Greetings BEARS fans! It’s been an exhausting and weird end to 2021, with professional responsibilities and pressing tasks allowing little spare time for blogging lately, but just when you needed it most, here comes the beautifully titled year of 2022, the double deuce, the year of the tiger! Surely it will bring great archaeological survey finds, if nothing else? Little known fact – my high school sports jersey number was 22 AND our mascot was a tiger, so I feel a lot of good vibes already. Will be extra much so when we make it to 2222, so stay tuned about 200 years for the real triumphs!
As always for Greek archaeologists, the first big event of the New Year is the Archaeological Institute of America conference. This year the event is taking place online. It contains a little bit of content about BEARS and even more exciting research being presented by BEARS team members. Below are the dates and times of the relevant presentations. The BEARS lecture has been pre-recorded, so if you are a blog reader and don’t feel like registering for the conference, the video (an .mp4 file, about 18 minutes) can be shared directly upon request. Note that all times listed below are Pacific standard time, since the (now all virtual) meeting is “based” in San Francisco.
1. BEARS 2020 and 2021 field report
THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 8:00-10:30 AM, session 1A: New Fieldwork In Aegean Prehistory
The Bays of East Attica Regional Survey 2020–2021: New Evidence for Settlement, Exchange, and Craft Production from Porto Rafti, Greece (20 minutes, 4th talk in the session)
Sarah C. Murray, University of Toronto, Catherine E. Pratt, Western University, Melanie Godsey, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, Joseph Frankl, University of Michigan, Bartłomiej Lis, Polish Academy of Sciences, Grace Erny, Stanford University, Robert Stephan, University of Arizona, Maeve McHugh, University of Birmingham, and Philip Sapirstein, University of Toronto
2. Mel Godsey presents on her dissertation research about the site of Koroni!
THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM, session 2B: Sanctuaries And Public Space In The Hellenistic Period
Ptolemaic Trade Routes and the Garrison at Koroni (15 minutes, 5th/last talk in the session)
Melanie Godsey, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
3. A whole session on Archaic and Classical Crete organized by Grace Erny and friend of BEARS Dominic Pollard!
FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 8:00-10:30 AM, session 4D: Bridging The “Gap”: Interdisciplinary Approaches To The Cretan Polis In The Archaic And Classical Periods (Joint AIA/SCS Colloquium)
ORGANIZER(S): Jesse Obert, University of California, Berkeley, Dominic Pollard, University College London, and Grace Erny, Stanford University
DISCUSSANTS: Dominic Pollard, University College London and Grace Erny, Stanford University
4. Phil Sapirstein discusses rooftiles from Archaic Didyma!
FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 8:00-10:30 AM, session 4E: Geometric And Archaic Architecture
Archaic Architectural Terracottas from Didyma (20 minutes, first talk in the session)
Philip Sapirstein, University of Toronto
5. Mel Godsey (in tandem with a WARP colleague Machal Gradoz) provides an analysis of connectivity as evidenced by survey pottery from the western Argolid!
SESSION BLOCK 7: SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 8:00-11:00 AM, session 7H: Ancient Greek Pottery: Processes Of Production And Analysis
Regional Connectivity and Ceramic Consumption: Pottery of the Western Argolid (20 minutes, 5th talk in the session)
Machal E Gradoz, University of Michigan and Melanie Godsey, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Overall there looks to be tons of great content in this year’s conference, so if you haven’t registered already and need something to entertain you this weekend, head on over to the AIA website and sign up for the fun. Too bad we won’t be able to all hang out in person and catch up with old friends around the conference hallways yet again this year, but we look forward to interacting with any interested friends and colleagues online in the coming days.
