听厂贬础搁贰
[/vc_column_text][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-fb-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.facebook.com/麻豆直播esearch/” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-tw-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://twitter.com/麻豆直播esearch?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-in-icon4.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://www.linkedin.com/company/american-schools-of-oriental-research” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/social-ml-icon_7.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”mailto:info@asor.org” margin_bottom=”0″][mk_image src=”http://www.asortest.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/blog-icon3.jpg” image_width=”42″ image_height=”42″ hover=”false” custom_url=”https://asor.org/blog” margin_bottom=”0″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” width=”1/6″ css=”.vc_custom_1496683923840{margin-right: 20px !important;border-left-width: 2px !important;padding-right: 20px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;border-left-color: #99422f !important;}”][mk_divider divider_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.01)” thickness=”1″ margin_top=”3″ margin_bottom=”3″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”ca-sidebar-39801″][/vc_column][vc_column border_color=”rgba(170,170,170,0.01)” width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1487276122024{margin-right: 10px !important;margin-bottom: 30px !important;border-right-width: 2px !important;border-bottom-width: 2px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-right: 30px !important;padding-left: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;border-right-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;border-bottom-color: rgba(227,228,228,0.75) !important;}”][vc_column_text responsive_align=”left”]Learning to Lead in the Heart of Athens
Aidan Gregg, 2025 Katherine Barton Platt Fellowship Recipient聽[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]
In the bustling center of metropolitan Athens, the sounds of city life blend with those of pickaxes striking the earth, brushes revealing beautiful artifacts, and鈥攐f course鈥攃easeless debate as to whether the soil is indeed greyish-brown or brownish-grey. For nearly 100 years, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens has helmed the excavations of the Athenian Agora. Each year, students and professionals from across the world flock to Athens to excavate one of the most important sites in the Greek world. This year, I had the opportunity to work at the Agora as an assistant supervisor and take an important step in my career as an archaeologist.
[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105153″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_column_text]I excavated at the Agora for the first time as a volunteer in the summer of 2024, just before beginning the final year of my undergraduate education. While I had prior excavation experience, I could never imagine how impactful it would be on my development as an archaeologist. As a site that practices total collection of material鈥攅ven plastic鈥擨 gained a breadth of archaeological experience. In addition to dry sieving all of the excavated material, we took samples for archaeobotanical flotation. We placed the soil we collected in a basin of water, so we can keep even the smallest seeds. The emphasis on professional skill development and intellectual growth at the Agora made me fall in love with the site, the project, and the people. But the most important lesson came this year, when I learned to be a leader.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105154″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_wp_text]When I was invited to return to the Athenian Agora as an assistant supervisor, I knew there was nothing I would rather do with my summer. As excited as I was, I was also quite nervous to enter a leadership position like this for the first time. I was younger and had less field experience than many of the volunteers. For the first few weeks, I maintained a perpetual state of anxiety about making a mistake or revealing to others that I was unsure of myself. In the field, we have to pay close attention to changes in the soil to determine whether the deposit we are excavating has changed. In the particular Ottoman context we were excavating, we battled these soil changes ferociously, having to remain eagle-eyed for even the slightest change in color or texture鈥攏ot an easy task. For the first time, I found myself in a position where people around me asked what I thought was happening; often, I had no clue. As a born perfectionist and someone deeply invested in the work I do, this was frequently anxiety-inducing鈥攁s I鈥檓 sure anyone starting a new job has experienced. But, as is often the case, this discomfort provided an outlet for growth.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”105155″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_column_text]Perhaps the most important thing I learned was to be comfortable being wrong, not knowing the answers, and owning mistakes. In turn, letting go of the need to be right and the fear of making a mistake allowed others at every level of experience and every age the space to be wrong too; it allowed us all to be able to learn from each other. At the Agora, our field director, Dr. Debby Sneed, consistently emphasized to us that mistakes are an opportunity to grow, not a source of shame. This summer, learning to be wrong made me more confident in myself, more able to learn from others, and a better archaeologist altogether.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105156″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][mk_padding_divider size=”30″][vc_column_text]Anyone who has participated in archaeological fieldwork knows that it is an opportunity for personal discovery just as much as it is for professional growth. Over two short months, I grew like a wild herb nurtured by the Greek sun, soil, and incredible archaeologists around me. I am forever grateful for my time at the Athenian Agora, and look forward to what comes next.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”105157″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][mk_padding_divider visibility=”visible-dt”][vc_wp_text]Aidan Gregg is a first-year PhD student in Classical Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a graduate of Butler University. He is interested in the archaeology of burial, gender, and archaeological theory in the Aegean Bronze Age. He has participated in excavations at Ancient Nemea and the Athenian Agora and worked on material from Petsas House at Mycenae, the Bronze Age cemetery at Aidonia, and the Northeastern cemetery of Thebes.Agora Excavation Volunteer Program:
[/vc_wp_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting 鈥淔ieldwork Scholarships鈥� as your gift purpose!
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