Monthly Archives: June 2022

Studying the Lived Experiences of Ancient Eleonians Through their Physical Remains

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By Skyler Buchfink

*DISCLAIMER: This post discusses the study and analysis of ancient human remains.*

The opportunity to work closely with bioarchaeologists was one of the primary reasons I applied for the EBAP field school. During my first two years as an undergraduate, I have settled in my belief that studying burials and human remains allows an archaeologist to connect with people from the past directly.

Although I did not anticipate working directly with human remains on this field school, because of my lack of experience, during the first week, I was given the opportunity to assist with the bioarchaeology specialists. This is how I found myself sitting at a crowded table in the apotheke (storage depot), peering over a box of bones carefully wrapped in acid free tissue paper. I was instructed to take a toothbrush and carefully remove the dust and soil from the bones over a tin tray. This was my first time touching ancient human remains, and for a time I didn’t think about it. I set to work brushing away dust, enamored and concerned at the delicacy of the bones. Many were small. Some were so poorly preserved after millennia of sitting in damp tombs that they were little more than dust.

Although they are dead, and have been for a very long time, this bone was once united with the soft tissue of an individual. It carried them through life. For every bone I held, I began to wonder who it belonged to and their story. What was their name? How did they die? How did they live? Experiencing human remains has come to mean more to me than a connection with the past: it has become a reflection of the stories shared by humans through time and space.

Many bones have markings upon them. Some from before death, perhaps because the individual was injured or suffered a condition which was visible in their bones such as arthritis. Some happened at or around the time of death, possibly being the cause of death. In this case, there is no healing or growth present around the injury. Many more happened after death, during the process of decomposition, rearrangement by their descendants, or sitting in the earth for thousands of years. All of these markings and breakages work together to tell the story of where a bone comes from and why it is a certain way.

Figure 1: Tools used for carefully cleaning dirt and mud adhering to human bones (Courtesy of Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project).

At Eleon, bones are removed from site and taken to the apotheke to be carefully dried in a controlled environment, wrapped, and stored for future study. When the time comes, the bones are removed and cleaned using gentle equipment like a soft toothbrush and a small wooden stick to chip away hardened dirt (Fig. 1). Then they are repackaged and organized. They are measured, weighed, and analyzed closely. Any noteworthy physical features of a bone are recorded and interpreted. Then isotope analyses may be conducted, which can reveal dietary patterns, whether a person has migrated from another region, and how old the remains may be. This information helps reconstruct the history of a person and gives some context to how people lived in ancient Eleon.

I spoke to a bioarchaeology student on site who is studying diseases, injuries, and abnormalities of bones. She uses this data to research the malnutrition and illnesses that affected children at ancient Eleon. I asked why she believes this is an important topic, and she explained that understanding the way in which people lived and died in the past can contribute to our understanding of health now. The example she used was the malnourishment of impoverished children in many countries leading to deficiencies which can stunt growth or lead to chronic conditions. Evidence of this can be seen in some of the children at Eleon, who had evidence of deficiencies in their bones. I sat with this thought for a long time, imagining the many conditions that people face, and how some reveal themselves in the bones: arthritis, gout, breakages, infections, cancers, malnourishment, rickets, polio, and venereal syphilis, among others. If we can find evidence of these conditions in past populations and place these in the context of the diet and lifestyles led by the people of that time, we can better understand what leads to increases in these conditions today. We can then also advocate for prevention in our own societies.

The first step to observing the bones or running tests on them, however, is cleaning them and this is the task that I was presented with in week one. While sitting with a toothbrush in hand and wiping dust off of the ancient bones for several hours may seem tedious, it is work that I have come to understand as a first step in a long process of revealing someone’s story.

After my first experience at EBAP, I hope to spend many more hours working with these bones, and perhaps learning more about their burial contexts to gain a better understanding of the time period in which they lived and the way they were put to rest.

Drawn to See Sherds (Including ‘How to Draw a Potsherd’!)

