Idalion Expedition

Location: Dali Cyprus

Season: June 2, 2025 to June 23, 2025

Session Dates: Actual digging begins on June 2, 2025, however, team members are urged to arrive one or two days before that, both to allow for jet lag, and to help with setup. Those staying for 2 or 3 weeks should plan to arrive 1 or 2 days before the Monday they will begin digging. Team members need to stay 1-2 days after June 23, 2025, to help with shut-down and movement of equipment. The house will be available from May 31-June 25.

Application Deadline: May 15, 2025

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: https://www.facebook.com/DigIdalion/

Program Type:
Volunteer

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Lycoming College

Project Director:
Pamela Gaber, Professor Emerita of Archaeology, Lycoming College, Director; Andrew Wright, Senior Research Analyst, Forum for Digital Culture, University of Chicago, Associate Director; Valerie Woelfel, GIS Specialist, DNR Minnesota, Associate Director; and Jacob Kupperman, State Archaeologist of Minnesota FPAC-NRCS, Field Supervisor.

Project Description:

Cities in Cyprus were cosmopolitan, trading in copper to the Aegean, Egypt, and Mesopotamia from the 20th century BCE until the close of the Cyprus Mines Corp. in 1960 CE. Among the city kingdoms of Iron Age Cyprus, Idalion was the first in the Assyrian lists of Copper trading cities in Cyprus. Help us apply the latest digital methods to piece together the history of this fascinating and important ancient metropolis.

The 2025 season of the American Expedition to Idalion will be a short season focused on removing baulks in two of the previously excavated fields not dug since Covid. There will be much orientation, and strict stratigraphic attention to aligning visible soil changes with legacy data, while employing digital recording techniques in the field using OCHRE, the University of Chicago’s platform for digital research. Associate Director Andrew Wright will oversee this aspect of the work. Associate Director Valerie Woelfel will conduct the GIS aspects of the project. All volunteers and students will be introduced to all techniques. Director Pamela Gaber will be overall excavation coordinator and presenter of Idalion’s place in history.

Period(s) of Occupation: The city that became known as Idalion in the first millennium BCE was probably that mentioned in the Ramesses III list of Cyprus locales in ca. 1175 BCE as "Ithal," now believed to be the urban center founded around 2200 BCE in the modern village of Agios Sozomenos. (Gaber: 2004) The site in Dali where we will be working in 2025 was founded in the 13th century, apparently as an industrial area attached to Ithal. By the 8th century BCE it had become the central copper trading metropolis of the Center of the island of Cyprus, and continued its importance until the end of the 4th century BCE when the Hellenistic takeover relegated it to secondary status.

Notes:
Team members will be housed this year in a well-equipped Airbnb not far from the site. Charges for the 4-week season are $2900. For two or three weeks charges will be $750 per week. Volunteers are urged to remember that weather in the Mediterranean is hotter these recent years than previously. While we will be adjusting our work schedule accordingly, it is wise to bring plenty of sunblock, hats with brims, and strong sun glasses.

Project Size: 1-24 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: 2 Weeks.

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: None. Instruction is offered to all, since the digital recording and geo-reference systems in use are cutting edge, and few working excavations have access to the full OCHRE capabilities in the field.

Room and Board Arrangements:
Nice house with ample space and large yard for work areas, including a covered veranda for pottery and finds processing.

Academic Credit:
None.