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Egypt Video Blog

by eric — last modified December 15, 2008 10:02 AM

Dispatches from the Desert:
Video Blogging from the Fayum Field School, 2008

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This fall, students from UCLA and other universities are getting a chance to participate in the first officially sanctioned field school for American undergraduates in Egypt through the Cotsen Institute's Archaeology Field Program. Led by UCLA archaeologist Dr. Willeke Wendrich and her colleague René Cappers, a professor and archaeobotanist from the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands, the field school is based 50 miles southwest of Cairo in the Fayum oasis. Students are examining a Greco-Roman agricultural settlement once known as Karanis. Excavation focuses on layers dated mostly in the 4th-6th centuries, uncovering plant remains, animal bones, textiles, basketry, leather and papyrus. Karanis also displays evidence of grain storage and olive oil production.

Students in the program are maintaining a project blog, updated with personal reflections, photos, and video footage of life in the desert.

Video clips from the project will also be posted here. A complete list of Cotsen Institute video clips can be found on the official UCLA YouTube Playlist.

 

Dispatches from the Desert
Episode 1 - First Impressions 

 

 

In this week's episode, students arrive in Egypt, get acquainted with their new surroundings, and visit the ancient necropolis at Sakkara.

 

Dispatches from the Desert
Episode 2 - Site Management

 

 

In this week's episode, students get a lesson in site management at the ruins of Karanis.

 

Dispatches from the Desert
Episode 3 - The Bone Collectors

 

 

In this week's episode, students do some bone-collecting... but fight over who gets to keep the skull.

 

Dispatches from the Desert
Episode 4 - Ethnoarchaeology Lesson


 

Students get a lesson in Ethnoarchaeology and observe a demonstration of traditional pottery techniques in an Egyptian village.
 

Dispatches from the Desert
Episode 5 - Field Excavation


 

Students and project members excavate an ancient structure in the desert.

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