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October 2007

October 24, 2007

PKAP in SL

Ok, the first part of the PKAP presence in SL is far enough along to talk about it. The problem has been that I am learning as I go along and ...... let's just say the path has had its pitfalls. So, a little background first. Last spring, I wrote a small grant with Dr. Bev Chiarulli from IUP's Anthro department to fund the development of an archaeology island in Second Life (SL) and we were pleasantly surprised to have it funded by a grant from IUP. We started working on the project and were very, very fortunate to make the acquaintance of Dr. Allen Partridge of IUP's Applied Media and Simulation Games Center who has brought his considerable expertise to the project. Dr. Partridge and his staff have been helping us design an island that will allow visitors to experience three different archaeological sites: 1) our PKAP site, focusing on the hill of Vigla; 2) Dr. Chiarulli's work in Belize with Mayan culture; and 3) an underwater site with a shipwreck. We are still working on this island and hope to make it available to the public this spring.

Archaeology_island_5 

Our other presence in SL is on IUP's Crimson Island, or actually above it - about 650 meters above it. I have created a PKAP building that serves as both a research complex and visitor's center. It is still under construction, but you are welcome to come by and visit it and see how it progresses. I'll set up a link to it from Crimson Island, down by the Digital History building. Feel free to leave me some any comments or suggestions you have in our comment box.

Pkap_hq_001_3

RSM

October 17, 2007

BSC Report

Well, I have returned from Canada successfully, even though my flight was a bit bumpy and very loud - was on a small turboprop. On Saturday I gave a presentation on PKAP research at the Byzantine Studies Conference and I felt it went well - I didn't fall down or look like a total idiot. In fact, I received some nice feedback on the paper and talked to several people who are interested in participating in upcoming seasons. The only drawback to going was losing a couple days of grading time - I gave midterms at the end of last week.

On to Second Life news - We have been proceeding to work on various projects for the virtual world Second Life. I have been fairly quiet about them because I wasn't sure how fast we would be proceeding on them, but they are actually moving forward very quickly. I will take some pictures and talk about each project over the next few days to let you know what we are doing. Tomorrow - PKAP Headquarters. So, if you are interested in this - go get an account with Second Life (it's free) and start exploring.

RSM

October 08, 2007

Preparing for the BSC

Well, I think I have finished updating the PKAP webpages. There are a few minor things that need to be straightened out, but they will have to wait for a few days. The goal this week is to finish up our Byzantine Studies Conference (BSC) paper for this weekend. This is a great opportunity for us to produce some material that can be used in our project monograph which we are starting to work on. I am working on the ceramics database and trying to isolate 7th century AD ceramics in an effort to understand better the late phase of our site. The walls we discovered this summer, in conjunction with the geophysical work, will certainly assist the ceramic analysis. The only drawback to the BSC is the way the dollar continues to fall - I just checked and the current exchange rate is 1 US dollar equals .98 Canadian dollars!! This trip is going to be expensive and my IUP travel budget doesn't go far. Anyway, it will hopefully be a good experience.

RSM

My Photo

2008 PKAP Team

  • Joe Kochinski aka "Joeboo"
    PKAP's 2008 Team Members

2007 Cyprus Sites

  • Paphos_6
    Some photos from the sites we have visited this season.

PKAP 2007

  • Museum work
    PKAP members at work.

2007 PKAP Team

  • Mara Iverson
    Photos of the 2007 PKAP team