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By Zoe Wieler

I began my time at the EBAP field school of ancient Eleon with a week in Athens drawing Mycenaean pottery. Here, learning the very precise process of archeological illustration, I also learned how to better see what it was that I was drawing. What struck me as meaningful was that it was the particular practice of seeing which had to come first. There is a branch of visual anthropology that explores illustration as (an ethnographic) methodology. The idea is that drawing allows us to see with a greater attentiveness because we are tasked with rendering realities’ details in a concretely visual way; drawing is implemented as a means of learning to see more precisely, holistically, and truthfully, as the way we are seeing is marked down in the production of some understanding. Reflecting on this methodology while daydreaming about how to draw the sherds of pottery that came up during our first week of fieldwork, I realized that maybe—through the archeological illustration I am getting to pursue here at EBAP (Fig. 1)—I am both learning how to see pottery so as to better draw it and drawing pottery in a process that enables me to better see and understand it. As a maker of ceramics, practicing the art of illustrating this material from Eleon has been an exciting opportunity!

Figure 1: Archaeological illustrations of Boeotian Kylix Ware kylikes (stemmed drinking cups) in progress (Z. Wieler; Courtesy of the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project).

Sherds, broken fragments of pottery vessels, are some of the most sensitive chronological material at Eleon. For all eras of past human activity on the acropolis of ancient Eleon, there is more pottery than any other material. Unearthed from long buried strata, these sherds are contextualized by their date, by their vessel forms, by their use, by their style, and also by their manufacture. Since pottery follows stylistic trends that change over time, Early Helladic Ayia Marina ware can be distinguished from a green-glazed piece of a Byzantine plate or a Late Helladic Mycenaean drinking kylix, and here at Eleon, each may help to date the contexts in which they are found. Thus, to enhance understandings of various chronologies, site usage, and artistic and technological change, pottery is often recorded in archaeological publications in the form of a catalogue entry and illustration.

When learning to catalogue sherds with Charlie in the apotheke (storage depot), I experienced the importance of producing precise illustrations. The slightest angles and smallest details matter for archeologists seeking comparanda to date or regionally place their piece. But how to go about visualizing sherds which emerge from the time periods represented at Eleon? For the beginner sherd artist like me, I present my version of a brief guide to pottery illustration (distilled from the lessons of Trevor and Charlie).

How to Draw a Potsherd: A Brief Guide:

Step 1: I quickly learned that how to see a potsherd informs how to draw a potsherd. To begin, the sherd in front of you should be oriented so as to indicate its relation to the whole form from which it came. This is called ‘stancing’ the sherd. The stance will allow you to understand how to draw the profile of one tiny piece of a pot, at the correct angle in which it would have existed in the original vessel. (For me, this was a kind of learning how to see in the practice of visual anthropologists who propose illustration as a method of attentively understanding all that an object or view offers our perception).

Step 1 continued: If a rim or base exists, place this edge as flat as it will go on a flat surface. The angle at which the edge meets most of the surface is the angle the piece likely stands, since pottery vessels are often begun or finished either on a flat wheel head or parallel to one. With the piece stanced, you can use a diameter sheet and a standing square to draw out a ‘T’ to the measurements of the diameter and height. Next, stance the piece in profile, angling it so that the rim edge runs horizontally with cm paper when viewed from directly above. The harder I squint, the better this goes. Trevor Tip: Pay attention to the orientation of wheel bands or coils visible in the clay body to help you stance, especially when you are without a rim or base piece.

Step 2: Concentrating very hard on your sherd stance, draw the outer section of the shape. From directly above, with one eye closed, your outline should match the stanced outline. Now you can take the thickness of the walls with a caliper and use these points to draw the inside of the sherd section!

Step 3: With half the shape drawn in section, you can trace this, flip it over to mirror the section, and draw the exterior view of the profile on the other side. You are now ready to draw and/or carefully trace any decoration on the piece! When drawing your Boeotian Kylix Ware, prepare for zigzags, concentric triangles, linear stripes, and more (Fig. 1)…

Step 4: Note down the basic colours of the paint or glaze. Draw the interior decoration on the section view and don’t forget bases and feet! Measure and include the handles of your BKW and/or indicate where they join, and draw in any rim decoration. Trevor Tip: You can indicate a painted circle on the vessel floor by drawing a little dome–to scale of course.

