I’m Covered in Dirt from Head to Toe…

Let's start with my sandle tan....  

Well, this morning began will breakfast (I really don’t think I’ll get tired of yogurt with honey) and then at 8 we got on the bus to head to Azoria.  In order to get to the site we had to hop in the back of pick-up trucks to head up a dusty and windy road (safety dad would NOT have approved!).  We stopped at another site quickly and saw the oldest olive tree on record (2000 years old!).   They used the tree for wreaths to put on the victors heads during the 2004 Olympics.   After that we had to climb up to the site.  The buildings were constructed on the side of the hill so they built retaining walls that also had cobble stone fill behind them (meaning they dug into the hillside).  There was evidence of an archaic olive press there so we also learned about how they made olive oil at the time.  The hearths were also found completely clean which means the people of the town had time to prepare when they left due to whatever forced them from the settlement.  It appears as if they suddenly abandoned the site because there were also no dead bodies found in the homes.

                                                 Kitchens.  You can see the bases of the fires.

                                                           Dirt Road

Next we headed to Gournia to see another site (also covered in tons of dirt), which was found by Harriet Boyd while she was at the ASCSA.  She started excavations in 1900 and she made sure she had an even number or Turkish and Greek workers and her site because there was a lot of tension between the two groups as a result of Ottoman occupation.  The site had been abandoned from 1200 BC until the time of the first excavation so there was a lot to discover!  The site is currently being excavated and so we actually got to see some people digging, sifting soil and we had the chance to see them pull a pot out of the ground!!  We also saw where they had unearthed a bench that had a vat and a drain (with a pithos underneath) to make wine.

          These are inside some of the houses.  They were to provide 

        water for any goats, etc. you had to bring into 

your house at night.

For lunch we headed to a souvlaki stand on the side of the road.  I had some pork on a kebab stick and it was delicious (I also had  ice cream covered in chocolate!).

                                            Beach next to stand.

Then we headed to the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete.  Here we had the chance to see what happens to the materials they dig up at sites (from Mochlos, Gournia and Azoria).  We saw a water sifter that helps sort debris in order to get soil samples to a paleobiologist  (spell check wanted me to change this to “pale biologist”).

                                                          Water sifter

Then we saw how they cleaned, dried pottery and sorted pottery pieces before they sent them off to conservation.  We had the chance to watch some of the conservationist in action, piecing together the little puzzle pieces that make up each piece of pottery.  We got to see a Minoan cooking vessel that they’d just put together.  

Then we headed downstairs where they keep the items that they have pieced together.  In the back of the basement in a climate controlled room we got to see the metal artifacts that had been discovered at Mochlos!!!  It was sooooooo cool!  We saw saws, bowls, axes….

Now we’re on the bus driving along the north coast of Crete heading back to Hirakleion.  From there we’ll take the overnight ferry back to Pireas and then a quick drive back to own home away from home in Athens. 

                                                Time to get on the ferry!!
                               

Okay, the ferry this time was AWESOME!  We had AC in our rooms but couldn’t change the temperature so we all froze last night (only to return to a building without AC).

This morning we got up at 5:30, got on a bus and headed back to the school for breakfast, laundry and library time.