Signing off

The jet-lag is finally starting to wear off as I begin to write this final post for the Roman-Gaul 2017 trip.  Each year at the end of the trip I ask the students to submit their favorite moments/memories from the trip.  You will find those below.  But first, I must reflect briefly on how fortunate I have been once again to share these adventures with another exceptional group of students.  Their endless intellectual curiosity, energy, and kindness toward one another never ceases to amaze and inspire me.  I am grateful beyond words to have had the opportunity to develop and lead this trip for the third year now and thanks must be given to PEA and the Behr Fund for their support of it.  Thank you also to the parents who were willing to share their children with me for three weeks out of the summer and for the trust they placed in Mr. Langford and myself to keep them safe while traveling in another country.  And finally, thank you to the archaeologists, guides, and staff at the Bibracte research center for hosting us and creating an incredible program for our students.

Now, for the favorite moments:

 

Suan:

Excavation of the Roman Cellar at Site PC2: I don’t have a particular memory from the excavation that I can say was my favorite; I just know that the overall experience of working at site PC2 is something I will never forget. How many people are lucky enough to know the exhilarating feeling of excavating an ancient site, and how many of those few privileged individuals are fifteen-year-olds? Despite all my complaining about being sore and exhausted, I am nothing less than grateful about my time doing archaeological field work at Bibracte and I wish I could do it all over again with amazing friends and mentors by my side.

Picnic by the Arar: I read Caesar’s De Bello Gallico with Ms. Campbell last winter in Latin 220. My recollection of the passages and their translation is admittedly a little shaky now, but it was still a pleasure to revisit Caesar’s writing. He was right — the river is indeed so slow that it is difficult to tell with the eyes in which direction the water is flowing. I remember we had gorgeous weather that day, and the baguettes and pringles we had after our sight translation session tasted delicious.

Jack:

Our final night in Glux-en-Glenne; having a final get-together with our newfound French friends was tremendously special and made me appreciate even more my experience at Bibracte. Sitting down around the fire, eating Zac’s delicious chicken wings and sausages, I came to fully understand the connection I made with these fun and charismatic kids. I even got the snapchat of some of them, so hopefully we can keep in touch!

Working in the pit with the bucket squad and perfecting our revolutionary dirt-loosening methods (basically the five of us in “le cave” using pick axes all at once without impaling one other). Talk about trust! Even though working in the pit was tough, it felt so satisfying finally seeing the bottom and shoveling out the last few buckets of dirt.

Jason:

My favorite moments were probably Glanum and the theater in Orange.  I liked these two because I can finally see well preserved monuments in real life.  The arch and cenotaph in Glanum were very interesting and the frons scaenae in the theater was very well preserved.

Alexis:

Running outside in pouring rain to see a rainbow with Suan and Alphonso at Bibracte–you could see both ends of the rainbow.

The caves at Arcy-Sur-Cure–it was wild, ridiculously beautiful.

Alphonso:

Working with the Czech team on their site. To see actual archeologists uncover something that’s hasn’t been seen for thousands of years and to experience  firsthand the process of excavation from the perspective of an experienced team is a memory that I will never forget.

The unexpected aquaduct on the way back to Arles. That you can simply stumble upon something as impressive as an aquaduct while driving through the south of France speaks to both the ti melessness and ubiquity of Roman influence in the modern world.

Grace:

My two favorite things from this trip would have to be: Arles and Bibracte.

Arles was so cute and my hotel room had a balcony that looked out over an amphitheater. The entire town was so rich with history and beauty and was overall an incredible introduction to France. In Bibracte I got to live my dream as I learned the basics of archaeology and meet interesting new French friends. I loved the village atmosphere of Glux-en-Glenne and the natural beauty of the mountains. The entire trip was fabulous and I wish I could stay longer!

Zac:

The pont du gard was probably my favorite place we visited, the site and the background was beautiful and the fact the aqueduct dropped 1 foot over a whole kilometer was mind blowing. Also being able to go swimming in the river next to the aqueduct was a great way to cool down after a long day.

The visit to the Czech dig site where we learned how to use the GIS system, a program that allows you to create a coordinate system of points from found items. At the site we were also able to dig samples and Alexis and I managed to find the bottom of an amphora bottle.

Ginny: 

Before I choose my favorite parts of the trip (which may be the hardest part of the journey yet) I’d like to say that I feel incredibly fortunate to have been a part of this group. Seeing each of these sites has opened my mind to new ways of looking at the world, both modern and ancient. Thank you to all who have made this trip a success. I have enjoyed every minute of it!

1. The Basilica of the Virgin Mary (Lyon)
When we arrived at the Basilica, the sky was overcast and it was beginning to rain. The gray clouds made the golden statue of Mary shine even brighter than before, though, and the church inside was no different. The walls were decorated with beautiful Biblical paintings adorned with Latin inscriptions. Before leaving, Grace and I lit two candles and said a prayer. As I walked out of the church, I looked back at the vibrant flame shining through the dark blue glass. It reminded me of all the things I had taken for granted on this trip. I departed from the Basilica with a new sense of peace and gratefulness.

