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Keros Field School

Keros Field School (7)

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If you have a question about the Field School or would like further information about the Keros project please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Keros Archaeological Project is based at

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge
CB2 3ER
UK

The project is directed by Professor Colin Renfrew and Dr Michael Boyd (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)


The Cycladic Field School is a partnership of University of Cambridge and The Cyprus Institute.

Contact at The Cyprus Institute: Dr Evi Margaritis (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
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Apply

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If you would like to join us next year please complete and return the application form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Preference will be given to applicants who can stay for the entire 6 week period though we will consider applicants for a shorter stay. Our experience shows, the longer you stay, the more knowledge and responsibility you will gain.
Apply early - places are limited and will fill up fast.

Scholarships
The project is aware of the following opportunity to assist with field school funding.

The Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS), University of Chicago, will be awarding three $2,000 scholarships, for summer 2018, to fund participants in summer excavations or field schools at an archaeological site in the Greco-Roman world. Generally, one award will be made to a graduate student and another to an undergraduate, but teachers are also eligible for this award. Professional archaeologists are not eligible. For more information see: https://camws.org/awards/excavation.php

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Message From Colin Renfrew

message acrMy name is Colin Renfrew, and I am, with Michael Boyd, co-director of the excavation. You may have heard of me – my textbooks are used in archaeology courses around the world.
 
The Cycladic Field School in 2018 represents a unique opportunity to learn new skills and confront the material reality of the past one of the most important prehistoric excavations currently being undertaken in the world. This site has recently been identified as the world’s earliest maritime sanctuary, and it is solving for us the mystery of how the famous Cycladic marble figurines were used and understood in the early bronze age. It turns out that most of those made eventually ended up taking part in the rituals on Keros, which drew in participants from around the Cyclades. This degree of ideological interconnectivity has rarely been documented at such an early stage of the past.
 
On our excavation you will receive expert guidance on all matters of Cycladic archaeology and in the practical skills of how to undertake excavation. You will be digging, under the expert supervision of your area supervisor and of the leader of the Field School, Dr Claire Halley, widely recognised as one of the UK’s top educators in archaeology. Moreover, as any of you who are familiar with my textbooks will expect, we will be using a raft of scientific and specialist techniques on the project. You will receive training on how to use these techniques in the field, and the specialists will all be contributing to our field school with lessons on their specialisms.
 
So the Field School represents a unique opportunity for those pursuing a career in archaeology, and for those interested in developing their skills. We are expecting a lot of applicants, so best apply before all spaces are filled! This is your last opportunity to apply for this unique experience: 2018 is the final year of the excavation. Join us as we reach the bottom of the trenches opened in 2016 and 2017. We will be staying on the idyllic Cycladic island of Kouphonisi (look it up on Google), and each morning’s 20 minute boat journey to the island of Keros is unforgettable. I urge you to consider booking your place now.
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Stories

We believe this is a remarkable place to work, providing a comprehensive training in archaeology and an enriching personal experience, but don’t take our word for it … here’s what some of our previous participants had to say...


stories sam 1

“Just wanted to say thank you and to the other supervisors for an incredible 3 weeks! Definitely an experience I won't forget”. Sam

  

“I learnt a lot about myself and my future goals and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about archaeology in an active, practical way”. Rachel

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stories sophie 3

“The field school was amazing, and I learnt so much more than I expected. The lectures were all fantastic, and really opened my eyes to areas of archaeology that I previously knew little about and now consider potential specialties to focus on. Being on site was also incredible, and I learned so much… On a personal note, I really felt like I was given a chance with greater responsibilities. The opportunity to learn the total station and the photogrammetry was one I never expected to receive as a field school student, and I learned so much from the experience. It meant a lot to me to be trusted and encouraged with new and different technologies”. Sophie

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Field School

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Everyone working on the Keros project believes in combining the latest scientific techniques and methodological advancements while endorsing the key, core, practical archaeological skills which are the foundation of good archaeological practice.

We take a pride in the use of iDig, an in-field digital recording system, together with digital photogrammetry, and aerial photography using drones, to create an accessible, instant archive. This combination of techniques is the future and proficiency in these methods will soon be an indispensable skill required by all archaeologists. In this Field School you will learn key practical excavation skills while having the opportunity to learn about up to the minute, innovative recording methods and to work alongside specialists to learn about a variety of post excavation processes.  

Course Curriculum
Students will receive on-site training in practical skills supplemented by formal lectures and workshops delivered by experienced academic and professional archaeologists.

The core practical skills will include
  • how to identify, excavate and record archaeological stratigraphy
  • how to define and record architectural features and deposits using iDig
  • how to recover and process environmental samples 
  • how to identify and excavate artefacts on site
  • use of total station and dGPS for accurate location recording
 
In addition to on-site training, there will be a number of activities in the afternoons together with a series of seminars where participants will have the chance to learn from the many specialists involved in the project and gain an insight into current research.  Our comprehensive afternoon talk programme will ensure that you will gain a unique insight into the Aegean bronze age as well as the latest scientific techniques. Talks in previous years have covered the following topics:
  • Photogrammetry and 3D modelling
  • Phytoliths
  • Macrobotanical Remains
  • Pollen Analysis
  • Bioarcheology (Human and Animal Remains)
  • Micromorphology
  • Lithic Analysis
  • Pottery Analysis
  • Aegean prehistory
  • Keros and the Cycladic Early Bronze Age
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Who is the Field School for?
The field school is geared towards providing a comprehensive training in field techniques to those new to excavation.  
If you have some previous field experience there is plenty of interesting archaeology for you to develop and consolidate your skills.  The extensive use of digital recording systems will mean that you will have the opportunity to learn and apply cutting edge techniques.
 
