In September 2014, we opened the Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM), housed in a renovated and well-equipped suite of teaching labs, to train Penn students in archaeological science disciplines used in the field. As readers will see many times in this issue, students in CAAM are now applying research methods learned in CAAM to understand local as well as international historic sites, including undergraduates Jackson Clark (page 22) and Ashley Ray (page 46).
A month later, in October 2014, with lead funding from GRoW@Annenberg we officially launched a partnership program with the School District of Philadelphia, Unpacking the Past, offering a multi-stage program for free to students and teachers in every seventh-grade class in the District. Seven years on, Unpacking the Past, offers tracks in ancient Rome, Mesopotamia, and China as well as its original ancient Egypt track. Teachers have returned with their new classes year after year. The program serves on average 93 schools per year, and has served over 51,000 individual students—for free. This deep impact inspired Penn President Amy Gutmann to announce a Presidential Challenge Match to endow the program earlier this fall (see page 58).
Also in this issue, we are pleased to share new research and its conclusions by Patrice Foutakis in the Modon Bay, off the coast of Greece, and at Quwakh [insert straight line over a] Tapeh by Sajjad Alibaigi, Alireza Moradi-Bisotuni, and Nourollah Karimi, following earlier Penn Museum field work at those sites in the 1960s and the 1930s respectively, and how Brian Rose and his team at Gordion, Turkey, did their best to repair the damage to the site caused by the Persians 2,500 years ago.
AMANDA MITCHELL-BOYASK
PUBLISHER