2. The Mosaic Museum (Saint-Romain-en-Gal)
Our group walked to the museum as the sun was at its zenith, but everyone was still excited to see all of the famous works of art inside. The museum was not only beautiful in terms of the mosaics but also in terms of the building’s design as well. Walking slowly through the museum with the audio guide in hand, I developed a new appreciation for the skill of these ancient artists. Their work was not only decorative–it was a way to immortalize their culture in the most functional of ways. Seeing the houses that once held these pieces of art also helped me understand the placement and importance of the mosaics. In the end (despite the weather) I feel that my trip wouldn’t have been the same without this visit.
Nosa:

Of the many great memories I have formed over this trip, here are my two favorites.

The first was when the bucket squad (Jack, Alexis, Zac, Suan, Sarah, and I) went into the pit for the first time. We brought the efficiency of our bucket chain to the pit, and the work changed from tedious to very fun and efficient.

The second was at the Triumphal Arch and Mausoleum pair before Glanum. I really learned a new way to look at art from our analysis.

Sophia:

My first favorite moment from this trip was visiting the Pont du Gard. As soon as I caught sight of this monumental aqueduct, I found myself gaping. It looked as if it could still transport water to Nimes. In addition, wading through the river below the Pont du Gard with Jason and Alphonso was extremely refreshing, especially after a hot day of sightseeing. Afterwards, Mr. Langford and I discussed the sights we had seen (and a little about Korean history) in the shade.

My second favorite part of this trip was excavating the cellar at PC 2. When we first stepped into the cellar on our second day of digging, we only had to walk down two steps and we were surrounded by short walls. But by our last day at PC 2, we had uncovered four more steps and the walls made us look short. From the beginning to the end of excavating the cellar, we’ve not only learned a lot about archaeology, but also about one another. I’ll always reminisce our days as the “pit crew” and “bucket squad,” chatting, singing and busting some moves while shoveling or tossing buckets.

Sarah:

Arles was my favorite city that we stayed in because it was gorgeous and I loved walking around and looking at all the buildings.I thought all the stops we made along the way were very interesting and I really loved how close our hotel was to the amphitheater, it was just across the street!!

My favorite museum that we went to was the museum in Bibracte. One of the reasons I loved it was that we were actually working on things that they talked about in it. For example they had an exhibit about the metalworking in Bibracte and while we were digging we actually found some nails.

Mr. Langford:

Translating Latin inscriptions with students in the Arles archaeological museum.

Unexpectedly coming upon the ruins of the ancient Roman mill at Barbégal.

Ms. Campbell:

My first “favorite” is not a moment but, rather, a theme.  One of the things that I always try to impress upon students is just how interdisciplinary the field of archaeology is and I feel that that really came out in particular this year.  The students got to see drones in action to make 3D imaging of the site, use GIS technology for mapping layers of excavation, and practice flotation for ancient organic remains with an archaeobotanist.  Whether your interests are in art, history, information technology, biology, etc., there is a way to bring your expertise and passion to the study of the past.

The second “favorite” is when the students surprised Mr. Langford and me with little stone wolf figurines that they had found at the gift shop for the prehistoric caves at Arcy-sur-Cure.  The explanation that Suan gave for the significance of the wolves was touching – likening the two of us to the wolves that kept Romulus and Remus safe as children, without whose protection those children could not have gone on to greatness (or at least one of them!) and Rome would never have been founded.

So once again, thank you all: students, parents, colleagues, PEA, and everyone else who has been following along with this blog.  It’s been another wonderful summer and I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Multas gratias et merci beaucoup,

Magistra Campbell

 

Day 20 : Final Day at Bibracte

Part I

Our last day in Bibracte was quite memorable for me, some sad goodbyes to the place we’ve called home for the last two weeks and some new experiences. The day started at 6:30 for some of us who decided to witness the sunrise. Watching the sun turn the clouds from gray cotton balls into burnt orange puffs was something you see in a perfect paradise.

Sneaking in 30 more minutes of sleep before breakfast, my roommate Jack got up and packed all his things, something he probably should have done the night before. After our normal breakfast of bread and jam/butter with cereal, we headed back to our gîte and finished packing. From there, we drove up to the research center for one last half day of archaeology work. We then split into two groups, 5 of us and Mr. Langford to wash and clean the pottery and ceramic found at the PC2 dig site and the rest to sort and classify all the things we cleaned into. As part of the cleaning group I enjoyed the meditative process of polishing the ceramic, scrubbing the dirt with the bristles of a toothbrush while jamming to my “Get Lit” playlist, which even Mr. Langford somewhat approved of.

After 3 and a half menial hours of labor, we went to lunch at the Bibracte museum, a restaurant that serves food that archaeologists believed what the ancient Gaul would have eaten.

