This week on Two Friends Talk History, I was joined by expert in the field of Roman history and Classics public engagement powerhouse, Dr Alex Imrie. Dr Imrie’s doctoral thesis concerned the Constitutio Antoniniana (Antonine Constitution), the edict of mass enfranchisement promulgated by the infamously violent emperor Caracalla, and is a self-described Dio nerd. Dr Imrie is a Tutor in Classics at the University of Edinburgh and the National Outreach Co-ordinator for the Classical Association of Scotland. The CAS has been spearheading free and accessible learning for true beginners to the topic of Classics, and Dr Imrie brings together talented and interesting new scholars to share their experience and time with the public.
Last year, Dr Imrie and I collaborated on a seminar hosted by the Classical Association of Scotland called, Artistic Responses to Antiquity. We organised this event to host discussions from several artists based in the UK who worked in various mediums to create art inspired by the ancient world. Presenters included Dr Briana King (University of St Andrews), myself, Zofia Guertin (PhD Candidate – University of St Andrews) @ZofiaAstrid, Dr Maria Haley (University of Leeds/University of Manchester) @marianuncsum, and Flora Kirk (MA, University of Durham) @flaroh. The diversity of backgrounds and approaches was really exciting to see. The seminar opened with a discussion of ancient styles and techniques in art, then on to Classical Reception and its ongoing relevance to the modern world. As Dr Imrie and I discuss in the podcast, the final session of the seminar involved thirty or so scholars, interested members of the public, and even some wee ones! The turn out was fabulous, and the art that our attendees created in session three was really fun.
Several months ago, we reconnected to record an episode of TFTH, and dive into the tumultuous history of the Severan dynasty. Admittedly, I was not as familiar with the political and military side of their reign, and it was fascinating to hear about the game of whack-a-mole among generals that eventually led to Septimius Severus taking control of the Empire from 193-211 CE.
Our conversation follows the ups and downs of the imperial familial relationships, particularly the crucial turning points between Caracalla and Geta who were also very keen to exterminate one another. Dr Imrie brings humour and humanity to Caracalla and his family, an emperor that is typically lumped into the ‘bad emperor’ category, and offers a more nuanced reading of these individuals. It was a joy to record, and I hope you take a listen!
If you would like to hear more from Dr Imrie, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via Twitter @AlexImrie23 or edinburgh.academia.edu/AlexImrie. In the interview, we discuss his publication on Caracalla’s supposed use of the Macedonian phalanx, which you can read more about HERE.
To find out more about the CAS and register for upcoming 2023 programmes, please check out their website: https://cas.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/. The upcoming seminars include Greek, Latin and Egyptian Hieroglyphics taught online.
In this week’s episode of Two Friends Talk History, I have the great privilege of interviewing heritage heroes, Makis and Hettie Metaxas from Poros, Kefalonia; two very dear people I met in 2008 while excavating at the ancient necropolis of Pronnoi as an undergraduate. Makis served many years as mayor of Poros, in southeastern Kefalonia, and the mayor of Kefalonia, and continues his passion for monument preservation as the President of the Prehistoric Studies of Kefalonia Society – the perfect role for the man who discovered of the famed Tzannata tholos tomb over thirty years ago.
Henriëtte Metaxas-Putman Cramer, is equally passionate about the conservation and heritage promotion of the island, and even wrote the go-to Travel Guide (now in 8 languages!) for visiting Kefalonia, has worked across many types of media promoting the island and its archaeological sites. After living and working in Poros for several decades, she saw a need to create a guide to the island which brought the richer details of her experience to light for visitors.
Speaking over Zoom this spring, we caught up after ten years since meeting on excavation in the necropolis of ancient Pronnoi. We discussed the exciting discovery of the largest known tholos tomb in the Ionian sea, the responsibility of heritage preservation and conservation, and their hopes for the future. For our full discussion you can listen here:
Making news on June 11, 2021, after many years or public outreach, fundraising and conservation advocacy, the Metaxas’ and their colleagues celebrated the news that the Greek government confirmed the scheme to build a gabled, protective roof and access for the archaeological site around the tholos tomb. The roof and maintenance will be funded by the Prehistoric Studies of Kefalonia Society according to Stavros P. Travlos, the Deputy Regional Governor of Kefalonia and Ithaca. This welcome news means the much needed conservation work will finally happen for the monument, and bring with it considered infrastructure of tourists to safely visit the site. This work will also raise awareness of Kefalonia’s place Bronze Age Mediterranean history, through it’s position as one of the nodes in the network of regional kingdoms for the period.
