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Mediating Archaeology

Saturday August 16, 2003

Today I will revisit the Flamboura area where Blue Team began on the 26th of July 1980. I will dive a little deeper into the notion of reiteration with respect to survey.

Because of the lack of topographical points of reference in this low lying area and the difficulty I am having in linking the fragments of the 1:5000 maps from the notebook to the maps provided by Jameson et. al. in the 1994 publication it is to say the least difficult to locate the area transected beginning on July 26, 1980. I will have to take more time to explore the greater area.

I was finally able to position the general area of B60, B62, B61, etc. by locating the old well near the road junction as marked on the 1:5000 in the Blue Team field notebook. I then drove up to the area just north of the new well marked in the low depression between B53 and B61. I will now set out for B61 and B62 and plan a video walk from the junction up.

Walking south on a parallel line with he dirt road I was able to locate B61 with relative ease. B61, dubbed "a small roof tile site", Blue team located it on the 30th while transecting S to N along the dirt road. The site does continue into the maquis to the west and there is a fair amount of roof tiles fragments in the vicinity. Only two bee boxes remain tucked under a pine to the west of the site. When the team was inspecting the area the farmer here was smoking his hives so the survey team’s work on the site wasn’t as thorough as it might have been by their own admission. N 37° 20.347, E 023° 10.640

Sound sample was taken at 10:28.

I hope to be able to acoustically sample B62 and B60 and other areas in the vicinity along with B61 in an attempt to get a handle on the acoustic properties of the area. Ideally one needs a continuous source of sound from a particular point in the landscape. A human voice works perfectly or a road with continuous traffic as with the upper Fournoi valley.

I have taken several photographs of what remains of the beekeeper’s hives. There are many concrete block platforms but most of the cases have either been taken away or burned up. I also shot a photo of the new well. I will now take a video walk from the junction where the old well is up to B61 and through the area where the hives were located to just above B61 which is now fenced in. In order to access it I might have to approach from another direction.

I have just completed a video walk from the old well across B61 through the beehive area and into B62. B61 and B62 are separated by a few, app. 60, meters of maquis and as Jameson et al acknowledge these could be one continuous site. This seems to be the case. B62 is littered with material culture. A large pithos rim portion was located in the shrub enclosure encircling the beehive area. Most of the sherds are courseware. Some roof tile fragments and a few black glazed pieces. The plot of land to the immediate south of B62 has been fenced off. There is also a limestone basin 48 x 61 x 28 cm with a circular depression in the center, app. 33 cm in diameter. This may have been used as a rotary quern. More recently this object has been acting as someone’s hearth. Heat from a fire has cracked a portion of the stone. I will take a photograph.

There are scattered body parts of dead goats lying about the area. I will photograph these and document the area. The smell of death and decay is still with this goat. B62N 37° 20.336, E 023° 10.604

I took two panoramas—one inside B62 and the other from within the abandoned beehive enclosure.

The middle of the abandoned beehive area is @ N 37° 20.349 E 023° 10.605. Sound sample was taken at high noon under the shade of a carob in B62. Upon leaving the enclosure area I met a local home owner under the large carob near my car.

I just completed a video walk up to the hilltop somewhere near B60. I will try to find the site then head back to the car and to Porto Kheli for lunch.

1:10pm—I walked south along the spur that comes out from the summit of the hill toward a new house with a turkey coop at the rear. I took a panorama of the area because I came across a light scatter. I then walked back toward the hill summit where I came across B60. I filmed a quick segment of the materials on the surface—mainly roof tile fragments. I have taken a panorama of the site N 37° 20.350, E 023° 10.465. I took a sound sample under a carob tree near the hill top.

On the way back from lunch in Porto Kheli where I filmed a segment along the sidewalk by the shops, etc, I stopped by A6, Samioti Magoula.

I took a video walk to the east from the car to the top of the magoula. The entire top of the hill had been very recently plowed to a depth of app. 40 to 50 cm. The area was littered with materials, cups, jars, fragments of pithoi, handstones, possible pot lids, potential building stones, mortars, a rotary quern, etc. I took 3 panoramas and a video walk around a portion of the exterior.

I took a sound sample on the summit of the hill at 3:15pm N 37° 19.507, E 023° 10.555.

I will now take the 35mm camera to the top for some shots of the plow zone and the magoula then head back to the Red Team survey area from this morning.

The hill B53 sits upon is now covered by several houses making it impossible to get near because they are surrounded by fences and have signs referring to large dogs. I will move on to B63.

I have parked across the road from the field with B63. The area is fenced in but as fortune would have it the gate is open and therefore I haven’t got to go around. I will locate B63 and go through the motions. B63@N 37° 20.301, E 023° 10.421

Sound sample taken at 4:40pm.

I found B63 after I spent some time looking around. There aren’t many materials in the area just a few roof tile fragments. I took a video walk and transect along a SW—NE line.

5:00pm—at this point I can either continue to look for more sites or call it at that and begin with the Petrothalassa area on Monday after ancient Hermion tomorrow morning and the interviews in the afternoon. I went with the latter.

Go back to August 15, 2003

Forward to August 17, 2003

August 16, 2003 log entries

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