Ditched by my fellow bros, I sat with the girls and Mrs. Campbell. Even the cutlery and setting seemed authentic, the seats were at low sitting tables and so I had to move the bench to make enough room for knees. The cutlery featured only wooden spoons and ceramic jars as cups. After fighting with Alexis over who got to use the cool amphora- like thing to pour the water, we were served our first course. Our first course was a split pea salad with smoked chicken and salmon, the chicken more cooked than some of my medium rare grilled chicken at yesterday’s barbecue. The second course was stewed beef cheeks with barley and spinach with a mustard sauce on the side. My favorite part of the meal, the beef reminded me of the way my mother cooks beef sometimes, slow stewed and very tender with a delicious sauce that paired beautifully with the spinach and barley. With a hard act to follow, the dessert was good, but couldn’t live up to the main course. Given two options for dessert, a hard goat’s cheese or a soft yogurt-like one with honey, Grace and I were the only ones at our table to order the goat cheese. Following lunch, we headed back to Glux en Glenne with the intent of playing Petanque, the French name for Bocce. On the car ride where I sat in the middle seat of the front row with Magistra and Alexis, as soon as we left the park, two raindrops splattered on the windshield and many soon followed. Not being able to play, we headed to the research center for the time being and said goodbye to Aristide, one of the French kids we had met on our excavation. The raindrops began to thin out, the rain turning into a fine pearly fog. Attempting to play Bochi again, we managed to get 4 throws into the game before it started pouring again, having to run back inside, we gave up on playing and headed to the library where I read “Asterix in Switzerland”, a graphic novel about a Gaulic warrior living in Roman times. Killing time until 4:00, our designated departure time, we had an emotional goodbye to Marion, our wonderful guide and helper at Bibracte, Suan even shedding some tears. Another goodbye was said to Hannah, a student taking a gap year at Bibracte and another one of our guides and instructors during the trip. We then climbed on the Magistra Mobile for one last ride, most of us slept, except for me and Jack, where I’m writing this now.

 

Part 2

Our train ride was scheduled for 6:45 PM and we had arrived at 5 PM, so that meant we had some time to kill, for me, Jason and a lot of us, it meant nap time. Some of us chose to read books, like Suan and Alexis. An hour and a half later, we were roused from our rest and prepared to board the train. After assigning us our seats, we marched out onto the platform and boarded the train. Seeing the grass covered fields, small ponds and herds of cattle is extremely calming.

 

Part 3

Arrival in Paris. After taking 20 minutes to get into the poorly named Gare de Lyon in Paris, we walked across the street to our hotel, Terminus Lyon. Finding out that one of the boys would get a single room, we guessed numbers and Jack won. However, Jack already won the single in Lyon, so we played again and I won the room. After freshening up, we walked around the Seine and were treated to ice cream. Our final stop of the night and our trip was Notre Dame de Paris, the beautiful Gothic Cathedral built in the 12^th century.

Zac ’19

Day 19: Cellars, Cookouts, and Constellations

 

In the morning, Glux-en-Glenne is one of the most beautiful places that I’ve ever seen. Today, I set an early alarm so that I could see the painted sky and enjoy the silence that envelops the town for a bit. As the mist condenses and forms droplets on the window, time is suspended and my world is still–at least for a little while.

I soon fell back asleep, but it seemed like just a few minutes until the cacophony of alarms sounded. The room was instantly alive with the sounds of six people getting ready for the day. It was hard to believe that this would be our last morning in Glux-en-Glenne!

After much encouragement from Sarah, the girls were all ready to walk up the hill and eat breakfast together. The sun illuminated the dining hall as we talked about our plans for the day. When the meal was over, our group headed up to the research center and jumped into the vans for our penultimate ride up the mountain.

Upon reaching the site, we continued our work on the cellar. Some of the group helped clean up around the site or did drawings of the domus. Alphonso, Alexis, Zac, Jack, Jason, and I cleaned the floor and walls of the room. It took a long time, but we persevered (motivated, of course, by our excellent music playlist). When we had our break, we lay down in a circle underneath the trees. During this time, we gave out cards to Hannah, Marion, Ms. Campbell, and Mr. Langford to express our gratitude for their patience and knowledge.

The group then returned to work after a quick lunch. Working tirelessly, the “pit crew” reached the edge of the cellar. Finally, at the end of a very long day, Alexis and I shoveled the last of the dirt that had once concealed the cellar into our spade.

The cellar was finished and restored (mostly) to its former glory. It wasn’t easy to excavate the room, but we all agreed that it had been worth every bucketful of dirt. Many photos were taken as old stories about our “pit days” were recounted.

We took a group photo with the French team in front of the domus PC2. Soon, the house would be covered in preparation for the winter ahead. It will be dug next year by a new group of archaeologists (some of them Exonian), and more of its history–and tegula–will be uncovered.

We packed up the tools and cleaned them off for the last time. Then, both teams said goodbye to the site. As we grabbed our bags from the brown lockers, their was an air of melancholy surrounding the site. Finally, everyone had said goodbye to the domus and we walked to the vans. I looked back one last time at our cellar, and I was proud of what we had accomplished as a team–not only in terms of the excavation, but also our strengthened friendship as a group.