What is the Tzannata Tomb? In the Mycenean period, elites burried their dead in large beehive shpaed tombs. The Tzannata tholos tomb measures 6.8 m in diameter to a maximum heigh of nearly 4m, making it the largest known tomb to date in the Ionian Sea. Inside the tholos – uniquely – were the burials underground, over generations, stacked on top of one another and from DNA testing, believed to be a related kin group.
Images from the Kefalonia Pulse website, and the Kefalonia Press, Prehistoric Studies of Kefalonia Society and Hettie Metaxas-Putman Cramer.
It is believed that this monument’s erection was linked to an emergence of a powerful local elite in southern Kefalonia, in the Mycenaean period, that used shared burial practices of the mainland. With the discovery of this tholos tomb some thirty years ago, it opened up many questions about the orientation of powers among the island’s elite, it has remained of interest to the local community and international researchers alike, hoping to answer questions about the Bronze Age centres of power in the Mediterranean and how Kefalonia and Ithaka fit into the landscape of Mycenaean palace culture in the period.
For more information you can follow Hettie and Makis on Facebook groups Discover Kefalonia and Ithaki and their website Homeric Ithaca. They are regularly updating their pages with new and wonderful things going on in Kefalonia, highlighting a truly magical island.
Tis the season when we celebrate community and the change of the year! How did the Romans celebrate the end of the year?
The Roman celebration of Saturnalia was held for several days in mid-December to celebrate the passing of seasons, with its roots in the worship of the agricultural god Saturn. Saturn was syncretised with the Greek Kronos as the Romans came to control Greece, becoming increasingly invested in their gods. Saturn is often depicted as an older bearded man holding a scythe, an acknowledgement of his agrarian roots. The temple of Saturn in Rome stood prominently in the forum and is evidenced to this day by eight impressive columns and a partial podium.
From the late Republican period (the last 1oo years or so BCE) the midwinter celebration officially grew from three days to five in the Principate (December 17th to December 23rd). These were just official trends as it’s generally believed that unofficially it was a week, a bit like now depending on your employment. For the Romans work, studies and legal actions came to a halt and people were ready to party!
In Lucian’s Saturnalia, he speaks with the voice of Saturn in dialogue with a priest, observing how the revelries in his name should take place among the Romans: gaming, dancing, song and drinking were all part of the celebration of Saturnalia; it also involved things familiar to us today like decorating homes with greenery and wearing bright and colourful clothing (synthesis), like ugly sweater parties! Lucian’s Saturn is a very reasonable god who lays out three “laws” for gifting, celebrating and banqueting, emphasising fairness in all measures and not being compelled to act or gift beyond your means.
The King of Saturnalia
A king of Saturnalia acted as the ‘Lord of Misrule’ (like Carnivale) in these celebrations. Elected as the mock king, the Saturnalicius princeps, this agent of acceptable chaos in the household would walk the line between being a cheeky chap and straight up humorously (presumably) insulting guests and members of the household. Bear in mind that Roman households could be somewhat larger than ours – the nuclear family at the centre could include grandparents, cousins, adopted family members, children from other marriages, guests and the enslaved household labourers. Many of the societal norms were relaxed and played with in the household, where during this period the enslaved could eat at the head of the table with those who owned them taking a lower status position. Women too could mingle with men (in some circumstances) a little more freely and could hang together and gamble.
The fun frivolity of Saturnalia drinking parties!
