Summer 2006

This course is offered abroad only for a five-week long season. Students will participate on the excavation from 7:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. There will be a half-hour late breakfast break from 10:00 - 10:30 each day. During these 6.5-hour days in the field, students will be assigned to trenches to learn the processes and objectives of archaeological excavation. All instruction will be supervised by the project co-directors and a team of experienced American and Italian specialists. Excavating and surveying activities for the students stop each day at 2:00 p.m. for lunch and rest. In addition, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays afternoons at 4:00, a number of the students on a rotating basis will return to the excavation workrooms to learn and apply methods for artifact analysis, processing and documentation. This includes first-hand, post-excavation study and data entry of small finds, pottery and coins. For students scheduled to return to the workrooms, the afternoon sessions will typically end at 6:00.

Topics that will be covered in the field methods course include: stratigraphic excavation procedures and objectives, understanding and creating a Harris matrix, ceramic analysis and processing, coin analysis and processing, small finds analysis and processing, architectural materials and methods discovered at the site, electronic surveying methods and applicability of an Electronic Total Station with GIS.

TRENCH ASSIGNMENTS:
To be determined

AFTERNOON ROTATION SCHEDULE:

WEEK ONE:
Wednesday: all students for introduction to registration
Friday: all students for introduction to ceramics

WEEKLY AFTERNOON ROTATION GROUPS: Groups assignments TBD
GROUP A: (Week 2 - M, Week 3 - W, Week 4 - F, Week 5 - M)
GROUP B: (Week 2 - W, Week 3 - F, Week 4 - M, Week 5 - W)
GROUP C: (Week 2 - F, Week 3 - M, Week 4 - W, Week 5 - F)

All reports may be submitted as handwritten essays provided that they are neat and legible with numbered pages.

Undergraduate work requirements:
Attendance, participation, assessment of grasp of excavation techniques/procedures, grasp of specialties and data entry, understanding of procedures of documentation; afternoon work rotations: attendance and participation (50 %); 250 word essay on goals of assigned trench completed after first week (10 %); 500 word mid-season report on results of assigned trench with any interpretations or questions and a Harris matrix (15%); 750 -1000 word final report on the season results of their assigned trench and a Harris matrix for that trench only (25%). This assignment is intended to encourage undergraduates to work collaboratively with their team in their assigned trench.

Graduate Work Requirements:
Attendance, participation, assessment of grasp of excavation techniques/procedures, grasp of specialties and data entry, understanding of procedures of documentation; afternoon work rotations: attendance and participation (50 %); 500-750 word essay on goals of the overall project and the assigned trench completed after first week (10 %); 750-1000 word mid-season report on results of assigned trench with any interpretations or questions and a Harris matrix (15%); 1500-2000 word final report on results of all trenches and Harris matrices for each trench. Includes interpretation of data at a project level (25%). Assigned encourages discussion and collaboration among the graduate students.

Readings:
Since this course is a practicum that offers students the opportunity to learn excavation methods and strategies through direct experience and on-site instruction, the reading assignments are limited. However, students are required to read selected sections from readings included in the course pack. These readings are designed to encourage students to understand the Villa of Maxentius excavations within the broader context of field archaeology and to reinforce critical methods taught in the field.