We rode down the mountain while listening to some of the Langford Model T’s classic musical hits. With the wind blowing through the car and taking our voices through the trees, I felt lucky (once again) to have been a part of such an incredibly hardworking and funny group.

Later that evening, after the girls’ and my final ice-cream run, the French and American groups had a collective barbecue. We ate some excellent French hot-dogs/sausages, chicken (grilled for us by our very own Zac Feng), and potatoes (roasted by the fire). Afterwards, we played volleyball together, the yellow ball rising and falling in the darkening sky. I do think that we have improved exponentially since our arrival two weeks ago.

Sadly, the embers of the fire began to lose their light and, thus, our group made our way back to the gîte. On our way back, Grace, Sarah, and I slowed down to pick a few blackberries from our favorite bush along the trail. We looked up at the sky, berries in hand, and took in the clear night sky. For the first time, Sarah and I saw a constellation: the Big Dipper! I don’t know what made it more visible and cohesive than the same constellation at home. Maybe it was the clarity of the air, or possibly our position at the time.

I, for one, choose to believe that it was Glux-en-Glenne’s final (and most beautiful) gift to us–a reminder of its natural beauty that I won’t ever forget.

To close this blog, I would like to thank all those who have made our trip so incredible. This has been one of the best experiences in my life, and I can’t put into words how wonderful each of you made it. Although we are all very different, we are connected by the unbreakable bond of the memories we have made together.

So, goodbye, Glux-en-Glenne, and thank you for being an integral part of those memories. I hope we meet again sometime.

Gratefully,

Ginny ’20

Day 18: taking it back 28,000 years

I’m usually the laziest photographer on this year’s Bibracte crew. It’s been said over and over again, but I think that the vibrant fullness of any scenery is only partially conveyed through a viewfinder. Today, at the Grottes d’Arcy-Sur-Cure, I learned from our guide that we couldn’t take photographs of the cave. I was seriously, uncharacteristically disappointed. It was a place that made you want to take pictures, just for the feeling of giving that perfect image some kind of permanence. I’ve got no pictures of Arcy-Sur-Cure’s breathtaking caves to post today, and I feel like they’d only tarnish the mental picture that my eyes have already drawn out for me.

When we entered the caves, our guide pointed out that the walls of the caves seemed to glow yellow under the illumination of a flashlight. He told us that yellow, not red, was the color of ochre before it was heated, and that this color was characteristic of the ochre-rich mountains of Arcy-Sur-Cure. In some places, the caves were bone-white, damaged by the hydrochloric acid used to clean the caves before it was opened to the public. Narrow passageways expanded into sprawling caverns, and our bodies slowly adjusted to the constant 15°C temperature. In large caverns, stalactites reached down from the ceiling like great fingers and stalagmites stretched up to meet them. Sometimes, they connected in a column, joined by a thin and tenuous bridge of rock. These natural rock formations develop at a rate of one centimeter per century—despite the fragile appearance of these columns, they’ve survived for long enough to grow many feet long. The unification of the rock structures is the product of perfect chance and years of development. It’s no wonder our guide referred to the columns as a marriage.

Another cavern was called Calvary, because of a crucifix-like rock formation in the center of the room. The cavern’s walls are marked with a rippling pattern, created by eddies of the water which once flowed past them. Higher up the wall were delicate rock formations, which layered over each other like the folds in a woman’s dress. The ceiling looked completely smooth and flat, indicating that the ceiling was completely waterproof—a more rare phenomenon than the stalactites in the previous cavern. Here, in this vast, empty, and strangely sacred place, Bibracte’s 2017 crew delivered a powerful and haunting rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” (just now, my roommate Ginny called this “blank-space-ception”). It was a sweet moment, rivaling golden retriever puppies and cinnamon buns in wholesomeness.

The highlight of the Arcy-Sur-Cure caves is undoubtedly the 28,000 year-old cave paintings on its walls. The drawings of mammoths, birds, bears, and handprints, drawn in red ochre and black charcoal, were simple and weathered. It sounds underwhelming, but the real beauty of those paintings was how long they’d survived. They had to have been drawn by hand or with an animal-hair brush, with only the light of a torch as a guide. Their preservation and longevity made those paintings stunning and humbling, even in their simplicity. I don’t really know how to describe it.

Once we returned to the surface, we had a picnic lunch and returned to the Magistra Mobile (the only van for me) and the Langford Model-T to drive to our next destination: Vézelay. In Vézelay, we climbed a hill to visit a cathedral dedicated to Mary Magdalene. It’s another place that’s hard to describe, both imposing and beautiful. Marion, one of our kind-hearted and ridiculously well-informed guides (the only person on our Bibracte dig site who jammed to “Dancing Queen” with me in the pit) told us that although the cathedral was meant to inspire and astound its visitors with its architectural complexity and size, it was also meant to be a sanctuary, a place of safety. I think that these elements, as well as its physical structure, have been preserved pretty well up to date.