Gifts for Saturnalia
Gift-giving was an important part of Saturnalia. Gifts of high value were not necessarily what one would expect, generally the humour of lower cost gifts was appreciated- like trolling a friend with a joke gift. Catullus wrote of receiving epically bad poetry for a gift and it is fun to imagine the kind of hilarious insults he possibly wrote for friends for their gifts, like getting ‘read’ by Oscar Wild but smuttier. Saturnalia gifts could include: sausages, dried fruit, wine, piglets, wax candles (cerei), dolls, toys, books, statues, tools, exotic pets and more!
The live piglet is especially appealing !
The last day of Saturnalia
As all good things must come to an end, so too did the annual revels of the Romans. On the last day of Saturnalia one would give sigillaria – terracotta or wax figurines, shaped in the likeness of familiar deities, mythical figures or easily caricatured types (grotesques). The day itself was called ‘Sigillaria‘; the gift type and gift-giving influenced the day’s name. Much like Boxing Day which one theory suggests may have started (according to the OED) as the first weekday after Christmas when postmen, delivery workers and servants of various types would receive a Christmas box, in which was some type of gift or tip. Possibly due in part to the ways gods were part of the everyday lives of Romans, and worshipped in the home in small devotional figures – the Lares – as guardians of the home, it is not surprising that a popular gift would include their likenesses in inexpensive small gifts, conferring further good luck and protection. For the wealthy, these gifts could be made from costly materials like gold or silver. Given their popularity, someone who crafted and sold this merchandise was called a sigillarius. Vendors were quite busy at this time of year, setting up stalls like the Christmas markets we are familiar with today.
The Lares could be quite varied: a Lar holding a cornucopia from Axatiana, Dionysus and Isis Panthea (all goddess).
The Romans had many festivals throughout the year, and a few days after the wild revels of Saturnalia, they celebrated the sober and solemn Compitalia, another festival in which metaphoric beginnings and endings are associated with the end of the year. Named after compita (crossroads), the recently revelrous enslaved peoples would offer sacrifices on behalf of the households within the neighbourhoods they lived to the Lares of the crossroads. Perhaps it is fitting to have a week of revels which brought families and friends together be followed up with a more sober festival which celebrated the bonds of community. Saying goodbye to the year is always fraught with bittersweet reflections with this year being notable in that regard, as surely in many world-changing years before the communities celebrating these rites would join together to celebrate and pray for better times ahead.
Compitalia fresco from exterior wall of a building in Pompeii, 1st c. CE
Stay safe and thank you for reading!
Io, Saturnalia!
Xox Archaeoartist (Zofia) and Mr Archaeoartist (Chris).
Do you have 2 minutes for a survey about archaeology & illustrations? We would love to hear from YOU!
As part of the Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology exhibition “Illustrating Ancient History”, we have a research questionnaire about the relationship between the public and their archaeological remains! This is relevant to visiting any site from any cultural or historical period.
We would be grateful for your participation & sharing this!
Two Friends Talk History is a podcast where public historian, Zofia, chats with scholars, archaeologists, researchers and more to explore fascinating histories, look behind the scenes and ask the big question that’s missing in much academic discourse: so what? Why is this relevant today?
New Friends on Two Friends
Carrying on from season 1 in which Zofia and Liam explored the ancient world through stories and interviews, season 2 invites new friends to Two Friends. Find me on Instagram at Two Friends Talk History and Patreon at ArchaeoArtist.
