The Vigla Archaeological Field School

Mason Ross

This year, us three returning students (myself, Riley, and Matthew) have been given our own shiny new EU to open. As seasoned veterans of Vigla we are supervising the trench together, which has turned out to be fairly similar to the year before, except with far more paperwork to fill out while covered in dirt with the knowledge that what you write will become a part of this trench and this site forever. 

Our trench is EU 36, the westernmost unit of the site, directly in front of the shade tents. The trench was opened with the goal of finding the western outer wall of the whole building complex. The three of us began work on EU 36 optimistic and slightly confused about soil consolidation. After a few days, and more than a few new blisters, we made it through the topsoil in the 5 meter by 5 meter trench. Our fearless and stress-free directors then received word from the British base officials that their shoot schedule was going into overtime. Vigla is unfortunately located within the base’s firing range area, meaning we must work around their target practice. Now, with suddenly fewer days on site, the decision was made to cut the 5×5 meter trench in half and focus on one side for the foreseeable future. 

Continue reading “EU 36 Trench Update 1”

Sarah Haselton

As the days begin to tick worryingly close to the finish-line, EU 33 is a blur of frenetic activity and endless bothering of Elise, our valiant trench supervisor. It has not helped that I and the other Sarah in the trench (we aren’t called Team Sarah-ndipity for no reason) have been bedridden for the past few days from being sick. I think in reality the power of Sarah² was just too much for the universe, but they couldn’t keep us down for long. This season, EU 33’s primary goal has been to knock down the bulks on the north and west sides. I have been diligently working on the west bulk, and wow, I don’t even know where to begin on this update because what on earth is going on down there?? In all honesty, I don’t even know if our Hellenistic friends knew what they were doing.

Continue reading “Evil Slabs and Grinding Stones”

Riley Stockton

Somehow, it is already the month of July; the sun is getting hotter, and the time left in Cyprus is getting rapidly shorter. I was given the opportunity to return to Cyprus and work on a student research project with a Ruby-Lankford grant, and in doing so, I have become more familiar with on-site digging, the work done at Terra Ombra, and the lovely city of Larnaca. So much has already been taught and learned in this short time, and I am excited for the rest of the season to better understand the work done here at Vigla! 

This year, I have spent a lot more of my time at Terra Ombra, where I have had the opportunity to expand on what I learned about pottery the previous year. Specifically, I have learned a lot more about the process pottery undergoes after being unearthed by the various young archaeologists at Vigla over the years. With the expertise and guidance of co-director Dr. Melanie Godsey, I have begun to help read pottery and look at basket-handle amphorae for more in-depth research. 

Continue reading “Brat summer is out, pottery summer is in.”

Joaquin Pellegrin-Alvarez

This was intended, in my mind’s eye, to be a blog post about coins on Cyprus, but I couldn’t find much without my institutional access granted to me by Reed College which I have to be on a computer to get, and all the other information online is from weird coin collector websites which is a whole kind of sketchy thing, so I’ve heard. So instead we went to a bunch of museums and archaeological places last week and I can talk about that. That’s also why this is like super late so let’s hope Tom accepts this (n.b., I accept this – Tom).

Continue reading “Museums and More Museums”

Kendall Christensen

I was told before coming to Cyprus that it would be hot out. I knew it would be hot out. I’ve been in hot places before. Well… turns out it really is warm here. So warm that all you really want to do is crawl into the deepest, darkest hole you can find, and take a nap. However, Cyprus is a wonderland of history, material culture, and geology. One might think that the exploration urge and the crawling-into-a-deep-dark-hole urge go perfectly hand-in-hand for archaeologists in Cyprus. Tragically, excavation is a rather time-consuming and meticulous process, and the trenches don’t get deep and dark (or even shaded) for a good long while. Luckily, Cyprus has a wealth of archaeological parks that have already been excavated, ready for exploration by overheated yet indefatigable young archaeologists.

Continue reading “Well, Well, Well …”

Aoife Raney

Chris’ Juice Bar, a small shop just across from our hotel in Larnaca, is an essential part of the Vigla Archaeological Field School. And for good reason: after a long, hot day on site, Chris can serve up a smoothie that will satisfy like nothing else. Often, as dozens of thirsty students and professors pour out of vans and towards the juice bar, a significant line forms. When waiting in this line, one’s attention is drawn to a large sign placed just outside of the store. It is a list of twenty items, all of which purport to be the remarkable benefits of just one fruit among the dozens Chris can provide–pomegranate. A number of these claims, “slows down aging,” “protects DNA,” and “natural Viagra” to name a few, seem dubious. On the whole, the list seems exaggerated, but mostly rooted in science. However, I am not interested in the truth. I want to know, what is this sign saying? How does it think I should live my life? What I should value? I should drink Chris’ pomegranate juice because it will bring upon me these myriad blessings, but why are these the things I should value?

