Antiochia ad Cragum is a city celebrated for its monumental architecture, impressive urban planning, and imperial prominence within the ancient Roman world. While its architecture and artifacts provide valuable insight into the city’s political and cultural significance, I am especially drawn to another aspect of the site. As a biology major, I am deeply interested in bioarchaeological research. My special interest lies in the potential to study human skeletal remains, which can serve as direct biological archives of the ancient world. These remains can reveal information about nutrition, disease, trauma, and daily life that may not be understood through architecture or artifacts alone. More than anything, I am fascinated by the humans behind the artifacts and monumental structures. While buildings and objects tell the broad history of a civilization’s achievements, human remains provide a unique opportunity to connect with the individuals who built, inhabited, and shaped Antiochia.
As previously mentioned, I am especially interested in the daily lives of the individuals who inhabited Antiochia. While architecture and public buildings reveal the city’s political and economic importance, I am most fascinated by the ordinary people whose stories can often be left untold. I hope to explore how residents lived, worked, interacted with one another, and adapted to the challenges of everyday life. Uncovering homes, businesses, and communal spaces, along with artifacts such as pottery, coins, and other personal belongings that have remained buried for centuries, provides such a unique opportunity to reconstruct these lived experiences. Even seemingly ordinary objects can reveal valuable information! During this research internship, I also hope to gain a deeper understanding of the archaeological process itself. As this is my first archaeological experience, I am eager to learn how artifacts are excavated, documented, and interpreted to build narratives about past communities. I am particularly excited to see how biological and archaeological evidence complement one another to create a more complete picture of ancient populations. Understanding the context in which human remains and artifacts are discovered is essential for interpreting the lives of the people who once occupied the site.Ultimately, to me, this opportunity means much more to me than studying ancient objects. It is a chance to better understand the people of Antiochia not simply as members of an ancient civilization, but as individuals whose lives, relationships, and experiences still have the potential to be discovered.
After reading about archaeological ethics and the relationship between archaeology and tourism, I see the role of an archaeologist as something more than simply excavating artifacts. Archaeologists have a responsibility to preserve the past, thoroughly document discoveries, and share their findings in ways that benefit other researchers as well as the public. Since excavation permanently changes a site, every single decision made in the field must be thought through and considered. Because I am especially interested in bioarchaeology, this responsibility feels even more important if I am given the opportunity to work with human remains. I want to study the people who lived at Antiochia ad Cragum with respect and dignity, recognizing that they were individuals with their own lives, families, and experiences. I hope that my archaeological work can be accessed by a wide audience and is used by anyone interested. Whether that be future St. Olaf students in the same program, local communities, and anyone interested in learning about the ancient world. Archaeology should not remain confined to academic publications but should help people better understand and appreciate our shared human history. Ultimately, this work matters to me because it allows me to combine my interest in biology with the opportunity to help preserve and better understand history. I hope to contribute to research that tells the stories of ordinary people, ensuring that their lives are remembered and shared responsibly with future generations.