In this episode of Two Friends Talk History, Zofia interviews Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of St Andrews, and founder of the Visualising War and Peace Project, Dr Alice König. In this interview, Zofia asks Alice about ideas of representing war in antiquity, and if concepts like a ‘peace movement’ was possible in a period of Roman Imperium. We discuss the absences in war narratives, and war’s impacts on women and children, and then turn our attention to the podcast series that Dr König and Dr Nicolas Wiater, launched in 2021, the Visualising War and Peace podcast. The Visualsing War and Peace podcast has over 60 episodes and seeks to present listeners with cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives on how war and peace were visualised in the past and how new narratives these established frameworks are seeking to disrupt the ways we talk about, teach and reproduce conflicts.We also discuss the upcoming exhibition Alice has organised with the artist, Diana Forster, opening May 25th at the Wardlaw Museum in St Andrews, 'Somewhere to Stay’. The exhibition focuses on the forced migration experienced by Diana's mother, a young Polish woman, during WWII.To hear Diana's episodes, you can listen to Art and War with Diana Forster or Visualising Forced Migration Through History.We also discussed the upcoming exhibition collaboration with Hugh Kinsella Cunningham, titled 'Picturing Peace in the Congo'. you can find more information linked here. You can get in touch with Dr Konig at the University of St Andrews and her work on the Visualising War and Peace project here. Alice is also on Twitter @KonigAlice or @VisualisingWar. You can also follow the project on Facebook and Instagram, and there is an excellent blog series that you can follow through the project website/blog. For links to show topics:On the appropriation of Classics topics/symbols etc by alt-right groups, helpful scholarship can be read here on Pharos' website: https://pharos.vassarspaces.net/To get in touch and find out more about Two Friends Talk History:Find us on InstagramSupport us through Patreon Buy our merch on RedbubbleExplore more resources and topics about the ancient world on ArchaeoArtistMusic by the wonderfully talented Chris SharplesImage credits: cover illustration by Zofia GuertinIf you'd like to get in touch, email at twofriendstalkhistory@gmail.com.
Two Friends Talk History Art
I have been challenging myself with creating the mash-ups in my own digital drawing style but, where appropriate, using the historical style the original image was made in. These episode images are available as mugs, tees and postcards on our Two Friends Talk History Redbubble Shop!
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To keep my sanity and to take some art breaks during this time, I am making colouring sheets that are free to print, share and enjoy. I will be uploading printable PDFs here, and posting images to my social media pages. Since we are all staying in doors for the good of the realm/humanity, we might as well fill some of that time having some fun and learning about ancient art and archaeology!
Everyone who has grown up on Disney will feel strongly about these characters and how they imagine they can or should be re-imagined. This is a bit of fun and I selected the mash-ups that made the most sense to me.
If you are an educator, practitioner or just curious about these or any of my other work, please feel free to get in touch!
With the 2019 Open Day at Roman Aeclanum, this post reflects on the last three years of public outreach development I have worked on in Passo di Mirabella, southern Italy.
Frequently, I am asked what on earth I am doing in Italy. Why all the cartoons? What’s it all for?
In 2017, I was given the opportunity to work on an excavation with the Apolline Project and the University of Edinburgh in Passo di Mirabella, Roman Aeclanum, as the Public Archaeology Coordinator. This was an new direction for my work with a lot of exciting potential. The hobbies that I naturally gravitated towards ( included travel photography and illustrating, blogging and other forms of social media) coupled with the subject matter I enjoyed (archaeology and art history) formed a useful starting point for conceptualizing how to approach outreach for an archaeological site with minimal public exposure. Over the next three years, I worked towards creating interconnected projects that were designed to start a narrative of the history of the site and began the groundwork for Vita Romana: at the baths of Aeclanum. With support from the University of Edinburgh’s History, Classics and Archaeology department and the Institute of Classical Studies, I have been fortunate to share these public archaeology activities with the wider academic community working in Classical engagement.
Public Archaeology: why does it matter?
“Public archaeology is really just public relations. It is getting the public interested enough to care and those who care interested enough to engage.”
– Dr. Jody Steele is the Heritage Programs Manager at Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority.
The role of public archaeology, within the umbrella of specialisms of archaeology, is finding relevant and interesting ways of communicating the research objectives and material remains of the site. The sub-discipline is still new, and as such, still strives to justify itself and the importance of the work. Future funders, archaeologists, politicians and so on learn about the importance of heritage as children in most cases and as such, continuing to hone and develop how we deliver these messages about the importance of heritage management and research is fundamental to its continuation. With no exaggeration, if people are not engaged and well-informed about the importance of archaeology, it simply won’t happen nor will it receive funding.
Running a public archaeology programme or project requires marketing and public relations work, it also is heavily reliant upon the skills, expertise and historical knowledge of the individuals behind the work. By focusing first on the relationships within the local community then translating those interactions and efforts more broadly, we managed to do some pretty cool and unique things!
