Field School in Romania

Sharing this announcement about the Roman Villa and Settlement Excavation Field School project in Transylvania, from Dr. Andre Gonciar, Director – ArchaeoTek / BioArch Canada:

The Roman Villa and Settlement Excavation offers a very extensive approach to the anthropology and archaeology of the Roman frontier environments, respectively the northern Dacian Provinces (i.e. modern historical Transylvania, Romania), through field work, laboratory analysis and lectures. The integrated outcomes of our various approaches have already yielded extraordinary results: a palatial size villa with a rural built space of ca. one hectare, surrounded by massive fortification walls decorated with exterior and interior frescoes, richly built two-story buildings containing exceptional artifacts (well preserved bronze statues, jewelry, mint condition coins, writing implements, etc.). Our 2023 target excavation, the “central building” of the villa, has already presented us with a very complex and surprising occupation sequence and living practices. Local Roman Provincial realities, born out of economic, cultural, social and political creolization, constant and dynamic negotiation of power, and shifting populations, have outlived the ideological centers that have claimed historical ownership of these regions.

Furthermore, participants can significantly expand their skill set with our Intensive Digital Curation and Applications in Close-Range Photogrammetry Workshop, which is an intensive 5-day training program in photogrammetric survey, data acquisition, analysis, and presentation, with an emphasis on digital curation of archaeological material. The program is designed to offer participants training in a set of skills which are rapidly finding applications in the cultural heritage sector, museology and museography, but also in other fields such as architecture, engineering, manufacturing, video game design, and law enforcement to name a few. Our participants will acquire the necessary practical and analytical skills necessary to properly incorporate photogrammetric applications into their pre-existing career toolbox, with a special focus on the cultural heritage sector. The culmination of the workshop will include the production and publication of a digital museum exhibition as a demonstration of the skills learned during the workshop. Our program is unique because it contextualizes a theoretical science in the practical setting of real museums, studying real artifacts.

Program details:

Roman Villa and Settlement Excavation Field School (4 weeks, excavation) – Session Dates: June 4 – July 1, 2023; July 2 – July 29, 2023.

Intensive Digital Curation and Applications in Close-Range Photogrammetry Workshop (5-day, photogrammetry workshop – add-on project) – Session Dates: May 30 – June 3, 2023; June 25 – July 1, 2023; July 30 – August 5, 2023.

Roman Villa Excavation and Photogrammetry Applications Workshop (4 weeks, integrated photogrammetry and excavation project) – Session Dates: June 4 – July 1, 2023

Location:
Roman Villa Excavation: Rapoltu Mare, Transylvania (Hunedoara County), Romania

Photogrammetry Applications Workshop: Museum of Roman and Dacian Civilizations – Deva, Transylvania (Hunedoara County), Romania

Website:
Roman Villa Excavation: https://www.archaeotek-archaeology.org/roman-villa-excavation
Photogrammetry Applications Workshop: https://www.archaeotek-archaeology.org/photogrammetry-applications

Program Directors / Instructors: Dr. Andre Gonciar and Dr. William Henry

Contact: Dr. Andre Gonciar at archaeology@archaeotek.org