archaeology – Geeky Girl Engineer

Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History

Posted on May 23, 2023 by geek

I am currently in Montreal for the second time. The first trip was short, but I visited the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History, and I really liked it. This trip is also short, but I had time to visit the museum again. Most of the museum is underground in an archeological site of old Montreal. You can walk around the stone walls of buildings that used to stand on the site. The museum does a really nice job of projecting onto the ruins lines and text, so you can understand at what you are looking. They also have stairs, so you can climb on top of ruins and look down onto them without damaging them. Further, in some areas, they have lights hanging from the ceiling that light up during an audio explanation of what is at the site, so the lights emphasize what the used to be at the site based on the ruins.

Floor and walls of the former Royal Insurance building

Foundation of the former Royal Insurance building

Foundation of the former Royal Insurance building with a projection showing the inverted arch of the foundation

Foundation of the former Royal Insurance building and projection showing window of Berthelet building

Old latrine drain with projection indicating how water ran

Old pipes in archeological site

Exhibit lights suspended over archeological site to indicate what is present

Exhibit lights suspended over archeological site to indicate what is present; lights are turned off in this photograph so site is detail can be seen

Sirmione, Italy

Posted on February 22, 2020 by geek

Today, my tour group visited Sirmione, which is a little town at the end of a tiny peninsula in Lago di Garda (Lake Garda). There is a well preserved castle there and an archeological site from the Roman era. There are also many hotels and spas in between. Climbing to the top of the tower of Castello di Sirmione provides amazing views of the lake and surrounding area including the mountains to the north. The archeological ruins appear to be of a pleasure villa at the very end of the peninsula, so it seems the area has been used for the same reason since the Romans.

Archaeological site of Grotte di Catullo

Aquileia, Italy

Posted on February 17, 2020 by geek

This morning we visited Aquileia, or more precisely the historic basilica there. The original church dates back to the 4th century, and there are some mosaics near the bell tower based that are probably from that era. The main part of the church is from the 11th and 14th centuries. While working on the church, they discovered beautiful mosaics under many more recent floors. Behind the church is the the Crypt of Frescoes with beautifully painted frescoes.

In 2000, they built a glass walkway, so people would not have to walk on the mosaics. The glass walkways were nicely designed and don’t touch the mosaics at all. In the main part of the church, they are supported by the columns. In an underground portion, the glass walkways are supported by steel wires attached to the ceiling.

The basilica from the front door entrance with mosaic floor

Basket of snails mosaic in the crypt of excavations

Glass walkway supported by column and cantilevered from support near wall

Glass walkway at front door spanned over the mosaics

Jamestown Artifacts

Posted on June 17, 2018 by geek

My tour of Jamestown included a behind the scenes tour of the vault, where they keep many of the archeological finds and the laboratory where they process the finds. In the lab, our guide showed us how where they clean and dry the samples. She also explained how all the finds are identified and coded. My favorite part was her describing how they identify, collect, and store all artifacts found at the site, including potato chip bags, CDs, and USB drives. I suppose technically CDs are becoming historical objects.

The vault contains wonderful artifacts, and they are very clear to explain that the artifacts all represent historical trash. Essentially everything they have was found in a historical Jamestown trash hole. Many of the trash holes were water wells that became contaminated with salt water, so they just threw their trash in it for archeologists to dig up and treasure hundreds of years later. [Consider that next time you litter.] They have collected lots of bones from various wild and domesticated animals, pottery, glass, and metal objects. They have many old building material artifacts also. The collection is just amazing. What is even more amazing is what people throw away. Some things never change.

Artifacts being sorted in the lab

Dutch pottery artifacts

Glass and pottery artifacts

Building material artifacts

Animal bones

Pottery

Pottery artifacts

Istanbul Archaeological Museums

Posted on July 20, 2015 by geek

The Istanbul Archaeological Museum was undergoing renovation when we went, so I don’t think we saw all the different exhibits they have. It also was that part of the time I was there I felt like I was walking through a rat maze. In any event, it has some really nice exhibits. However my favorite part was actually the Tiled Kiosk next door. I find the name amusing because when I hear kiosk, I think of a little booth in the mall with someone trying to sell cell phone accessories or some pillow that is going to solve all my health problems. The Tiled Kiosk is pretty though and has walls covered with tile, stained glass windows, and other art.

Tiled Kiosk entrance

Basin in Tiled Kiosk

Tiled Kiosk alcove

Tiled Kiosk wall

Stained glass window of Tiled Kiosk

Mosaic

Stone inserts in carved column

Turkey: Ancient Ephesus

Posted on July 17, 2015 by geek

Our cruise through the Greek Islands ended in Turkey, where we visited Ephesus. The ruins of ancient Ephesus are amazing, partially because of how much is left. The library is just gorgeous. Several streets are still present which gives you a really good feel for how the city used to be. The public toilets make me glad to be alive in the indoor plumbing age.

Street

Library of Celsus

Clay pipes

Columns

Odeon

Public toilets

Residential area

Temple of Hadrian

Theater

Residential area mosaic floor

Greece: Naxos Countryside

Posted on July 9, 2015 by geek

This morning we went on a hike in the Naxos countryside through a few small villages. Our destination was the Kouros, but really the journey was the best part. We walked along a rather small road, which should almost be put in quotes but they do drive on it. There was a small aqueduct running alongside the road that appears to convey water from mountain runoff and springs to farms below.

Rural area

Farming area

Olive tree

Metal gate to yard

Donkey

Aqueduct

Aqueduct waterfall

Lily of the Nile

Kouros

Greece: Naxos

Posted on July 9, 2015 by geek

We visited Naxos today. We spent the morning walking around the town and then spent the afternoon swimming in the Aegean Sea. The town has the classic Cycladic white stucco architecture with bright blue trim and doors. The downtown area has few streets and mainly has alleys on which we continually got lost. Most porches and entries and potted plants and bougainvillea. I love how these old cities areas have no green space, so most people put as many potted plants near their house as possible. The downtown area is highlighted by a castle that is really now part of the town. Just off of the harbor is the unfinished Temple of Apollo.

Castle

Half gate on stairs

View from Temple of Apollo

Shaded balcony

Umbrellas decorate alley

Man walks past gate

Ultimate Greek house

Temple of Apollo

Castle tower

Bougainvillea

Potted plants on stairs

Fenced gardens

Beach

Greece: Athena Pronaia at Delphi

Posted on July 4, 2015 by geek

Right next to the Delphi archaeological site is the Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia. It is a much smaller site, and I am not sure if it is technically considered to be part of the Delphi site. The main ruins at the site are those of the Thosos, which is a round building. A neat feature at the site is a mountain spring that flows onto the site and is channeled away in a small stone canal.

Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia with Delphi in the background

Sanctuary of Athena Pronaia

The Tholos

Lego pieces

Mountain spring

Channel for the spring at the site

Greece: Delphi Museum

Posted on July 4, 2015 by geek

After we visited the archaeological Delphi site, we visited the museum next door. All the artifacts are from the site, and there are some amazing pieces in it. The pieces are amazing and masterfully made. I also can’t get over the detail into some of the pieces, especially ones that were supposed to be on top of structure and thus never seen up close.

Sphinx

Athenian column

chariot driver

cornice

frieze

lion head

Omphalos

The Twins