Outreach materials are useful in a variety of contexts! This year, site specialists gave informal seminars to dig students, making use of the boards that we’ve used at previous open days!
These ideas were articulated by our site supervisors this summer in a video made by one of our student volunteers, Jazz Demetrioff. The research objectives set at the onset of the excavation shape the direction the excavation and thus outreach will take. The research questions are answered over the season through the material culture and structures discovered. I have spent a significant amount of time thinking about and trying to articulate why public engagement matters, and how the projects I have had the fortune of working on in Italy are helping me plan future outreach projects.
The progress of inking, watercolour then handing over to Josef to embed the real marble colours! These marble trading characters may or may not be based on Chris and I 😉
Public Archaeology in Aeclanum: 2017-2019
Archaeology Passport covers: 2017, 2018, 2019
First Year: 2017
The formative work with the archaeological site of Aeclanum was a mixture of reconnaissance and coming up with a cohesive set of materials we could begin presenting to the local community. When we arrived there was one pamphlet in Italian with very technical (scarce) archaeological maps, and no site signage or historical narrative for the site. The first steps, then, meant creating some basic materials for young visitors!
Second Year: 2018
We produced outreach materials that focused on the multi-phase bath complex and the role of public bathing in Roman daily life. This included posters for adult audiences and young visitors to the site which reflected the finds that were excavated in earlier campaigns and the current research. A particular favorite was the marble map game, which encouraged kids to explore where the marble in Aeclanum came from! We updated the game in 2018 to include further details like marble traders across the Mediterranean!
Neratia’s Lost Ring: at the baths of Aeclanum
Emily Johnston, an excavation supervisor, worked on a public outreach project with the Apolline Project for 2018, Neratia’s Lost Ring: at the baths of Aeclanum. This exploration of Roman baths in a short-story format, allows the reader to get to know the space and customs as experienced by Neratia (wealthy patrician’s daughter) and Caius (freedman’s son). As the narrative follows the youths trying to find Neratia’s missing ring, the mechanics of the bath complex are explained. I supplied a few illustrations for her story, which were linked into the graphic novella! We are hoping to launch this short story for winter, 2019.
Caius finds the ring!
Quick! Catch the ring!
Neratia drops the ring her father gave her.
The graphic specialists on site, Lucia Michielin and Josef Souček, worked with me across almost every peice of art that was used for outreach. Their talents were widely appreciated, like finding a pretty rock but not realizing it was a gem till it was polished. Their skills with creating scientific panels based on the research, articulating the architectural findings and included 3D reconstructions of the significant archaeological structures reconstructions were essential to my comic renderings for Vita Romana: at the baths of Aeclanum. Due to the topography of Aeclanum, the bath excavated bath complex straddles a sloping hill and as such has distinctive buttresses, which when digitally rendered, provided helpful insight on how to include the city scenes around it.
Views of Aeclanum: bath complex, forum and theatre, temple and portico
Third Year: 2019
With the first two phases of outreach work at Aeclanum complete (panels, the short story, scavenger hunt and educational games), the next phase I was most interested to explore was getting feedback from the community and channeling this into a project that could capitalize on the knowledge of the team of specialists on-site and include up-to-date site interpretations, woven within the comic narrative. By concluding the 2018 outreach season with a survey and vote by the children from the local community who decided which style I would be drawing the comic in, I had my marching orders to get to work on the comic!
With Vita Romana, I wanted something that might help spark imaginations about how big and interesting this city was during its heyday through a stand-alone story, but grounding it in the real-world buildings and materials of Aeclanum. Also, I had never completed a comic book before and this was a challenge I wanted to dive into!
Vita Romana: at the baths of Aeclanum
Getting the gang together remotely meant that there was revisions and frequent dialogue. Ambra Ghiringhelli was like a fish to water getting the text written with care and historical consideration! Using an a-typical approach of having the storyboard roughed out and the text done afterwards, it was fascinating to see what joke she would come up with to match one of Neratia’s smirking faces or the right tone for a teenage daughter giving her mom some sass.
