Cyprus, here we come!
Post date: Mar 15, 2016 12:14:03 PM
With the beginning of the HARP fieldschool season about to begin, I am getting very excited for the months ahead. I’ll be heading out to Cyprus next week (yay for sunshine and warm weather), and will be starting out with a two-day workshop with ceramic specialist, Lisa Graham. Lisa and I will be doing a training workshop with the local community archaeology group in Paphos on human remains and ceramic analyses in archaeology. This is a great opportunity to engage with local enthusiasts and to help them learn about some of the kinds of artefacts we come across in archaeological excavation.
I am super excited about our first bioarchaeology fieldschool in Cyprus this year. It’s my favourite time of the year in Cyprus with lots of greenery and lovely flowers. We will be staying at the Lemba Archaeology Research Centre (my home away from home) and looking at skeletal material derived from archaeological excavation and working in association with our colleagues at the Department of Antiquities. This course will be a lot of fun for me, as I will get the chance to teach the basics of human osteology and the importance and usefulness of human remains in answering archaeological questions. As a bioarchaeologist I am always interested in looking at human remains and exploring how they can impact and influence our understanding of the past. Human remains are the most tangible link to the people in the past and provide is with insight into peoples’ lives and communities experiences and structure.
Following thebioarchaeological fieldschool we’ll be jumping into our Introduction to Archaeology fieldschool for 2016. This is a great programme which will give our participants the opportunity to learn all about recording in archaeology and we’ll get to go and visit a number of sites in the Paphos District. I am looking forward to getting back to some of my favourite places. We’ll be joined by local archaeologist and faunal remains specialist Dr Paul Croft, who has excavated numerous sites around Cyprus and will be sharing with us his special and unique understanding of some of the sites in the Paphos District.
So keep an eye on this space as we’ll be sharing with you some of the interesting things we’ll be doing over the next month. I can’t wait to get out there and I am so looking forward to meeting our groups of students who will be joining us in sunny Cyprus.
Cheers,
Michelle