Excavating the School of Aristotle

Twenty Davidson Day students and four faculty advisors returned to Mieza, a city of major historical significance in Greece, particularly during the Macedonian kingdom, when it housed the residence of Aristotle and Alexander the Great, and Aristotle’s Academy.
 
In northern Greece, the most ancient secrets of the city are still unknown, though the city flourished under Phillip II, Alexander’s father, and thrived through the Hellenistic Period into Roman occupation.
 
In just the second year at the site, the Davidson Day AFAR field research team continued to unearth the latest lenses of occupation. This year, the scope of work included a continued excavation of a Roman-era bath complex and early-Christian burial sites.
 
The bath complex contained five separate mosaic floors and beautiful marble transitions. The burial sites were simple in their construction—and incredibly effective in their preservation of the buried dead.
 
A small team also investigated a structural feature close to the bath complex that upon discovery appeared to be the ancient city’s exterior walls. Though a number of excavations were inconclusive, the research team hypothesized that the area could have served as a principal entrance to the ancient city.
 
Outside of their deployment at the research site, student participants visited museums, Grecian landmarks, the Isle of Thassos, and the waterfalls on Mt. Olympus.
 
“AFAR definitely lived up to my expectations,” says Liz Uys, Davidson Day Class of 2019. “Not only was I able to tour exceptional museums, learn about Grecian culture, and meet some amazing archaeologists, I also got to study a fascinating site with some of my best friends.”
 
Next summer, another AFAR research team will return to the site to complete the excavations of the bath complex and burial ground, and work to track the footsteps of Aristotle and Alexander. Additional field trips to Athens, Delphi, and Meteora are also on the list of potential additions to the research trip in 2019. 
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