As this was my third year working with Josef, I couldn’t be more grateful for his ongoing collaboration. With his eye for details and in-depth knowledge of the subject matter, I could rely on him spotting all sorts of tiny details (and errors) that improved the whole project immensely. All of the images were sent to him to do his digital magic, fixes and formatting. You would be surprised how much work goes into making a comic look like a comic.
There are always many changes from start to finish!The polished final English version.
The breadth of things to consider when trying to create a graphic novella attempting to be rooted in archaeological and historical accuracy is astounding. This project has taken me on some really exciting turns which inevitably has meant that I am always learning, always questioning and trying to find evidence for the scenes I am creating.
The majority of influential imagery or material culture references were derived from the collections at the Museo Nazionale, Naples and the frescoes contained in the archaeological parks of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Social media outreach for these sites has been invaluable! With new discoveries coming all the time from Pompeii all the time, by following their Twitter and Instagram, I was able to integrate some of these exciting new finds into Vita Romana. Though Pompeii was covered by Vesuvius by the time our story in Aeclanum would have taken place, the tastes and styles used in decorating homes in these cities could easily be replicated by artisans in communities like Aeclanum. Indeed, the riches of Aeclanum could be much more akin to those at Pompeii due to their size and places along the road networks.
Rewards for completing the scavenger hunt!
Proud parents 😀
We had a great turn out this July at the comic launch, with hundreds of people visiting the archaeological park! The children’s scavenger hunt activity led them around the site using our third version (a self-directed version) of the archaeological passport as their guide. With Ferdinando crafting the texts and dealing with the translation needs, these materials will hopefully get English versions for download on Archaeokids!
They were asked to find the significant landmarks on the site with general information about their use, and fill out a letter which would lead them to the office piazza that contained the lost doll of Neratia Secunda, completing the narrative in the real world which is introduced in the passport. Once the children completed their scavenger hunt, they received a copy of Vita Romana: at the baths of Aeclanum, whose printing was generously funded by the Institute of Classics Studies (ICS).
The Road Ahead & Archaeokids.com
Seeing this stage of the journey come to a successful conclusion was pretty amazing. I’ve worked with some amazing people and had an incredible opportunity to have so much freedom to explore the ancient world in my favourite medium. The next steps ahead will involve working with the data collected from the launch, and an article which will be interesting to write this winter.
Josef, me and Ferdinando at the launch day in Passo di Mirabella.
As always, I look forward to challenges and adventures ahead! Ferdinando and I are continuing to find new avenues to create and highlight the public archaeology work that started in Aeclanum and is expanding to other sites!
The last 12 months have been eventful, with a lot of incredibly life-changing things on the horizon to look forward to. Last week I officially starting my PhD at the University of St. Andrews, and with the other interesting creative academic projects that have come my way, it is a very exciting time. Most of these creative projects have stemmed from the work which I was engaged in this summer in Aeclanum. Over the summer, I shared many images on my Instagram and Facebook pages of the public archaeology project that I was working on this season in the Roman town of Aeclanum (near modern Mirabella Eclano, Italy). I wrote a post in July for the Day of Archaeology annual community outreach publication, discussing some of the surprises and challenges along the way. The aims and plans being developed for this site were fascinating to work on, with much to consider and research.
Caius Eggius Rufus and Neratia Prima, our ancient Roman characters who explore daily life in a Roman city.
For me as an illustrator/artist, coming up with the first crack of public engagement materials was really fun and incredibly rewarding. The directors at Aeclanum, Dr. Ben Russell and Dr. Girolamo Ferdinando De Simone, offered guidance into their objectives and vision with the programme. Foundational research was needed, and for me, many visual references, as understanding how to approach a long-term project like this requires a lot of discussion.
Dr. Girolamo Ferdinando De Simone and I with the stratigraphy roll-up 🙂
Dr. De Simone had spent a lot of time developing the approach he wanted to take, with significant experience for how to engage with the public on these topics, so I was able to learn a great deal about the concerns and approaches that are successful. All of which has led to many avenues for it to continue growing and branching out next year, and thereafter.
Preparation for the Open Day
The brand new Aeclanum activity book and site map!
