October 25, 2024
An update from our 2023 Olivia James Travelling Fellowship winner, Sarah Hilker:
The Olivia James Travelling Fellowship enabled me to spend the 2023-2024 year in Greece, where I began and made substantial progress on a new project, “Zygouries: the ‘Potter’s Shop’ in Context.” While this project is related to my dissertation, it is distinct from the dissertation, using excavation notebooks, archival information, and pottery study to augment published information and to better understand the development of a single Mycenaean settlement.
I split my time between Athens and Ancient Corinth, working within the availability of Corinth’s Study Center and hostel. In Ancient Corinth, I first undertook a preliminary examination of all accessible pottery trays, documenting information about their labeling and contents. This revealed that Mycenaean pottery appears in a significantly greater quantity as well as a wider chronological range than expected, meaning that the project will continue well beyond the fellowship year. I was also able to examine the published pottery from Zygouries – published and previously catalogued sherds are in the Museum storeroom while the mended vessels are in the New Apotheke – which served as reference material for my own work. I began the pottery study with a series of trays from a trench immediately adjacent to the published “Potter’s Shop,” noting basic information on and creating preliminary catalog entries for a selection.
In Ancient Corinth, I had the privilege of the site and sharing my research in progress with visitors to Corinth, including student members of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. I was also able to look at the four original excavation notebooks as well as other prehistoric pottery in the museum. From my base in Ancient Corinth, I visited the site of Zygouries, prehistoric habitation areas in the immediate vicinity, and other archaeological sites.
In Athens, I made use of the Blegen Library at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, attended lectures at the ASCSA and other foreign archaeological schools, and otherwise engaged with the community of Aegean archaeologists in Athens. Additionally, I have been able to continue with the archival study, rereading digital copies of the excavation notebooks in detail to reconstruct excavation contexts and stratigraphy, to augment architectural plans, and to correlate the preserved trays with their excavation contexts.