We get a little bit of free time in Vézelay before driving back home to Bibracte for dinner. In the car, Zac and Suan fall asleep on each other, Nosa drops a solo cover of “Starboy,” Jack jams to “Shining Star,” Marion teaches uncultured Latinists the correct pronunciation of Stromae (it’s “stro-may” with a little phlegm on the “stro” and no diphthong, as much as it kills me to say), the Spotify gods completely ignore me, and Magistra Campbell plays my music out of pity.

It’s now late in the night and my roommates have long since slipped into their dreams. Tomorrow night will be our last night as roommates, our last night in Bibracte. Words (especially my words) aren’t enough to express what this experience has meant to each one of us so far. The vision of our trip that I’ve described is even more vague than a photograph or picture—you’ll have to piece together our experience with only the help of a thousand words. It’s been so much more than that.

Alexis ‘18

 

Day 17: Ceramics

Salvete, omnes!

Our morning activities took place in the research center, where we sorted artifacts based on their identification and worth. I was surprised to learn that most of the tegula and amphora pieces discovered at the dig would not be stored at the center because they were too broken or incomplete to have much informative value. According to Chiara, the pieces that were not kept would be deposited at “a secret location” to prevent them from being stolen.

 

Once we had somewhat gotten the hang of the job, we split off into groups of two or three and sorted through several boxes of artifacts. For each piece, we identified what kind of artifact it was, determined whether the piece was important enough to be kept, and recorded the total number and weight of the pieces that belonged to each category. I must admit, I consistently struggled to recognize the difference between a tegula, imbrex or amphora piece and was quite impressed by Chiara’s formidable technique.

 

After a couple of hours, many of us moved on to the task of cleaning ceramics while Sarah, Sophia, Ginny and I continued with the classification and recording of artifacts. By the time lunch came around, the stormy weather had cleared up nicely and we were able to resume our digging at site PC2 in the afternoon. Most of us returned to the ancient Roman cellar which we have been working to uncover from the dirt that accumulated during the winter while Grace, Sophia and Alphonso cleaned rooms a short distance away from us. In the midst of her work, Grace discovered some dog teeth as well as a few ceramic artifacts, much to the excitement of our entire group.

 

I was one of the original members of pit crew today along with Argon and Paul, two of our friends from the French student group. Those of us working in the cellar rotated positions halfway through so that we all got a chance to take a break from the hard labor that is required when digging in the pit. After four hours of productive work and collaboration, I am proud to say that we finally managed to uncover the tarp at the bottom of the cellar and completed what has been our primary archeological mission during our time at Bibracte.

 

We spent the hour we had until dinner relaxing in the common room. Ginny, Sarah and I got popsicles at a nearby café to appease our hunger in the meantime. A few of the girls and I decided to sit outside the cafeteria for the first time so that we could have our meal in the warm weather and enjoy the beautiful evening view.

 

I’m sad to think that we are already nearing the end of our trip. I’m determined to hold on a little more tightly to these precious last few days and cherish the moments, big and small, that have made this experience so extraordinary.  Gratias et valete!

 

Suan ‘20

 

Day 16: Restoration, documentation, and preservation

Bonjour!  Our day started with a delicious petit dejeuner (breakfast) of French cereal and biscuits.  After breakfast we went to the research center and browsed the extensive collection of Bronze and Iron Age books at their library.  At 9:00 our group and the French group went to the quaint town of Larochemillay to visit some historical sites.  The first location we visited was an old castle overlooking the village and the surrounding fields.

Castles are special in France because many of them were torn down during the French revolution.  The interesting part is that this place had always been a strategic location to have a military presence.  Even from Roman times, legionaries would have lived in a camp here due to its proximity to a Roman road.  The strategic value was not lost even in medieval times, in which two castles were built on two hills on either side of the road.  The castle also held important archives that were unfortunately lost to a fire.  After the castle we visited the church right next to it which was undergoing restoration work on the interior painting.

This visit was very informative because it showed us the restoration side of archaeology rather than simply discovering and cataloging artifacts.  After the church and the castle (and a tiny side visit to a small chapel) we ate a picnic lunch with the French team in a very sunny field.  After the picnic we all got on busses to head back to the dig site.  Today we learned the less glamorous but nevertheless important part of being an archaeologist, paperwork.  We spent the whole afternoon learning important vocabulary and filling out forms describing the various sections of the site that we worked on.  We had to write down descriptions, soil color, soil type, objects found in the soil, etc.  We also had to write down information about the stratigraphy of the site using a set of identification numbers for different layers of Earth.  Finally we had to sketch a map of our site before we could turn the form in to be archived.  After all the paperwork we got to see a high tech machine that helps the archaeologist document the exact location of an interesting find.

