University Museum Research Projects – Fall 1984

Silver Reef, Utah—excavation and archival re­search

Director, Dr. Robert Schuyler (American Histor­ical Archaeology Section, University Museum) Sponsor, University Museum

As part of a long-term archaeological study (1981-1988) of the historic American West, The University Museum is carrying out fieldwork at the site of Silver Reef, a short-lived mining town in the southwestern corner of Utah. Although the general region was inhabited by Mormons, Silver Reef was not. Its population of over 1000 consisted of Irish and Cornish miners, Anglo-American managers, Chinese, Germans, Indians, and others. In addition to excavating selected structures and parts of the town (saloon, drug­store, restaurant, Chinatown), Dr. Schuyler and his crew are also doing archival research with primary written sources. This integrated ap­proach is providing data about economic condi­tions, ethnic differences in material culture, ac­tivities carried out in various buildings, trade, and overall community patterns on the 19th cen­tury American frontier.

Gla, Greece—excavation

Director, Dr. Spyros Iakovidis (Mediterranean Section, University Museum)

Sponsor, Archaeological Society at Athens; par­ticipation by and training of University of Pennsylvania students funded by University Museum

Gla, a 13th century B.C. Mycenaean citadel of unique character, dominates the basin of the former Lake Kopais. This basin was the largest known Mycenaean land reclamation project (200 sq. kms.), a feat that neither Hellenistic nor even Roman engineers could repeat. The recla­mation project was organized by a confederation of Mycenaean states which jointly administered the reclaimed land from Gla, where the agricul­tural products were stored. Thus Gla is signifi­cant not only for Mycenaean culture and Greek history, but also for the cross-cultural history of fortification and of land reclamation. The citadel walls enclose administrative buildings and ware­houses. Part of the site was excavated prior to the present project; Prof. Iakovidis is publishing this earlier work, as well as excavating the re­maining buildings and surveying the unoccupied area of the citadel. His main aim is to determine the function of each building and of the citadel as a whole; to establish the role of the citadel in relation to the whole land reclamation project; and to date as closely as possible the construc­tion of Gla, its occupation, and its destruction and abandonment. If possible, it is intended to correlate the destruction and abandonment of Gla with the fate of nearby contemporary sites, such as Thebes and Orchomenos.

Current Fieldwork

County Wicklow, Ireland—survey & field research

Director, B. Wailes (UM)

Sponsor, University Museum

La Quina, France—survey & field research Assoc. Director, H. Dibble (UM) Co-sponsors, University Museum, University of Arizona, University of Bordeaux, Musée des Antiquités Nationales

Wadi al-Jubah, Yemen—survey & test excavation

Chief Archaeologist, J. Sauer (UM); Field Directors, J. Blakely (Univ. of Pennsylvania), A. Ghaleb (Univ. of Sanaa

Sponsors, American Foundation for the Study of Man; participant, University Museum

Gritille, Turkey—excavation

Director, R. Ellis (Bryn Mawr College); Senior Archaeologist in Charge of Excavation, M. Voigt (UM)

Sponsors, Bryn Mawr College, University of North Carolina; participant (1981-84), University Museum

Abydos, Egypt

a)     excavation of core area

Directors, D. O’Connor (UM), W. K Simpson (Yale Univ.)

Sponsors, University Museum, Yale University

b)     Ramesses II Temple, field recording and study

Director, D. Silverman (UM) Sponsors, University Museum, Yale University

c)      regional survey

Supervisor, D. O’Connor; Director, D. C. Patch (UM)

Sponsors, University Museum, Yale University

Marsa Matruh, Egypt—survey

Director, D. White (UM)

Sponsor, University Museum

Rojdi, India—excavation

Director, G. Possehl (UM)

Sponsors, University Museum, Gujarat Sta, Dept. of Archaeology

Thailand Archaeometallurgy Project—survey

Directors, V. Pigott (UM),

P. Charoenwongsa, S. Natapintu (Thai Fine Arts Dept.)

Sponsors, University Museum, Thai Fine Arts Dept.

Northern Thai Ethnohistory Project—survey & field research

Director, H. Peters (UM)

Co-sponsors, The Institute for the Study of Human Issues, Tribal Research Center in Thailand, University Museum

The Bugis, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia—anthropological & ethnographic study

Director, W. Davenport (UM)

Sponsor, University Museum

Minangkabau, West Sumatra-anthropologica/ethnohistorical study

Director, P. Sanday (Univ. of Pennsylvania) Sponsor, University Museum

Bay of Honduras, Central America—survey

Director, R. Sharer (UM)

Sponsor, University Museum

Analysis and Publication Projects

Dun Ailinne, Ireland— B. Wailes (UM)

University Museum collection of Greek & Greek-related figured pottery—Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum

K. DeVries, R. Edwards (UM)

Gordion, Turkey

Committee, R. H. Dyson, Jr. K. DeVries, K. Vellucci (UM), M. Mellink (Bryn Mawr), K. Sams (Univ. of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill); Series Editor, E. Kohler

Sumerian Dictionary Project

Director, A. Sjoberg (UM); co-investigators,

E. Leichty, B. Eichler (UM)

Sarepta, Lebanon

J. Pritchard (UM)

Tell es-Sa’idiyeh, Jordan

J. Pritchard (UM)

Tell Hesban, Jordan

Principal Investigator, J. Sauer (UM)

Sponsor, Andrews University (MI); participant, University Museum

Baq’ah Valley, Jordan

P. McGovern (UM) Hasanlu Project, Iran

Committee, R. H. Dyson, Jr., Maude de Schauensee, Mary Virginia Harris, Mary Voigt (UM)

Sponsors, University Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Iranian Center for Archaeological Research Malyan, Iran

Director, W. M. Sumner (Ohio State Univ.) Sponsors, University Museum, Ohio State University

Tepe Hissar, Iran

R. H. Dyson, Jr. (UM)

Sponsors, University Museum, Turin

University, Iranian Center for

Archaeological Research Tepe Hissar Skeletal Material

E Johnston (Univ. of Pennsylvania), MASCA

Cyrene, Libya D. White (UM)

Mohenjo Daro, Pakistan

G. Dales (Univ. of California, Berkeley) Sponsor, University Museum

Ban Chiang, Thailand

1. G.    Possehl, J. White (UM)

Sponsors, University Museum, Thai Fine Arts Department

Solomon Islands, S. Pacific

W. Davenport (UM)

Radiocarbon Calibration, California H.     Michael (UM)

Iron Production in the Northeastern United States H. Schenck (UM), MASCA

University Museum North American collections

S. Kaplan (UM)

Tikal, Guatemala W. Coe (UM)

Quirigua, Guatemala

R. Sharer (UM)

Verapaz Survey, Guatemala

R. Sharer (UM)