AFAR's Point Person in Portugal: Getting to Know Site Director, Inês Vaz Pinto
Portugal is a small country of 10 million friendly people known for its diverse regions, including coastal areas, mountainous areas and the plains. With breath-taking landscapes, amazing beaches and an incredible amount of historical monuments, it’s one of the oldest cities in Europe. It’s also the place that Inês Vaz Pinto calls home and where she discovered her love of history which led her to a career in Archaeology. Today, in the tourist resort town of Tróia, she serves as site manager where she conducts field research, enhancements and conservation of this historic site. For two weeks each summer, AFAR students work alongside Ines and her team to uncover pieces of Portugal’s past.
Read More
Translating In Tróia Can Be Tricky
After a total of four weeks working on the Spain project, I thought that I would be able to transition to the Portugal project without facing a difficult adjustment to a new environment. However, the variety of cultures that gathered to excavate the site in Troia was baffling to me.
Read More
One Man's Trash
My main job on site in Portugal was excavating and preserving the mosaic floor tiles and pottery, all of which was found in ancient vats originally used to make fish sauce. Every day, I got to see amazing artistic patterns and styles manifested in objects that had been buried for centuries. While I loved learning about conservation techniques and the history behind simple things such as floor patterns, I was most fascinated by the reason that all the artifacts we uncovered were there in the first place - we were uncovering trash heaps.
Read More
An Insider's Perspective on the Portugal Project
Despite being provided with an event calendar for the Portugual project prior to your arrival, the schedule is really just words and times. Here’s what you can expect during the project, based on what I have experienced so far.
Read More
Meet Catalina Urquijo: Program Director and AFAR On-Site Archaeologist
We caught up with Catalina high on a hilltop at the Zorita de los Canes project, not far from Madrid where she grew up. She’s in here element — surrounded by hard-working students conducting archaeology research for AFAR. Catalina speaks of her work as a privilege, rather than a job, and credits her love of travel and the outdoors guiding her to this life-long profession.
Read More
Meet AFAR Staff Member and Archaeologist, Stan Guenter
As a young boy, he lived in Belize and never imagined his professional career studying Mesoamerican cultures would bring him back to the country that kick-started his interest in Archaeology. Meet AFAR Staffer and Archaeologist, Stan Guenther…
Read More
Why “Research Projects” Resonates with College Admission Officers
Want to know more about the game-changer that can benefit the college application process? In this interview with Tia Sullivan, Davidson Day College Counselor and former college admissions officer, she spells out the reasons student should take part in experiences like AFAR.
Read More
An Interview with Founder and Executive Director, Mat Saunders…
It takes passion and pursuit to oversee four archeological sites in four countries, where he takes between 60-70 students each summer to gain valuable, hands-on field research experience. Listen in on a conversation between AFAR Board Chair, David Hamme, and Mat Saunders, Founder and Executive Director.
Read More