After trying out a few of the machine’s features and using the machine to document some finds we wrapped up our afternoon session by visiting one of the many springs nearby the Bibracte site.  Near this spring there were two art installations, one exploring interaction between nature and music, and the other installation was symbolic of the work that an archaeologist does.  Free time in the dorm came next and gave us a much needed time to rest and refresh ourselves before dinner at 7:30.

At 8:15 we all went up to the research center again to end our day with a lecture by a visiting archaeologist from Syria.  He gave us a very interesting presentation on the many different sites and artifacts that they have found and the current state of archaeology in Syria.  It was very sad to hear about all the sites, museums, and artifacts that ISIS destroyed without a second thought.  We were also introduced to the problem of thieves who dig up artifacts and thus creates problems because of the lack of documentation.  Stealing an artifact from a museum is very bad but at least pictures and information for the particular object are all well documented in archives.  When thieves dig up their own artifacts it becomes very confusing and an additional problem for archaeologists to deal with.  The lecture ended with talk of hope for the future and the steps the Syrian government are taking to help preserve the remaining sites and artifacts.  Today was a very productive day and we learned a wide range of topics concerning different aspects of archaeology.  Restoration, paperwork, and preservation.  There is more to archaeology than the discovery of ancient artifacts.

Au revoir et a bientot!

Jason, ’20

Day 15: Autun

I woke up this morning to the sound of my alarm going off at the end of my bunk bed and groaned as I moved my sore arms and neck. We all had been up late last night playing volleyball and roasting marshmallows with the French kids and now I was exhausted as I climbed down the ladder to the floor. We got ready and headed to a quick breakfast. Then we all got into either the Magistra Mobile or the Langford Model T (my preferred mode of transportation) and headed out on the road to Autun. Sophia and I listened to music as we drove through a wonderland of cows, sheep, and sweet little French villages. We eventually reached the cute town of Autun and picked up our two tour guides. Then we continued on to the ruins of the largest Roman theater in France. While the top of the structure had vanished long ago, trees had been planted to exhibit height of where the seats had been.

 

Our tour guides were vivacious women who clearly appreciated what they were talking about, and I found it a lot more interesting to listen to because of how passionate they were. After admiring the theater, we walked to see a house that had multiple niches with statues on it. They statues were taken from a necropolis and were funeral monuments. I found them sad but beautiful as I looked at the faces and tried to imagine how the people might have actually been when they were living.

Our guide gave us a brief history of what we were seeing before heading to our next sight. The town that we were seeing was two hundred acres and surrounded by a six kilometer wall that had about fifty four towers. Then we walked to the East gate, where we took a lot of pictures and admired the ornate engaged columns.

Then Ms. Campbell sneakily went and bought us chocolate croissants and butter croissants and made us all so happy! I got to combine two of my favorite things: French food and ancient architecture! Then we walked to the North gate, which we drove through the previous day on the was to Alesia. We stopped for a moment to watch the L’Arroux river that our guide informed us went all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and could therefore take us back home to America. (Although I feel very at home here in France!) The North gate was slightly bigger than the East gate and the wall continued for quite a while.

We followed it down a quiet garden path that smelled like the sweet fruit of the peach trees we passed. Afterward we hopped back into our chariots and drove to the “Temple of Janus”. I put it in quotations because they don’t actually know who this square Gallic temple was used to worship. The reason it is attributed to Janus (who, by the way is the two faced god of beginnings, ends, and doorways) is that there was a flowering plant found near it that had a name similar to Janus.

We explored it for a while and took pictures of the gorgeous countryside and the excavations taking place nearby we sat down with our lunch that were packed by the kind dining hall staff. We hungrily snacked on salami sandwiches, cheese, bread, and a pear. Somehow when you are staring at a 2000 year old temple while you eat the food just tastes better. I am so incredibly lucky to say I’ve had the opportunity to do just that more than once on this adventure.
After a while, the French team that is our age came and joined us to eat their lunches. There were also touring Autun, but for obvious linguistic reasons we had our own guides that we could understand easily and therefore toured the town separately. When we had all finished eating we headed back into town to see a breathtaking cathedral.

I had seen it while driving past many times and was very excited to see inside. Out of all the ancient buildings I’ve toured I think that the places of worship are always the ones that awe me the most. Outside of the grand, castle looking building there was a fantastic arching carved piece of art. It was extremely symbolic and told many different stories at once. We admired the details for about 15 minutes before heading inside.

The inside was not a let down at all. With its high over-arching ceilings and fabulous stained glass windows it truly was a spectacular place of worship. The top of the columns that were being used to hold everything up each told a story from the Bible and our guide explained each one to us.

I was sad to leave but I knew a lot of the art from the church was being held in the museum across the street, so that’s where we waled next. When we got in I was awestruck by all the incredible, intact mosaics. The one that particularly caught my eye was a magnificent circular piece that depicted the myth of Bellerophon and Pegasus. It showed Bellerophon sitting astride Pegasus and he casually killers the chimera, a fearsome three-headed monster. This was not one of the pieces from the cathedral, as it had come from a private Roman house.

