Category: Uncategorized

CAARI is eagerly anticipating the arrival of our top of the line Buehler thin section equipment that will be part of our new Petrographic Thin Section Laboratory, the only one in Cyprus. Through generous funding from the United States Department of Education, CAARI has been able to purchase this specialized equipment that will allow researchers to prepare and analyze thin sections for use in geology, ceramic studies, osteology or any other discipline that uses this technique.

CAARI will house our equipment at the University of Cyprus laboratories, and university staff and students will make use of and maintain the equipment. This arrangement is an excellent way for CAARI to join forces with the superb facilities at the University of Cyprus, and allows CAARI affiliates to make the most of collaborative scientific studies. We are very proud to be able to bring this equipment to Cyprus. The equipment is expected to arrive early in 2017. It will open a new realm of scientific possibilities to researchers in the Mediterranean.

During the October hearings on the renewal of Cyprus’ Memorandum of Understanding, CAARI co-hosted a program and reception at the Embassy of Cyprus. Attendees learned about the wide range of diplomatic, legal, regulatory, and policing initiatives being implemented by the Republic of Cyprus to halt illegal trafficking of cultural heritage. They also gained a vivid glimpse of the way individual archaeologists – if they have the imagination that CAARI’s Director, Andrew McCarthy has – can use their digs to protect them. Dr. McCarthy showed how he initiated a festive annual cook-off in a village near his site by replicating the extraordinary prehistoric roasting pit found there, and putting it to use. Villagers and visitors alike gained a new appreciation for the site, and for the way it could bring value to the surrounding community.

The program’s distinguished participants were: Dr. Leonidas Pantelides, Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus; Dr. Marina Solomidou-Ieronymidou, Director of the Department of Antiquities, Republic of Cyprus; Dr. Andrew McCarthy, CAARI Director; Mr. Michalis Gavrielides, Police Inspector, Cultural Heritage Office, Cyprus Police; Dr. Evangelini Markou, Numismatist-Researcher, National Research Institute-Athens.

Check out Jody Gordon (Wentworth Institute of Technology) discuss the role of 3D printing and digital archaeology more broadly at the Athienou Archaeological Project (AAP).

https://youtu.be/gXzZvZxYwRI

 

For more on this project and the work of the AAP team of Michael Toumazou, Erin Walcek Averett, and Derek Counts, check out their contribution to their edited book Mobilizing the Past for a Digital Future: The Potential of Digital Archaeology (The Digital Press at the University of North Dakota: Grand Forks, ND 2016) or download the entire book for free here.