The day of Indiana Jones and the lone archeologist
is long since over.
And today, archeology is done by multidisciplinary
teams of staffs and students.
Yeah, specialists.
It’s the age of the specialist.
I did a study abroad trip in 2012.
I really didn’t know what I was getting
myself into, but I’m glad I did.
That’s for sure.
It was life-changing experience.
And when I came back, I wanted to know as
much about pottery and Roman early—late
Hellenistic, early Roman periods as I possibly
can.
[Music]
Between 1994 and 2002, we had a dig at Aqaba,
which is on the Red Sea in Southern Jordan.
In antiquity it was the ancient port of Ayla.
It was one of the great international ports
of the Roman Empire.
And so the purpose of Aqaba was to try to
reconstruct its economy over time.
How did the economy of this great port evolve
from its foundation in the 1st century up
until about the 10th century?
So a thousand years of economic history.
And in fact the artifacts that Jordan Karlis
has been working on, the Eastern Sigillata
A, this imported fine, glossy, red tableware,
all comes from this project.
Being able to hold these pieces of ancient
pottery, you get to connect with these people
in a way that you would never think.
Most of the artifacts in the archeology lab
here are 2,000 years old.
So the fact that I am holding and touching
these things that are so old and have so much
history behind them is an amazing thing.
It’s like a window to the past.
And being able to contribute to that and having
the privilege to work with this type of material
is an amazing experience.
I often say that we are what we were.
That is we all are the sum total of our cultural
history.
Who are we and how did we get here?
And history teaches you how we got here, and
helps us understand why we are what we are.
I came in as a psychology student.
Because, you know, coming from high school
especially, you don’t really know that you
could be an archeologist or any type of obscure
profession.
I’ve always wanted to go somewhere that
I’ve seen on the History Channel or on TV,
thinking as a child, “I wish I could be
there.”
And never in my wildest dreams would I have
ever thought that would actually happen.
The undergrads were there as part of the study
abroad field school.
And, of course, for many of them it was their
first time on a dig.
It was the first time out of the U.S. for
some of them.
And so they got a really unique international
experience.
Apart from learning about fieldwork and archeology,
they worked alongside with Arab workers, you
know, local Jordanians.
And so they had the cultural experience of
working with people from very different backgrounds
than themselves, but working really efficiently,
working very well, and there was a lot of
amiability and comradeship that evolved on
the project.
I am an incredible shy—I was an incredibly
shy person when I first came to NC State.
And I imagine a lot of students are the same
way.
And it’s really hard to be able to approach
your professors who are in a mega session
[ph] of like 500 students saying, “Hi, my
name is Jordan, and I am really interested
in the subject, and I want to learn more.
What can you do for me?”
Because most of the time professors are like,
“Talk to your T.A., do this,” and it’s
just very daunting.
So making those personal relationships with
professors I encourage very much so because
it really does open doors for—that you would
never, as a student alone, be able to do.
So since the dig in 2012 she’s worked on
this independent project.
And she’s gained a lot of insights into
this material.
And I’m so excited about the results of
her research that we’re leaving in a—just
a few days to go to this international conference
back in Amman, Jordan, where she’s going
to present the results of her research, at
least in preliminary form.
And for an undergraduate to in fact give a
paper at an international conference is quite
a feather in anyone’s cap.
I’m really proud of her.
And I think she’s going to do a terrific
job.
You definitely get to know people, especially
professors, on a more intimate level and they
get to work with you side by side, so you
have a more—a more personal connection with
them and you really get so much more than
you can ever
attain in a classroom, just whether it’s
life skills or educational skills.
They’re both, like, intensified or amplified.
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