 

After tearing ourselves away from that, we went to a separate gallery to see the famous statue of Eve (as in Adam and Eve) that had been taken from the cathedral.

She was beautiful and the scene depicted was so interesting to analyze I almost wished we had a Harkness table to sit down and discuss it at. Since we are Exonians at heart we had a discussion without a table. Afterward, we all headed back to the vans and settled down for the short drive home. We arrived about an hour before dinner and I spent some time in my room hanging out with my roommates. After another delicious meal, the majority of us went down to the outdoor ping-ping table and volleyball net where we played with the French before retiring to bed. Today has been a wonderful day and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
Au revoir!
Grace’20

 

Day 14: Alesia and Vercingetorix

Salvete Omnes,

There was no digging today because its Saturday. Still, for me as a Roman history enthusiast, the day was equally exciting. At breakfast, Ms. Campbell first mentioned the cinematic brilliance that is the movie shown at the museum we would be seeing. While Mr. Langford laughed at the idea, both thought the characterization in the movie was interesting.

After breakfast we hopped into our two cars, the Magistra Mobile and the Langford Model T, instead of the usual dance battles between the two cars, most people decided to take a long nap during the ride. Before I had fallen asleep, about 45 minutes into the drive, Ms. Campbell picked up our tour guide for the day, Andrea, from Autun. About an hour after that we arrived at the ancient site of Alesia.

Alesia is most famous for being the site of the last battle of Caesar’s Gallic Wars, the battle where Vercingetorix, chieftain of the Averni, led a United coalition of Gauls against Roman rule. We, however, started our time there by exploring the actual Gallo-Roman oppidum, or town that was seiged during this war, a town, unlike Bibracte, that had a history which continued after Caesar.

We first stopped at the theatre of Alesia, which Andrea introduced as a Gallo-Roman theatre as opposed to a strictly Roman theatre. The term Gallo-Roman, had been thrown around throughout our trip, so I did not think much of this distinction. However, when he began describing the differences in the shape of the orchestra and the lack of a scaena, an ornate back wall of the theatre, I became more intrigued and asked why these features were so different from the one we saw at Orange. Ms. Campbell then agreed that not just the theatre at Orange, but all the theatres we had seen through our exploration of Provence, a region whose name is derived from the Latin word, provincia, in English, province, were very Roman. Andrea then explained that southern Gaul, or Provence, was a Roman province for much longer and thus was starkly more Romanized than central Gaul. I, however, still wonder what did the Romans not have time to get rid of in Provence, which they didn’t in Gaul. Was it long-forgotten Celtic influence peeking through? Or perhaps it was a conscientious determination from the city’s at which Caesar finally conquered Gaul, organizers to be different from the Romans?

 

After exploring the rest of the town, which was filled with similar quirks to the theatre. We made the trek to an area for our picnic lunch, right next to the famous statue of Vercingetorix. After lunch, we walked towards the huge statue of the now famous, cultural icon, Vercingetorix. Andrea suggested that Vercingetorix’s rise to fame as a symbol of French nationalism may have been Napoleon III’s response to German nationalism, and more specifically their erection of a statue of Herman, or in Latin, Arminius, a German rebel against the Roman invasion. He further explained how though Vercingetorix is reported to have been clean shaven, he in this statue bears an iconic mustache, similar to the one Napoleon himself wore. It was interesting to see that the people, whom I always thought of at just Roman history figures, as actual part of a real, modern nation’s history, so much so that they could become fuel for modern political movements.

I was slightly dissppointed to hear that the museum wasn’t a traditional museum, in the sense of a collection of artifacts, but rather more of an “information center” to teach people about the Gallic Wars. The movie, the culmination of the information on the Gallic Wars was indeed interesting. It characterized Vercingetorix as bravely patriotic, and Caesar as a cruel, powerful general. The movie largely omitted details of the battle which would have shown Caesar’s clear military genius and instead added vaguely historical scenes such as Vercingetorix encouraging his men. While most of us thought it was a novel and fun perspective, I question whether people, who lack the historical context, will be mislead, and how often people fall victim to biased presentations of history.

After dinner in the canteen, we hung outside with the French team until check in. After playing volleyball and ping-pong with the French, we ended the day by toasting marshmallows over a campfire outside of their dorm.

 

Valete,

Nosa

Day 13

Bonjour et Merci Beaucoup for tuning in to day 13 of the blog!

Today we continued the work that we had begun yesterday by travelling to PC2, our excavation site. While looking out of the window on the way to the site, I noticed that a dense fog had overtaken the lush greenery of the mountains of Glux en Glen. When we arrived at the site, the fog persisted and set an eerie tone for this second day of excavation.