With a big project like this, having students involved was essential. Due to time constraints (excavating and processing finds all day), most of the work we would do together was at night in the accommodations. The students worked very hard, and came up with some really great ideas (pottery games, stratigraphy exercise, etc) and a lot of good research on Roman baths and roads.
Josef Soucek, digital wizard, here working on the Aeclanum activity book
We were ambitious with the variety and number of activities and materials planned, which inevitably led to some ideas or planned activities being cut or re-configured. Some of the most indispensable collaboration was with the digital specialists, Lucia and Josef. Both are so incredibly talented in a variety of platforms, that for me, it was so exciting to work with them. Taking an idea from discussion to illustration to digitized form, and then adding that into a poster, all at the speed we managed, was really cool!
The Open DayWith many enthusiastic young visitors (and adults!) arriving to the site, the team at Aeclanum put on an awesome display. The efforts made by students and specialists were incredible!
Our crack team of pottery specialists-in-training (from left: Alexandra French, Amy Rabenberg, and Caity Concannon).
As we were somewhat limited by our linguistic abilities, those who spoke Italian guided the children and gave them an opportunity to ask questions and explore.
Alex Slucky, in green, describes flotation to visitors
What was fascinating to see was, regardless of gender or age, the participants connected immediately with the activities and were very hands-on.
This young archaeologist skillfully picked through dried flotation specimens looking for seeds!
Encouraged to explore several facets of the work, they became quite empowered and very good at spotting the elements they were tasked to find.
Even students less comfortable speaking in Italian found a myriad of ways to communicate practices, like flotation, pottery washing and excavation. Games that had gone from brainstorm to reality in 30 days were a huge hit with the kids.
The activity book which they could take home was a big hit with kids and parents.
What we were able to produce for our first event was only the tip of the iceberg. Several energetic students volunteered their time this year, and hopefully we will be seeing them again next year to continue developing this programme. Custom made stamps for the Open Day, each relating to a particular area of Archaeology.
What is happening next?With the conclusion of the excavation, there was a lot of momentum to continue developing the educational and public engagement materials. There are several engagement events upcoming in Italy, helmed by Dr. Girolamo Ferdinando De Simone, which may result in some exciting possibilities for collaborative projects with local companies and schools.
The dark side of VesuviusWorking in collaboration with Dr. De Simone, on a vibrant image of the communities and natural environment of the north slope, is one piece of the puzzle in developing visual aids to better understand the context of the area during the Roman period. Visualizing the presence of roads, rivers and settlements in the shadow of Vesuvius, shines a light on the areas that have been largely ignored. By creating these new materials, hopefully it will paint a more complete picture of the region and how interconnected the communities were.
What is next?The idea of connecting young and old to the history of their region, leaving more knowledge behind than you take away, and continuing to build on the foundations each year going forward, is the approach that I am taking from this year and will bring forward into future seasons. There is much to do and as many approaches as can be imagined.
I wrote a post in July for the 
With many enthusiastic young visitors (and adults!) arriving to the site, the team at Aeclanum put on an awesome display. The efforts made by students and specialists were incredible!
Custom made stamps for the Open Day, each relating to a particular area of Archaeology.
With the conclusion of the excavation, there was a lot of momentum to continue developing the educational and public engagement materials. There are several engagement events upcoming in Italy, helmed by Dr. Girolamo Ferdinando De Simone, which may result in some exciting possibilities for collaborative projects with local companies and schools.
Working in collaboration with Dr. De Simone, on a vibrant image of the communities and natural environment of the north slope, is one piece of the puzzle in developing visual aids to better understand the context of the area during the Roman period. Visualizing the presence of roads, rivers and settlements in the shadow of Vesuvius, shines a light on the areas that have been largely ignored. By creating these new materials, hopefully it will paint a more complete picture of the region and how interconnected the communities were.
The idea of connecting young and old to the history of their region, leaving more knowledge behind than you take away, and continuing to build on the foundations each year going forward, is the approach that I am taking from this year and will bring forward into future seasons. There is much to do and as many approaches as can be imagined.
ArchaeoArtist 
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