Digging Deep
July 16, 2013 - Justine Tynan and Lauren Tosti spent much of their summer in Europe, but not for a vacation or sightseeing trip.
Tynan, a sophomore, Tosti, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology in May 2013, and Julia Giblin, assistant professor of anthropology, were part of a team that conducted research through the Bronze Age Körös Off-tell Archaeology (BAKOTA) project.
They surveyed and excavated an archaeological site in Békés County in an effort to learn more about social organization, trade and mobility during the Bronze Age of Eastern Hungary.
The six-week field study group unearthed 39 cremation urns on farmland that was once a cemetery. The group also studied bones, teeth and artifacts, including what was believed to be part of a bronze bracelet, through their lab work.
Tynan and Tosti became interested in the BAKOTA project after taking Giblin's Introduction to Archaeology course in Fall 2012.
"It was hands-on field work," said Tosti. "We were actually getting to touch things that were thousands of years old. You can't get that from a textbook. It was really eye-opening. Something as simple as a little pottery shard made for an eye-opening moment."
Tosti, who spent four weeks in Hungary, was largely responsible for using a total station to measure the location and elevation of points during excavation. She also snapped photographs that will be used to make a 3-D model of the cemetery.Tynan served as a lab manager, weighing, counting and registering artifacts. She spent six weeks in Hungary.
"Being there with people who are professionals and getting real experience was amazing," Tynan said. "It was actually surreal touching people who were alive thousands of years ago and unearthing their stories. I enjoyed the lab work. I got to see everything that came in. It was an interesting job."
Both students received funding from Quinnipiac to participate in the project. Tosti got aid from the University's Central European Institute, while Tynan benefitted from a Student Research Support Grant provided by the College of Arts and Sciences.
The BAKOTA project concluded June 16.
"The high point of the trip for me was watching the students utilize critical-thinking skills and collaborate with a diverse research team," Giblin said. "Over the course of the season, Justine and Lauren developed their ability to problem solve and communicate their ideas. These are skills that are needed in the field, but are also broadly applicable in other academic and work environments. Working as part of an archaeological project is intense - they had to push themselves to go above and beyond what they thought they could do."