Here's what I'm doing

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd drop a post explaining what it is I'm actually doing here.

(The landscape here is very similar to southern California. Both Cyprus and SoCal are considered "mediterranean" climates).


Our area of research is a hilltop outside the city of Larnaca on Cyprus. There is a ton of material evidence of past settlements simply laying on the ground.

These are pottery shards. They're over a thousand years old and they're brought up to the surface by farmers plowing their fields for agricultural use. Under these fields there used to be a settlement during several periods, possibly ranging from the 300's BC to the 600's AD.

The professors laid grids out on the site using GPS and computers. We then walk the field taking samples of the different kinds of pottery we find. Dr. Moore, our ciramicist, examines the pottery shards to determing their type of use (for storage, cooking, or fineware for eating) and their age. The data is compiled on a computer and laid out in terms of density. From this data we can deduce the size of the settlement, its function, and its connection with the greater eastern Mediterranean.

This is an example of an exceptional find. The decorations aid in the dating and use of the piece. I'm not sure what this particular one is; I don't think the professors have come to any conclusions yet, either.
The area we're surveying is on a British army base; it's actually the hinterland of their firing range. While they haven't done any shelling in the area for many years, we're still careful not to grab at any strange looking metal objects.

Well, that's all from this side of the world. Hope all is well, and I'll post next time something interesting happens.

Ruins and Castles!

Did another day of site seeing on Saturday. Saw a lot of cool stuff. My nose was running the whole time--I thought it was allergies, but today I'm absolutely fine. Maybe it was a cold. I dunno.

We traveled about an hour to the south west to a great late Roman site called Amathus. These ruins date probably from the 400's to the 600's AD.


The site was really cool; there were the ruins of a Roman marketplace (or "agora") at the bottom of the hill. At the top of the hill were the ruins of an early Byzantine church. Beautiful view of the Mediterranean. I can see why the Romans liked it.

Then we went to another late Roman site called Kurion. Here I am again standing in the "agora", the market place. The site also had Roman baths, a theater, and an early Byzantine basilica (church). The coolest part was the ruins of what seems to be an upper-class residence.

This mosaic, which was presumably on the floor of the rich guy's house, is still largely intact. The depiction of Roman gladiators implies that he was strongly connected to Roman culture; the Greek script implies that he was indeed Cypriot. Hence, we have evidence of a Romanized Cypriot culture. Kind of cool.

I tried to take this picture of my buddy and my professor and his wife interfered. It was too good of a picture not to blog.

This was my favorite part. We got to go to the nearby Frankish castle at Kolossi. It dates back to the early 1200's. The land was given by the Frankish (French) king of the Lusignan dynasty to the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. John (Knights Hospitaller). The knights were a newer breed of monk that centered on using violent means to defend the pilgrimage roads to the Holy Land. After the conquest of the Latin Kingdoms in the Holy Land, the knights used Cyprus as their base. The Castle was a local bastion and was used to oversee sugar production in the area.



Here's a monument from the castle grounds with the famous crusader cross shield.



Here's the crest from the side of the castle; the big shield in the center is the family crest of the leader of the Knights Hospitaller, and the other shields are the symbols of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller.



Immediately inside the castle was a badly-damaged fresco of the crucifixion. It is most likely contemporary with the rest of the castle, which means it was painted some time in the 1200's or 1300's. It's interesting to me because there are some elements which seem typical of Greek religious painting, but the inscription above Jesus' head is "I.N.R.I", a Latin (hence, Frankish) abbreviation. We might have a cool instance of blending Frankish culture with Cypriot culture--but I'll have to do a little more research before I bet on that.


Here's the classic "Fleur-de-lis" typical of French stuff, on the side of one of the fireplaces in the castle. These knights identified themselves as Franks, or were at least proud of their Frankish heritage. Interesting!

Well, we're starting to do survey fieldwork now. Perhaps I'll post some pictures of that stuff so you can get an idea of what exactly we are doing.

Until next time!

