  Empire and Conflict’ exhibition.  The hope is that excavations in coming years will reveal colossal statues for each of the three remaining alcoves in the frigidarium of the baths, perhaps representing the Emperor Antoninus Pius, Hadrian’s wife Sabina, and Marcus Aurelius’ wife Faustina the Younger.  This find potentially represents the first example of imperial statuary limited to a single family, the Antonids, the last three of the traditional Five Good Emperors.

The Pylos Regional Archaeological Project concluded in 2005 after fifteen years of work in Greece at a Bronze Age site dubbed the ‘Palace of Nestor’, after the famously wise king of Homeric epic.  At this point, research and analysis are continuing in the lab and office to compile a publication of this successful dig.

In 2008, news came through the wire from the Egyptian Higher Council of Antiquities that archaeologists had eliminated all but three possible locations of the tomb of the Pharaoh Cleopatra and her doomed lover, the Roman general Marc Antony.  Excavations have, as of October 2009, resumed in Egypt at a site 50 kilometres from Alexandria in the hopes of unearthing the final resting place of this infamous pair.

What is being called the Staffordshire Hoard - a massive find of 1500 gold and silver pieces, larger than the famous Sutton Hoo hoard by a remarkable 6kg – has formally become part of the Department of Prehistory and Europe’s displays at the British Museum.  These pieces, featuring some of the most exquisite goldworking known from the Anglo-Saxon world, was discovered in September 2009 by amateur archaeologist Terry Herbert using a metal detector on a farm in Southern Staffordshire.  Dated to approximately the seventh century, it is the largest gold hoard ever discovered and has been equated with the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells for its priceless value to the study of this period of history.

The mighty Perseus Digital Library continues to grow, with further texts by Seneca, Quintillian, Flaccus, Cicero, Aulus Gellius, Ammianus and Petronius.  In addition, they are looking to expand their Greek word database, improve their general searchability, and have recently announced the first release of their Arabic Collection.

And finally, for all those literary projects that I have not yet mentioned, the Athena Review has a substantial and comprehensive list of ongoing work worldwide.

Onward!

NOTE:  The titular quote is from Poem 54, line 63, by Michelangelo Buonarroti as translated by Anthony Mortimer.