M5TU1
Volume 83, Issue 3 \Neb Edition
clarion.brevard.edu
SERVING BREVARD COLLEGE SINCE 1935
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September 6, 2017
BC students in Greece
Important evidence found during summer trip
By Jordon Morgan
Editor in Chief
New evidence citing proof of human occupation in Greece during the
Late Bronze age was uncovered in the latest archaeological expedition
conducted by Professors Robert Bauslaugh and Anne Chapin during the
summer of 2017.
Along with Bauslaugh and Chapin, the trip also included former as well
as current Brevard College students. Lizzy Williams, Casey Whitmire,
Jerrett Stevenson, and Thomas Ruppel all contributed to aiding with the
field work. Work which consisted of 7 am to 4 pm shifts every single day,
with an hour break for lunch, for four to six weeks straight.
According to Professor Bauslaugh, the BC students who choose to
go on the trip show “great dedication as the school can’t support them
other than lodging,” adding that “they’re a great help as there’s so much
evidence to sort through. Not all of it is going to be useful and they won’t
be stored.” In addition, Bauslaugh says that so many extra hands helps
everyone involved more quickly shuffle through all the findings to find
what they can or should keep and what won’t.
Every summer since 2010, Bauslaugh and Chapin have taken a handful
of Brevard College Students, both former and current, to the island of
Crete located in Greece. Having previously spent time in areas like Sparta,
Bauslaugh and Chapin are certainly no strangers to big scale projects in
foreign countries.
Expeditions such as these require not only students and other volunteers
to sift through the materials and evidence, but also cooperation between
multiple universities to properly catalogue the plethora of said materials
that one could find in a place like Greece. Professor Louise Hitchcock
from the University of Melbourne in Australia along with Emilia Banou
from the University of Peloponnese aided in the excavation.
Professor Bauslaugh explained that their primary aid in Greece itself
came from the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.
Even getting the aid of these professors and organizations was no small
task. “Lining up all the academic schedules of Australia, Greece, and
Brevard is hard to manage,” Bauslaugh says. There is also the issue of
getting the necessary permits to even begin the study in the first place.
While they happen to be conducting this archaeological dig, an official
from the government in Greece has to “act as partner and overseer” ac
cording to Bauslaugh.
Despite the difficulties, it was well worth the effort. Even though he
couldn’t get into exact specifics of what was uncovered until the findings
were confirmed and published in an academic publication, Bauslaugh was
able to divulge a few details.
“We uncovered new evidence that was never found which confirmed the
theory of human occupation in the late Bronze Age. There was a concentra
tion of evidence of a settlement,” Bauslaugh says. He also explained that
this evidence, which included things such as pottery and stone materials,
all pointed to the possible existence of a palace in the center of it all.
This important find also serves another purpose, which is to legitimize
further investigation into this subject. Professor Bauslaugh says that
they will report their findings to Philadelphia in January of 2018 to the
Archaeological Institute of America, after which he and Professor Chapin
will return to Greece in June of 2018 as well so that they can work through
all the material they found for further review and documentation.
Left: 1st day: Setting
out the string iines
marking the survey
area boundary.
Above: Day trip
eariy on to Diros
Cave in the Mani;
BC students:
Thomas Rupie,
Casey Whitmire,
Liz Hiil; and Jarrett
Stevenson.
Right: Jim Reynoids
(geoiogist) expioring
a shaliow cave in the
survey area.