A Whole New World...Brave or Otherwise

My face was plastered to the tiny window of the aircraft carrying me to Larnaka, Cyprus. I had just traveled for nearly 24 hours, but it was the last 5 minutes of the transit that I had been anxiously awaiting for months. Suddenly our plane broke cloud cover, and there it was sparkling beneath us much closer than I would have ever imagined: the Mediterranean Sea. It was as beautiful a blue as I could have hoped for. The palm trees reached toward us from the beach and the city ambled toward inland from the boardwalk shops. We touched down on a gorgeous afternoon and headed for the baggage claim to meet other members of the team. I was proverbially brimming with anticipation.

By that evening’s supper time I was sick to death of Cyprus. The streets were narrow, there were cats roaming everywhere, and I just wanted to sleep. I nearly collapsed into my pita at supper. What had I gotten myself into?

That question was easily answered when I awoke significantly more refreshed the next morning. I had gotten myself into the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project (PKAP). The project is surveying the Pyla-Koutsopetria coastal plain near Larnaka and is trying to understand how people during the Late Roman period utilized the area. The site is absolutely amazing. During our first visit to the site to acquaint ourselves with the tasks expected of us and the general area we learned a great deal about what the project members have uncovered about the area so far. Pottery sherds practically carpet some parts of the site on a hill called Vigla. There is a huge, flourishing bush growing on Vigla, too. I didn’t particularly notice at first, but it is the only vegetation like that on the hill. We were all surprised to hear from Dr. Bill Caraher of North Dakota University that the team believes the plant grows there because it is over the remains of a cistern that was used by the people who were settled there. The pottery density and possible cistern remains indicate that the site was a vibrant hub of activity when the Koustopetria plain that currently extends from the shore toward Vigla was an active trade harbor.

To be honest, my interest in ancient history is minimal. My favorite part of it is the myths and legends with all of the juicy bits like pagan worship of Greek and Roman deities. There is relatively little of that sort of thing on this project, though Cyprus is purportedly the birthplace of Venus. What this project represented for me was the opportunity to learn about archaeology in a practical setting rather than hearing about it in a lecture course.

I did learn that, but I learned much more. So we’ll save those stories for other entries.