Classics Prof. Hal Haskell participated in an international international conference held at the University of Cyprus (Nicosia) in September. The focus of the conference was interdisciplinary studies of ancient materials from the Mediterranean. 

SU’s Paideia philosophy is reflected in the stated goals of the NARNIA initiative, the sponsoring organization for the conference, one of which is the “Application of techniques coming both from the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ sciences and testing of their suitability and complementarity for the study of ancient materials.” Conference papers presented a variety of approaches to the study of ancient materials, from new techniques for analysis to synthetic historical assessments of materials in context.

Dr. Haskell’s paper drew upon his interdisciplinary work with transport pottery of the Greek Aegean world, 1400-1200 BCE. Bringing to bear his own typological work, he has collaborated with chemists, petrographers, and epigraphers to assess technologies of production and movement of transport pottery. These vases most likely contained olive oil, a very valuable commodity in antiquity, and are markers of long range, seaborne, bulk commodity movement.

Last spring, Dr. Haskell presented an invited paper in Athens that was structured around the theme of his SU Paideia theme,“The Intersection between the Arts and Sciences. The lecture, “Meandering Through Late Minoan III Crete, Proust, Pottery, and Palaces,” addressed how humanists and natural scientists working in close collaboration can address complex archaeological issues.