The work of excavation started quickly, and we hurried to the site, ready to begin another day of digging. Although it has been mentioned already, I would like to describe both the objective and the division of labor within the excavation. Put simply, our goal for today was to clear an ancient Roman cellar of the dirt and rocks that had filled it since the winter, when it was first excavated. There were two teams of people involved in this process, the “pit crew” and the “bucket squad”. The job of the pit crew was to use shovels, hoes, and pickaxes to get rid of the dirt and rocks inside of the cellar. The job of the bucket squad was to take the bucketfuls of dirt and rocks away from the excavation and into a refuse pile. In the morning, I was a member of the pit crew and used a shovel and pickaxe to help clear the cellar. After a few hours of digging we left the site and headed for lunch.

When we returned to the site after lunch, we decided to reverse the roles of those participating in the excavation. Therefore, members of the “bucket squad” began using the tools to clear the cellar while those who were a part of the “pit crew” were using buckets to move dirt and rocks out of the pit crew’s way. Although we intended to complete the work of clearing the cellar today, the task proved too great and we were unable to finish.

We left the excavation and continued to dinner, where we discussed our plans for tomorrow. After dinner, we played volleyball and table tennis with the French students who had been with us at PC2. At 9:30, we left the French students and headed back to our rooms for check in.

To me, this trip has been an amazing experience. To be on the front-lines of the study of the Ancient world and to see firsthand the effort and passion that it takes to gain a full understanding of it has grown in me a deep appreciation for those who study it. Furthermore, to see this same passion in my peers who, like me, have just begun their study of the ancient world has shown to me how deeply they respect the study of the classics. I believeg that this passion has allowed us to not only learn more about the ancient world, but also to grow closer to each other.

Valete Omnes and A’Demain!

Alphonso ‘20

Day 12: Working Machines

This morning, the girls (Alexis, Ginny, Grace, Sarah, Suan, and I) “got up” at 7:30 a.m., snoozing our alarms until the last possible second. After getting ready with all of our archaeological gear–gloves, kneepads, water bottles, sweaters/coats (yesterday, a few of us learned through the hard way that having a second layer is vital when working in Bibracte, as sporadic rainstorms come and go), we headed to breakfast. The boys had already beaten us to the dining hall, and we ate together before heading to our two beloved vans, the Magistra Mobile (driven by Ms. Campbell) and the Langford Model T (driven by Mr. Langford). Both vans started driving up Mt. Beuvray at 8:20 a.m.

Shortly afterwards, we reached the top of the mountain and took in the view of the vibrant green fields below, slightly obscured by fog.

It was a refreshing way to start to our day. Our tour guide and constant companion, Marion, explained to us how there were antique wind chimes on a tree to our right, how people prayed in the nineteenth-century chapel behind the tree, and how a stone cross opposite to the chapel was dedicated to Saint Martin. Then, we marched on to the site where the Slovakian team was excavating.

Our first task was to use GIS (Geographical Information System) to measure the distances and heights of where ancient artifacts were found. This process is crucial as it helps the team digitally reconstruct the site for further analysis. Although we struggled at first, nevertheless with teamwork we managed to have Zac look through the lens of a technologically advanced camera on a tripod and Jack hold an orange stick with a circle at its top in no time! Zac would focus his lens as if it were a microscope until he aimed right at the center of Jack’s circle, and voila – they were measuring distances. We all got a chance to work with GIS after this duo, and I am proud to report that we are now GIS experts! (Well, maybe not experts…)

 

While at the Slovakian team’s excavation site, we also discovered pieces of Gallo-Roman ceramics, nails, metal slabs and even bronze, by means of digging and a metal detector.

Feeling a bit downtrodden by the rain that had begun falling and hungry, we headed down the mountain to lunch. This meal, consisting of potatoes, beef, and pound cake for desert, we all agreed, was the best meal yet in our time at Bibracte!

With our stomachs satisfied, we once again drove up Mt. Beuvray to PC 2 (the excavation site we were working on yesterday). This time, our job was to uncover the floor of a cellar buried under piles and piles of dirt, sand, and stones. We tackled this task with a “conveyor belt” system. Alphonso, Ginny, Grace, Jack, Jason and I would shovel up and dump soil into buckets, which Alexis would then hand to Suan, who then passed it to the next person, until the bucket finally reached Mr. Langford, who dumped its contents into the discard pile.

Unfortunately, after three hours of diligent digging, we had to halt our operation due to a rainstorm. However, while in a trailer waiting to see if the rain stopped, we jammed to some pop music. The rainstorm would not recede, and we ended up driving down Mt. Beuvray, gaining release time. During this free time, Alexis, Ginny, Jack, Sarah and Suan went to do their laundry, while the rest of us stayed in the dorm, listening to music or playing games.

We convened for dinner at 7:25 p.m., and afterwards, everyone except for me played volleyball and/or ping-pong at the field below the dining hall. And while I was writing the first few paragraphs of this blog, I heard from my roommates that they had a joyous time socializing with the French team, with whom we excavate PC 2.

With only eight days left (tempus fugit! time flies by!), I am determined to work harder, learn more, and have the best time with my teachers and friends. Well, this is my last blog post. Thanks for reading!

Valete! Goodbye!

Sophia ‘20