Step 5: Finally, include a scale under your illustration, above which you can record the sequential drawing number and the specific EBAP find number (Hurray for EBAP# tags). Write your illustrator initials under the scale, and voila–you have archaeologically illustrated a sherd!

Research in Real Life: Hearths in the Northwest Complex

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By Mira Harvey

Over the past year, from September to May, I worked on an independent research project supported by a Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award (JCURA) that focused on ancient Eleon. Specifically, I looked at the (many) hearths in the Northwest Complex, a household that primarily dates to the post-palatial period (1200-1050 BCE). I did this having never seen the hearths in-person, relying solely on archival documentation (e.g., photos and excavation journals). It has been amazing to be able to see and touch them over the past couple weeks!

Figure 1: Cleaning hearths in Room 5 of the Northwest Complex after lifting the tarps that have protected the site since 2019 (Courtesy of the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project).

I was very excited to step onto site for the first time. Before I got to see the hearths, however, we had to de-tarp the site. These huge tarps keep Eleon preserved while the EBAP team is away. Once uncovered, we started cleaning the trenches, which meant clearing eroded soil and creating a nice edge of scarp again. Cleaning around the hearths in the Northwest Complex was a delicate project (Fig. 1). We used soft brushes to remove only the loosest soil from the tops and sides to prevent further erosion from the crumbly hearths.

I was very happy to see how they were constructed in real life. I knew that most of the hearths in the Northwest Complex were built on a bed of sherds, which were then covered with a layer of clay. But now, I can see exactly what kind of sherds: big roof tiles, smaller pieces of broken cookware, even a very large jug handle lodged in the Room 6 hearth. In the photos, each hearth looks raised, but they would have been mostly level with the floor while in use. Over time inhabitants would re-pave, clean, or just pack over the hearth. In Room 5, probably the “kitchen,” hearths were frequently moved and packed in with new floor levels. The hearths are also often near column bases, which would have held up the roof and/or created a space to ventilate smoke. These installations influenced the architecture and layout of a household, and also structured daily life as places of warmth, lighting, cooking and crafting.

Working from home on the hearths, I sometimes struggled to get a sense of the people who lived in the Northwest Complex. The site was a series of pictures and maps and words, not a place. But here, I can walk through the doorway to the Northwest Complex, and walk in the same footsteps that people in the Bronze Age did. While cleaning the hearths in the Boeotian sun, we talked about how hot it would have been, to be cooking food over the fires in the small Room 5. I thought about that while writing in the past year, but to actually feel how hot it gets in summer… that gave me a new understanding of what it would have felt like to live here, thousands and thousands of years ago. I wanted to study hearths in the first place because I felt they could connect me to ancient people’s daily lives. That goal definitely feels realized now.

Unlocking a New Season at Ancient Eleon

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By Trevor Van Damme

On May 30th, we officially returned for the 2022 campaign at ancient Eleon. This season promises to be an exciting one–our first with undergraduate students from the University of Victoria, since 2019!

Our season began with unlocking the site (Fig. 1), removing the tarps that have protected the excavated architecture, and cleaning the site in preparation for a new, more accurate, digital model.

Figure 1: Unlocking the gates to the excavation trenches on the acropolis of ancient Eleon (Courtesty of the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project).

The focus of our work this season, however, will not be on the acropolis of ancient Eleon, but rather to the west of it. Here we aim to document the existence and extent of the lower town of ancient Eleon, first noted by Colonel William Leake in his travel diary from 1806(!), in order to better assess diachronic changes in the use of space over time. We also hope to refine the sequence of occupation and perhaps even fill in some of the current gaps in the history of settlement, as revealed by our limited excavations on the eastern edge of the acropolis. A cleaning and geophysical permit will allow us to document and protect the remains of an impressive fortification wall around the lower town for future generations.

In the apotheke, conservation of finds from our final campaign of excavations in 2018 will, at last, be completed and specialists continue their work towards final publication. In tandem with the work in the lower town, we are also revisiting the survey material collected from 2007-2009 for publication with the results of the present campaign of work in the lower town.

Check back at this blog soon for debriefs from the students enrolled in GRS 495: Practicum in Archaeology: Ancient Eleon and learn about our work in real time.