The Department of Classics congratulates Sarah James!
Sarah James听has听been awarded a听CU Research and Innovation Seed Grant, a major grant that will support two seasons (in 2021 and 2022) of the Classics Department鈥檚 new听archaeological project! The project is a collaboration with the University of Split that focuses on the island of Bra膷 in Croatia, the second-largest island in the听Adriatic and one with great archaeological potential. The Bra膷 Island Project will explore the archaeology of the island鈥檚 coastal regions from the听1st听millennium BC to the 6th听c. AD. Among the many regions impacted by the Greeks and Romans in the ancient Mediterranean, the eastern Adriatic听coast and its islands are one of the least studied. Sarah and her team will excavate a native Liburnian hillfort that had significant contacts with Greek material culture from听the 11th-3rd听c. BC and conduct field surveys around two other ancient sites on Bra膷 that have shown evidence of Greek and Roman contacts based on听previous studies (see the attached photo of the area of Bol). The project鈥檚 research goals are to inform larger discourses about Greek colonization and trading听contacts in the pre-Roman Mediterranean and about the effects on regional populations of integration first into the Roman Republic and later into the听Empire. Sarah and her team are in a unique position to be leaders in this new area of Classical studies because theirs is among the first American projects to work in听Croatia. The team were originally set to begin excavations next month, but instead the first season has now been rescheduled for May 2021. We look forward to听sharing many more updates as the work progresses!