COVID-19 has affected the way archaeologists throughout the world have been able to conduct fieldwork and research. In celebration of International Archaeology Day (Saturday, October 17th, 2020) join us to hear how three UC Berkeley graduate students in Classical Archaeology and Anthropology adapted their research in the face of the international public health crisis.

Jordan Brown will discuss his research on Neo-Assyrian hydraulic engineering, with regard to its economic goals and environmental impacts on a landscape scale. The project shows how alternative data sources such as modern and historical aerial satellite imagery and historical environmental data can be used to approach regional-scale questions. Trent Trombley will present preliminary results of a bioarchaeological research project on municipally excavated human remains conducted in response to urban development projects in Santarém, Portugal, to better understand the role of religion and funerary rites in the Portuguese middle ages. Preliminary results showcase the vibrancy with which differing religious communities approached death and burial, and how such practices affected the social, urban, and religious dimension of the city during the middle ages. Finally, Rebekah McKay will discuss the Nemea Virtual Field Season’s efforts to organize and interpret excavation data from a decade ago. In analyzing the forms, catalogs, and notebooks from the 2010-2012 field seasons centered around the Hero Shrine of Opheltes at the Sanctuary of Zeus in Nemea, the team was able to interpret the evidence of centuries of labor dedicated to the construction and maintenance of the shrine including the formation, and re-formation, of a large “tumulus” mound and feats of engineering aimed at mitigating the destructive effects of the nearby Nemea River.