Hassloch Excavations Project

UPDATE: The second campaign of excavations at Hassloch will take place from June 4th to July 6th 2012. Applications are now being considered, and participants will be accepted on a rolling basis. The final deadline for application is March 20th 2012. The estimated cost is $2,000. About 15 students will be taken this year, so please apply now!


For more information and an application form click here:
(HasslochFlyerandApplication.pdf)

NEW:  2011 Television Clip of the Hassloch Team

Please hand in completed applications in the classics office, or e-mail them to Dr. Philip Kiernan: philipki@buffalo.edu

UB Faculty Involvement:

  • Philip Kiernan (Principal Investigator / Project Director)
  • Kali Grable, M.A. (Assistant Director)
  • Erin Warford, M.A. (Assistant Director)

Sponsoring Institutions:

  • The University at Buffalo, SUNY, Department of Classics
  • Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz, Speyer
  • GemeindeWerk Haßloch (2011 campaign)
  • The Community of Haßloch

Nature of Project:

The project consists of the excavation of a preshistoric tumulus, known locally as the Götzenbühl (“Idol Hill”), in the Haßlocher forest in south western Germany. The project is a case study for the changing function and perception of tumuli over time, from the Celtic period to the modern day. The earliest finds from the mound, which is one of the largest (dm. 36 m) in the region, date to the late Bronze Age (c. 1, 200 B.C.), while the latest ceramic fragments in the mound’s filling belong to the first Iron Age (Hallstatt period, 550-475 B.C.). The local name of the mound probably dates to the Middle Ages, when tumuli were frequently used as land boundaries and meeting places. At this point, a large stone or perhaps even a statue (the “idol”) probably still adorned the top of the mound. In 1902, the mound was the subject of very limited and non-scientific excavation. One of the goals of the current project is to establish the original format of the tumulus, and to allow it to be reconstructed and sign posted as part of an archaeological walking tour desired by the community of Haßloch.

Status:

The first season of excavation was conducted in June 2011. Three further field seasons of six to eight weeks are planned, with the next campaign expected in June and July of 2012.

Student participation:

Student participation is very welcome. In the first campaign, 15 students from Buffalo and other universities took part in the project. A similar number is anticipated for future campaigns.

Potential participants must submit an application in the early Spring of each year. No previous archaeological experience is necessary and students from any discipline or academic institution may apply. New participants will be taught excavation techniques, spatial mapping, finds processing, surveying and other necessary methods.

Accepted applicants are responsible for their own airfare, and must pay a fee to cover local meals and housing. In 2011, this fee was roughly $1,600 for four weeks. An application to the NSF has recently been made that, if granted, would significantly reduce or eliminate participant costs. No academic credit is currently offered by Buffalo for this project, though a letter documenting participation can be provided upon request.

More information:

Interested participants should contact Philip Kiernan for further details about the application process for next summer’s campaign.

 

 

The Participants of the 2011 Campaign. Front row (left to right): Al Bagwell (UB), Paul Scherrer (Speyer), Erin Warford (UB), Lisa Nesselbeck (UB). Middle row (left to right): Kali Grable (UB), Valerie Spiller (UB), Alessandra Nicodemo (UB), Anne Glennie (Florida State University), Frank Krämer (Heidelberg), Madeleine Turner (UB), Matthew Weiss (Sheffield). Back: Sam Batchelor (St. Andrews). Top right: Philip Kiernan (UB). Missing: Bernd Fischer (Speyer), Janet Spiller (UB), Andrea Zeeb-Lanz (Speyer).

 

Excavation of the Mound in Progress. June 15th 2011.

 

   

Ceramic Sherds from the Filling of the Mound.

 

Examination of a disturbance in the upper levels of the tumulus. Pictured: Matthew Weiss and Lisa Nesselbeck.

 

 

Excavation of a test trench. Pictured: Madeleine Turner (finding a sherd!) and Anne Glennie.