Academic Credit
Credit (ECTS - European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) will be offered by the Cyprus Institute on the basis of attendance and a relevant assignment. Two options will be offered: 5 ECTS for participants attending three weeks at a cost of 250 Euro and 10 ECTS for participants attending 6 weeks at a cost of 500 Euro.


For 5 credits based on 3 weeks participation
Students will complete an excavation field journal. The journal will be a daily account of practical training received and skills attained together with a reflective commentary on personal progress and suggestions for further development.

For 10 credits based on 6 weeks participation
Students will complete an excavation field journal as described above during their stay. In addition, students will write a short evaluative report (c. 1,000 words) outlining the pros and cons of a selected archaeological method or technique.

Disclaimer: Training programmes offered by The Cyprus Institute, if applicable, will indicate their equivalence in ECTS credits in their description. Participants will be provided with a Certificate of Completion if they satisfy attendance and evaluation requirements.
It is the participant’s responsibility, prior to registering for the programme, to verify whether the institution in their home country (or in Cyprus) and the respective national degree accrediting authority will recognize the ECTS earned during the training programme and whether they will be credited toward their degree programme requirements.
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About Keros and the Field School

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Keros has been an archaeological mystery since 1963, when Colin Renfrew, then a PhD student, reported looting at the west end of the island. Investigations over the next 40 years showed that what had been looted was a large deposit of ritually broken prestige items, including the iconic Cycladic figurines. The discovery in 2006 of a second, unlooted deposit opened the way for scholars finally to understand that what had once existed here was the world’s earliest maritime sanctuary, where inhabitants from all the surrounding islands (and sometimes further afield) came, in wooden canoes, to participate in community rituals which resulted in the large deposits of broken figurines.

In 2007 and 2008 work began on understanding the adjacent settlement – now known to the largest of the Bronze Age Cyclades. Only a small part could be excavated in 2007 and 2008, so the current excavations, which began in 2016, aim to expand our understanding of this unique site. We now know that the site was built in a monumental and planned manner, using marble arduously imported by sea from Naxos 10km (6 miles) distant. The site was also a metalworking centre: although distant from ore sources, these were brought to Keros for smelting and subsequent casting there. In 2016 we began excavation of a metallurgical workshop, and a second was found in 2017. We are only beginning to comprehend the scope of the site, its importance in the far-flung networks of the early bronze age.

The Keros excavation uses a unique combination of up to the minute methodology and digital recording. In 2018 we will continue our investigation using the latest excavation techniques including dGPS, the iDig iPad app, and digital photogrammetry. We aim to understand how all the different parts of the island were utilised in the early bronze age. We shall uncover more of the early settlement to develop our understanding of the overall structure, function and date of the site. Excavations elsewhere on Keros will help us understand relationships between outlying settlement and the central sanctuary.

The excavation is a project of the British School at Athens and the University of Cambridge. The Field School is a joint enterprise of the University of Cambridge and The Cyprus Institute.

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The University of Cambridge and Cyprus Institute Cycladic Field School

Join us for the final season of excavations at this unique and intriguing early bronze age site. Previous work at Keros and the neighbouring small islet of Dhaskalio has revealed a mysterious site where broken Early Cycladic marble figurines and other prestige items were taken in the mid-third millennium BC for ritual deposition in what we now understand to be the world’s earliest maritime sanctuary.

There is still much we do not know about the site. In 2016 and 2017, excavations revealed extensive monumental walling, an entrance stairway into the site, and two metallurgical workshops. In 2018, our work will continue using the latest excavation techniques including dGPS, digital recording on iPads using iDig, and digital photogrammetry. We aim to understand how all the different parts of the island were utilised in the early bronze age and develop our understanding of the overall structure, function and date of the site.

Where։ Keros, Cyclades, Greece [Download Google Earth kmz file]
When։ 3rd September – 13th October 2018
Cost։ For students wishing to receive credit (see below), the cost is €2,000 programme fees (room and board for 6 weeks, and daily transport costs from project base to the site) plus €2,000 instruction fees and €500 tuition fees. For students who do not require credit, the cost is €2,000 programme fees (room and board for 6 weeks, and daily transport costs from project base to the site) plus €2,000 instruction fees.
Credit: Credit (ECTS - European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) will be offered by the Cyprus Institute on the basis of attendance and relevant assignments. Two options will be offered: 5 ECTS for participants attending three weeks at a cost of 250 Euro and 10 ECTS for participants attending 6 weeks at a cost of 500 Euro. All candidates will submit an excavation journal. The journal will be a written record of participants’ work and skills acquisition, which will be submitted a few days before the completion of the field school and be will reviewed and graded. Those attending for six weeks will in addition submit a short evaluative report (c. 1,000 words) outlining the pros and cons of a selected archaeological method or technique.

Disclaimer: Training programs offered by The Cyprus Institute, if applicable, will indicate their equivalence in ECTS credits in their description. Participants will be provided with a Certificate of Completion if they satisfy attendance and evaluation requirements. It is the participant’s responsibility, prior to registering for the programme, to verify whether the institution in their home country (or in Cyprus) and the respective national degree accrediting authority will recognize the ECTS earned during the training programme and whether they will be credited toward their degree programme requirements.

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