Aimee Thompson (Y2 PhD): Archaeological Excavations

This past summer, I worked on two archaeological sites. The first project was at the Etruscan site of Montereggi, near Florence. Here, I was able to work with a local Italian team alongside FSU researchers. While working as an archaeologist at Montereggi, I learned a lot about Etruscan history and material culture, both from firsthand experience with the materials and from the experienced archaeologists and scholars with whom I was working. I also had the opportunity to work in their lab, learning how to do technical drawings of pottery and do early-stage conservation of many of the ceramic and metal finds. This project was incredibly valuable in developing my finer hand-skills for artifact handling and in gaining a deeper knowledge and understanding of the Etruscans and their influence on Roman Italy. 

While in Italy, I was also able to visit key sites and museums, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as Trajan’s Markets and the Imperial Fora in Rome, among others. This was a brilliant experience, as I had never been to Italy before, and I was able to experience the many places I have been learning about in coursework for several years.

After excavating at Montereggi, I then worked on the site of Cerro del Gollino, southeast of Madrid. This was an indigenous hilltop oppidum, mainly dating to the 3^rd-1^st centuries BCE, and we were working with local and imported materials, including black-glazed wares. The site is extensive, and the team working there was relatively small, consisting primarily of Spanish archaeologists, as well as one or two of us from abroad. Over the course of a few weeks of excavation, we uncovered several different rooms and many finds, and I was able to work with mudbricks for the first time. I also learned how to use various technologies, such as GPS for the findspots, and a drone for aerial imagery. While at the site, I learned much about Celtiberian material culture as well as becoming more familiar with the pre-Roman and Roman history of the La Mancha region in Spain. I was also able to improve my Spanish language skills, which will be invaluable for my future research.

Working on these two projects this summer, I was able to do a lot of excavation and post-excavation work, handle various materials, and learned much about the local regional histories and their broader implications for Roman history.