More sight seeing

Yesterday we did some more sightseeing in the immediate area around Larnaca. This church is a few blocks away from my hotel. It's named after St. Lazarus, the dude whom Jesus rose from the dead. According to tradition Lazarus was the first bishop of Larnaca (and I think Cyprus). His bones were supposedly held in the church until the Byzantine Emperor relocated them to Constantinople. I think today they're in Milan. This connection with Lazarus is important to the Orthodox of the island. As one guy told me in the church, "He lived his new life in Cyprus, and he's our saint."




The church has been rebuilt many times, and like many other things on Cyprus, it contains elements of the different cultures that ruled the island. The domed structures are typically Byzantine Orthodox; the bell tower looks very Italian, suggesting design by the venetians who controlled the island for a little under a hundred years; the vaulting is typical of Frankish (think "gothic") buildings.

This mosque, according to legend, holds the remains of Muhammed's Aunt's remains. She apparently accompanied her husband on a raid of the island, where she fell off her donkey and died. I think technically this is maybe the third most holy site in Islam.

This church is very old. How old, one can't say since it's been rebuilt several times. The important thing is that it houses a Byzantine religious Icon that predates the Iconoclasm controvesy of the early 800's AD. There are very few of these in existence. I got to see it, but unfortunately I couldn't take a picture.

This is a medieval tower built by the Venetians during their tenure in power. Situated on a high hill, the tower has 200 degrees of ocean visibility, making it a prime spot to watch for incoming enemies.

Well, that's it for now. I did some more seeing today and I'll post those pictures as soon as I have time. Later.

Sight-seeing

Today we got to go do some local sight-seeing.

This church in a village outside of Larnaca shows an interesting combination of Roman, Byzantine, and modern types of architecture-- a good metaphor for the island of Cyprus. The interesting thing, though, was in the courtyard:

This is an olive oil press that dates back to... I dunno, a long time ago. An intact version would look like this: http://www.ibizaholidays.com/Nature/Images%20Nature%20Ibiza/olive-press-ibiza.jpg

The town was interesting because it was obviously very old, but it was still a bustling village:
Here you can see old, old mud bricks decaying on the edge of a guy's house, with brand-new buildings across the street. This juxtoposition defines Cyprus.

This is a tomb from the Hellenic Period (about 300BC) that's outside the town of Pyla.


It was kind of eerie, but kind of cool to stand in a 2500 year old crypt. Sort of a big deal.

This is a Medieval tower constructed by the Lusignan dynasty during Frankish Crusader rule of the island (1191-1489). This was exciting, as this totally fits in my own area of interest.

From the top of the tower one could get a great view of the precarious reality of modern Cyprus; the top half is controlled by a Turkish-Cypriot regime after the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974. The island is divided by the "green zone", an uninhabited strip of land that is patrolled by the U.N. The town of Pyla, where the tower and the tomb are, is located within the green zone and is still inhabited by both Turks and Greek-Cypriot. This situation is a big deal and it dominates the politics of the island and the E.U. debate concerning Turkey.

Feel free to drop comments and such. Until next time!

The Trip to Cyprus

I arrived in Cyprus this morning. A buddy and I scheduled a long layover in London so he could check out a Roman helmet he's doing research on. Here are some pics from day 1.
Funny story behind the subway pic (above). I set down my camera next to the edge of the gap and put it on auto to get that picture. The subway security guard freeked out because I placed an object on the ground and then apparently walked out of his sight. He thought it could have been a bomb or something. He was very polite about it, though; apparently I could have been in big trouble. The famous 2500 year old "Discus Man" sculpture at the British Museum.


My buddy closely examining an inscription on the neckguard of a 1st century AD Roman soldier's helmet. It's the real deal.




The view from my balcony. Larnaca, from what I can tell in Day 1, is a pretty cool city, combining both a European mediterranean and Middle Eastern feel.

Peace out. I'll post more as they come!

Nothing to Post Yet...

This blog is secondary to the one I'm getting academic credit for. I'll post some pictures and stuff as soon as I get some. Peace out!