UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - (Page 14) An Expedition to Iceland bY NANCY mArie broWN “I don’t think any amount of digging in New England prepares you for Iceland,” Jessica Bowers told me. Her work-site last summer lies wide open to the sky, the wind rushing over hay fields rumpled into tussocks by the frost. Patchworked by horse pastures, gated by gray mountains, the Skagafjord valley follows a glacial river to the fjord. There, in a fishing village, Bowers, four other graduate students in UMass Boston’s historical archaeology MA program, three anthropology undergraduates, and the ten professional members of the Skagafjord Archaeological Settlement Survey (SASS) rented a house and befriended a cat (renamed “Buckets”). Six days a week, the students dug holes in farmers’ fields. They carried endless buckets of dirt, searching for clues to the society that had evolved since the Vikings landed in 874 AD. On rare days off, they climbed a volcanic cone and drove to the foot of a glacier. They went white-water rafting and soaked in a hotspring. They saw Geysir, the geyser for which all geysers are named, and the geothermal power plant that heats the city of Reykjavik. Their expedition was led by John Steinberg, an adjunct professor of anthropology and senior scientist at UMass Boston’s Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research. He’s led archaeological surveys in Iceland since 2001; but it isn’t the exotic locale that entices students—it’s his methodology. “We thought John was crazy when he described it,” said Tess Ostrowsky. Kate Johnson agreed; she and Ostrowsky are now Steinberg’s graduate research assistants. “John didn’t screen his backdirt. What! That’s basic! But when we got to Iceland and started digging through a turf wall, we realized it was dumb to screen through turf. It’s all turf.” 4 n umass boston
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 Contents U News Values and Vision, Bricks and Mortar An Inauguration to Remember An Expedition to Iceland An American Original Reciprocal Dedication About Alumni Alumni Calendar A Report on Private Giving Generous Friends UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 (Page Cover1) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 (Page Cover2) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Contents (Page 1) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - U News (Page 2) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - U News (Page 3) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - U News (Page 4) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - U News (Page 5) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Values and Vision, Bricks and Mortar (Page 6) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Values and Vision, Bricks and Mortar (Page 7) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Values and Vision, Bricks and Mortar (Page 8) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Values and Vision, Bricks and Mortar (Page 9) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An Inauguration to Remember (Page 10) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An Inauguration to Remember (Page 11) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An Inauguration to Remember (Page 12) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An Inauguration to Remember (Page 13) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An Expedition to Iceland (Page 14) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An Expedition to Iceland (Page 15) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An Expedition to Iceland (Page 16) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An American Original (Page 17) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An American Original (Page 18) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - An American Original (Page 19) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Reciprocal Dedication (Page 20) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Reciprocal Dedication (Page 21) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - About Alumni (Page 22) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - About Alumni (Page 23) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - About Alumni (Page 24) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Alumni Calendar (Page 25) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 26) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 27) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 28) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 29) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 30) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 31) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 32) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 33) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 34) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 35) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 36) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 37) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 38) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 39) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 40) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 41) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 42) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 43) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 44) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 45) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 46) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 47) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 48) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 49) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 50) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 51) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 52) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 53) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 54) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - A Report on Private Giving (Page 55) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Generous Friends (Page 56) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Generous Friends (Page Cover3) UMass Boston - Winter/Spring 2007-2008 - Generous Friends (Page Cover4)
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