Date: 17 April 2007
Partners for the day: Brooks Smith (text) Kelsey Blodget (pictures)
Sites: Tunnel of Eupalinos, Heraion
Museums: Samos Museum
Principle Buildings/Monuments: Temple of Hera
Time Spent on Sites: from ca. 7:45 to ca. 15:45 [8 hours]
Weather: Sunny
Many were tired, some were sick, and the rest just didn’t want to get up at 7am again. Last night, we had a paper due about the sarcophagi of Sidon which we had seen in the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul. As a result, many people had a late night, and perhaps related, several were not feeling up to full health. The professor had a mild cough and very little voice, a few had to use the restroom a few more times than usual, and the writer of this blog entry had an unsettled stomach. However, we had much more interesting surprises in store for us at the three locations most of us managed to go to! The writer of this entry did not manage to make it to the Samos Museum or the Tunnel of Eupalinos, but caught up with the group shortly after. On this island, we lack the treat of a private coach bus, but instead have to use public buses and occasionally taxis to travel around. That does, however, mean that it was easy to catch up with the group – there are only so many bus routes.
An interesting assignment at the Heraion provided many of us with surprises compared to what we had previously learned in our classes. In groups of three, we were each assigned a type of moulding decoration (egg and dart, leaf and dart, bead and reel, horizontal column fluting, etc). We had to search around the site, find examples of these mouldings, and measure the various dimensions of the decorations.
In the classrooms of Dartmouth, we had previously been shown these various decorations, but in their ideal forms. From photographs and on first glance on-site, these decorations seem to be very uniform, just as a pot of one form can initially look just like another. However, at least judging by the mouldings, these decorations are not necessarily very standardized.
The writer’s group was examining bead and reel decorations, and observed proportionately huge (up to 85%) differences, even within the same block of stone. Such decorations may appear to the untrained eye to be masterfully cut, but a closer inspection shows that they do have major flaws. We now understand one of the reasons why restoration of ruins is extremely difficult and often uncertain, as one cannot necessarily use decoration as an accurate guide. In one partially-reconstructed wall, we observed this phenomenon first-hand, where it was known that a bead and reel pattern existed at a particular height, so the archaeologists simply placed several stones with that design in. However, the measurements of the decorations on those stones were extremely inconsistent (and, actually, one of the stones was of a different type, so it was definitely not an accurate reconstruction).
The number of inconsistencies brings up further questions about the accuracy of many other claims in archaeology. For example, dating of sites and artifacts is frequently done by often minor changes observed in the style of pots. However, how many of these changes could simply be accidental inaccuracies in the productions of these pots? This type of question is one which is frequently tackled by professors, and means that academics should never run of material about which to debate and publish new articles and books.
The writer has personally always found it an interesting question as to how much of the various classification schemes in archaeology may be overdone. In the modern day, one artist or machine will each make a product that’s slightly different. How accurate is it to say that because some artifact has a particular form or decoration, it must be from a particular time period? For example, could there have been an artist who continued making an older style through until later times, perhaps specializing in antique reproductions, who would therefore distort a timeline? The answer to these questions certainly depend on the specific site in question, but sometimes the answer is indeed that it’s very uncertain. Informational signs at sites sometimes barely have the chance to become dirty before they have to be rewritten due to inaccuracies. Many reconstructions are modified or even rebuilt in later times, sometimes with radical changes. We’re studying a culture that is more than a thousand years old, but yet the textbooks still need to be re-written every few years. New debates spring up, new articles are published, and new ideas come in and out of fashion. Unlike, say, much of mathematics, archaeology is not set in stone.
This is the last blog entry for the next six days, as we now turn to some time for each of us to work on our independent study projects. Most of us are planting down in Athens and simply chugging away on our computers, but others are traveling off to various parts of the Greek world (or, as Kyle Jazwa and Ben O’Donnell are already at, southwestern Turkey). Blog entries will resume Tuesday, April 24th, when we reconvene in Athens before making a loop out around the Peloponnese.
This enormous archaic koros was commissioned as a votive offering and lined the Sacred Way. Nick points at the blue veining of the marble, which accentuates the roundness of the butt cheeks. 
The group members each gave presentations at the Samos Museum to brush up on their oral skills and to help relieve Professor Rutter’s strained voice. Here, Ray lectures on Corinthian pottery while nick and Johan look on.
Cauldrons with griffin protomes lining their rims were the most common form of votive offering in the 8th and 7th centuries. The apotropaic griffins were mean to ward off bad apples, and since the protomes on this cauldron are missing, Nick is able to approach.
In the mid-6th century BC, the inhabitants of Samos constructed the Eupalinus Tunnel through a hill to access the water source on the other side. Kinsey descends into the tunnel’s narrow opening with a brave smile.
Ray squeezes through the passageway running underneath corbel vaulted blocks. Although he is missing his Indiana Jones hat today, those traveling behind him are confident he will overcome any booby traps.
Liz and Pete raise the roof.
In the eighth century AD, people hid in the tunnel during pirate raids. During that especially unstable period some people actually lived in the tunnel, and Mike keeps out of sight in a hollowed out space that was once a dwelling.
Kinsey comes up with a new method of archaeological dating—stalactite measuring. Stalactite in caves—or in this case tunnels—grow incredibly slowly, and the small stalactites here could be a hundred to a thousand years old.
Professor Rutter sits on a stone wall that once formed part of a dwelling. He sits out in the open, unafraid of pirate raiders.
Pete can barely contain himself when he buys a delicious gyro for lunch.
Brooks, Kinsey, Liz, and Ray eat their lunches near the waterfront at a more leisurely pace.
While measuring the road, Pete inadvertently creates a finish line with his metric tape measurer. Kyle, who loves both measuring and running, is sorely missed.
Gahl measures Pete’s Mohawk to discover that it makes Pete three inches taller. Pete is happy.
At Heraion everyone breaks up into small groups to analyze different moldings. Kinsey scans the sight in search of a block bearing the bead-and-reel molding she will be examining.
Liz examines the profile of a leaf-and-dart molding and observes that it has a discernible s-curve.
Josh measures the width of his molding. Comparing the proportions of different moldings of the same type helps archaeologists to date them.
Liz and Gahl stand in as votive offerings along the Sacred Way. The sculptural group of which they are a part was dedicated by an extremely wealthy family; the father reclines on the left, two daughters stand next to him, and the wife is seated on the right. The missing statues are believed to have been a son and another daughter.
Ray points to the oldest ashlar masonry wall we will see on this trip. It makes up part of the ruins of the Temple of Hera.
Pete and Nick attempt to sword fight with their tape measurers. Nick pouts when his tape measurer fails to stay up.
Final Comments:
We are now more than one-third of the way through this program, and about halfway through the group travel portion. Souvenirs have been purchased, friendships forged, opinions of the program voiced, and, the true sign that we are settling into the routine of our Foreign Study Program, the necessities of laundry and bathing have lessened. Now, it is time for a new adventure – time in Greece without the direct leadership of Professor Rutter. Just as was the case after the first Indiana Jones movie, our FSP adventure is just beginning!
