Desiree represented the 2016 season at Sussita by the Concordia Team at the International Archaeology Day sponsored by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Institute of Archaeology at Macalester College. Her poster was one of ten from area students. She answered questions about our methods, finds, and models. #WeAreCSP
A poster proposal by Desiree Reding and Ben Meyer has been accepted for the annual Archaeology Day event sponsored by the MN Society of The Archaeological Institute of America. In celebration of International Archaeology Day and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Historic Preservation Act, the Minnesota chapter has invited graduate and undergraduate students to present posters about their recent archaeological fieldwork or research projects related to archaeology and cultural heritage preservation. Dez and Ben will present a poster titled, “Systems, Finds, and Models: the 2016 Northeast Insula Project at Hippos of the Decapolis, Jordan Valley, Israel.”
The poster session will be held in conjunction with a lecture by Sudharshan Seneviratne, recipient of the 2013 AIA Award for Best Practice in Conservation and Heritage Management, about “Cultural Heritage Preservation in Sri Lanka.” The lecture will be at 11am, followed by a poster presentation and reception from 12-2 pm. Please, join us in room 102, Fine Arts Common, at Macalester College on Saturday, 15 October.
Photogrammetry holds much promise for the documenting of archaeological work, as we have demonstrated over the last two years.
I have been experimenting recently with additional techniques.
As you may recall, one student recovered a small Byzantine storage jar that was intact.
But when I tried to make a 3D model of the jar, the result failed.
The software could not find points on the jar to construct the bottom.
I have also attempted to make models of larger sections of the site. My first attempt at the south half of the House of Tyche came out rather well, except for a hole in the west wall next to Cardo 3N.
More attempts to follow.
15 years
182 individual diggers
281 trips to Israel
6300 cubic meters or roughly 22250 cubic feet of excavated soil/rock (very rough approximation)
66750 buckets of soil and rock moved
862 individually documented artifacts
965 pottery analysis baskets
331 loci (walls, floors and distinct layers of soil in identifiable locales)
$1,000,000 plus in total expenses including airfare
Now that the field work is over, people often ask what I will do now.
Work on the Northeast Insula Project is far from over! The project is shifting from the field work phase to the publication phase. So, I expect to be involved in the Northeast Insula Project for a number of years.
First of all, I will be writing a report on the 2016 season. That report will be submitted to my colleagues at Haifa, along with supporting documentation. I will also post that complete report here under the menu item “Excavation Reports.”
Secondly, I will be reorganizing all the data from the dig over fifteen years and publishing much of that data on this site. I want anyone interested to be able to see as much detail about the field work as possible. I will also include in this phase copies of all papers I have presented on the excavation (along with the supporting slides).
Lastly, there is the Final Report. I am not sure at this early stage about the format or the publisher. But it is so very important for future scholarship to provide a comprehensive discussion of the work of the last decade and a half. And that will happen.
Even though I am no longer in the field, the Northeast Insula Project will be a going concern for a number of years. And I will also follow closely the work of my colleagues from Haifa and elsewhere on this beautiful mountain overlooking the Sea.
