Archaeology

This summer, I’m doing two projects that involve the Hexamilion Wall. The Hexamilion Wall is the famous Late Antique fortification wall that runs across the Isthmus of Corinth. It was published by my advisor Tim Gregory in the 1990s and has long loomed on the edge of my archaeological consciousness and experiences. (In fact, I… Read More →

It is a pretty exciting time for scholars of Early Christian architecture and archaeology. A new generation of scholars is returning to fundamental problems and sites in our field with new ideas and renewed vigor. There is no better example of this than TWO major articles on the Christian building at Dura Europos appearing in… Read More →

One of the great challenges (and probably benefits) of being overseas doing research is that there are so few distractions from work. In fact, there’s a significant motivation to work because you’re away from home and spending precious grant money. Working without distractions and with a significant impetus is great, but it also has certain… Read More →

As I’m settling in Cyprus, I’ve been reading a few recent articles on Cypriot things that have piqued my imagination a bit. There are three pieces in particular that feel like a good place to start a short, but fun “three things Thursday”: Thing the First I was intrigued by a recent article by Rafael… Read More →

Last week, I posted a draft of the first of two proposal drafts for the Polis project on Cyprus. Here is the second one. We have a rather ambitious plan to get these two volumes submitted over the next two years. This might seem a bit unrealistic, but volume one is almost done and we… Read More →

I will admit that it’s taking me a bit longer to get my feet under me this summer than I would have liked. Every year travel gets a bit harder and it takes me a bit longer to recover. To make matters just a bit more complicated, I also feel a bit more pressure each… Read More →

I had a long flight over the weekend and I managed to get a certain amount of work done, but most of the time that wasn’t in fitful sleep, I was reading a James Sallis novel. I worked my way through two more novels from the Lew Griffin series: Black Hornet and Eye of the… Read More →

As a bit of lark David Pettegrew and I submitted the following abstract to the Journal of Field Archaeology for their 50th anniversary volume. According to the call for proposals, they’re looking for papers that consider “what inspires researchers to do their best work?” The longer I spend in the field of archaeology, the less… Read More →

Among scholars interested in pseudoarchaeology, there is a longstanding concern that popular pseudoarchaeological programs (e.g. “Ancient Aliens”) are a gateway that draws unsuspecting victims into the world of right wing politics and racism. For others, however, an interest in pseudoarchaeological is a gateway to Black musical traditions and to that end, I spent some time… Read More →

I know that my posts here have become increasing far afield from my core training in Mediterranean archaeology, but as my summer plans take shape it feels useful to remember (for myself? for my readers?) that I’m trying to keep a toe in the Mediterranean archaeology game. Scott Moore and I plan to complete some… Read More →