The list of “beneficial characteristics” is as follows:

Continue reading “Chris’ Juice Bar”

Mason Ross

We’ve all been there. The family in the villa next to you just commissioned a beautiful, life-sized marble statue for the local temple, and now they get to put their name all over it. Just like that, everyone thinks they are so great and forgets that their patriarch almost received enough votes to be ostracized last month. Wouldn’t it be great to get your own marble deity to show them who the good citizens really are? But between the price of decent marble these days, finding a good craftsman, not to mention the months it’ll take to finish the statue, the cost is just too high. 

Well, you may just be in luck. That’s right, your votive statue need not be painstakingly carved out of rock when it could be made out of ever-abundant clay. Terracotta statues and figurines take a fraction of the time to make and are crafted from locally sourced materials. Even better, a single craftsman can produce hundreds of stylish pieces to decorate your neighborhood temple or home thanks to the innovation of mold-made statues! 

Continue reading “Some Assembly Required: Molded Figurines”

Sarah Haselton

First, an introduction to the company is called for. Zorbas was founded in 1975 in Athienou, a village in Cyprus. It was initially a small family business, but now it lays claim to many locations across Cyprus. In 2015, they expanded their presence to New York City, where they have a store called “The French Workshop” in Queens. There are now three locations across the city, with another on the way.

Before I even arrived in Larnaca or had seen the city with my own eyes, one of the paramount aspects of the city which had been told to me was Zorbas, a 24 hour bakery with multiple locations all over Cyprus – and, as I was to learn, in the United States. Previous participants in the dig raved to me about their experience at the bakery, and I couldn’t help but feel anticipation to explore Zorbas myself. And finally, when I got to Cyprus, my frenzied waiting came to a close.

So, let me paint you a word picture: It is 4:30am. A faint yellow stripe of light is creeping over the horizon, but the moon continues to glow silver in relentless defiance. Her family of stars stick by her side like a brood of ducklings, refusing to let their light grow dim. My alarm rings, and I wrench open my eyes in frenzied instinct, my brain reacting to the noise like a veteran hearing fireworks. Be still my heart, I think to myself, subconsciously quoting Homer as I so often do. My stress only mounts as I and my three other roommates rush to get ready with only one bathroom. Somehow we find ourselves in the appointed meeting place at 5am, where I stumble into a van which, like the illustrious chariot of Helios, conveys me to Zorbas. 

Continue reading “Ode to Zorbas”

Riley Stockton

Founded in the Hellenistic period and continued on through Roman times, Nea Paphos is a site that offers a glimpse into an ancient city and some elite Roman mosaics. I loved the site last year, which I wrote a blog post on in July 2024 as well, but after another year of study, the site posed new questions and interests for me—mainly the conservation and management of the site and, more specifically, of the remarkable mosaics. 

Nea Paphos has been excavated by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw since 1963, and was joined by Jagiellonian University later in 2011 to uncover the different Hellenistic and Roman elements of the site. In 1980, the site was listed as one of the three parts comprising the Paphos area as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which increased both tourism and support for the site to fund restoration and preservation projects. 

Restoration at Nea Paphos has focused primarily on the mosaics as they provide a substantial draw for tourism to the site and are more vulnerable to the elements and human activity than the walls of buildings and such. While we were walking around the site, I noticed the different practices put in place to allow visitors to engage with the site, but still protect the ancient art. 

Continue reading “Protecting Paphos”

Joaquin Pellegrin-Alvarez

When I got to Cyprus and started walking around the city of Larnaka, where we’re staying, one question kept coming to mind…

Who’s this ‘Agios Lazaros’ guy?

I saw his name everywhere, on local schools, on the names of businesses, and even on the very few street signs that exist in Larnaka (apparently most people don’t really care about them here). Then, after seeing the name ‘Agios Nikolaos’ on bottled water translated to ‘Saint Nicholas’ on English versions of the brand, I realized that Agios means ‘saint’ and isn’t a first name, thus the name I was seeing everywhere was Saint Lazarus. So…

Who’s this Saint Lazarus guy?

Continue reading “Agios Lazaros”