Mount Hymettus is known to the local people of Attica as the ‘Mad Mountain’, η Τρελοβούνι. Situated on the western side of the Attica peninsula and stretching above the coastal towns of Elliniko, Glyfada, and Voula, this mountain and its undulating topography are eclectic — if not ‘mad’. The granular limestone of the mountain makes … Continue reading
Cast your mind back a few weeks — when the weather was still cool and the cicadas were still quiet. In mid-June, I took my last exploratory trip around the Aegean islands (if you’re late to the party, catch up here: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). This voyage of discovery (also, an … Continue reading
The next stage of my itinerant fieldwork round the Aegean islands sees me working my way further alongside the coast of Turkey (parts one, two, and three here). In fact, I was a mere mile from Turkey at one stage — and Didim was perfectly clear on the horizon, where I’ve happily spent the past few … Continue reading
The next stage of my research on the islands of Greece (parts one and two here) brings me to the coast of Turkey. I’m moving down a set of islands that are so close to the Turkish mainland that I’ve been able to see across to Ayvalık and Çeşme — and I can almost taste … Continue reading
Continuing on from last time, here’s the next thrilling instalment of my Greek Island hopping fieldwork adventure. Having been left abandoned on the shores of Mykonos in the last episode, I was soon back on the road (/the sea). Next stop: more of the Northern Cyclades. Andros Andros is the northern-most of the Cycladic islands, … Continue reading
For the next few months —and thanks to the generosity of my funding body— I’m on a Greek Odyssey. As part of my PhD fieldwork, I’m visiting the archaeological sites and museum collections from some of the Cyclades, Dodecanese, and Northern Aegean islands. These groups of islands comprise some of 6000 islands in the middle … Continue reading
When I’ve not been busy visiting Christmas markets, eating Currywurst, or wearing Lederhosen, I’ve been using my weekends in the Rhine-Ruhr region to do a bit of sightseeing. Although you might not expect it from the heart of industrial Germany, there’s certainly plenty on offer here for the ancient historian or archaeologist. Bonn’s LVR-LandesMuseum, for … Continue reading
Reporting live from the trowel’s edge… For the next six weeks, Ricarda and I are sweating it out in the middle of the Greek countryside, all in the service of academic discovery and for the advancement of human knowledge. We’re part of a team excavating a Mycenaean chamber tomb in Boeotia, a synergasia (collaboration) project … Continue reading
Thatched roofs, cream teas, sonnets and soliloquies: Stratford-upon-Avon really is a wonderful pocket of Englishness nestled in the West Midlands. One could do much worse than to break away from the helta-skelta-of-wherever and pay a quick visit, as do 2.5 million people every year – and as I did for a weekend as my ‘summer … Continue reading
For years Pompeii has been many things. The subject of art and novels, the setting of films, a Lego model and a cake. So potent is the imagery the Roman city inspires in people’s minds that it has let many other places borrow the name. It seems like you cannot open a news or travel … Continue reading
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