Do I Really Want to Be an Archaeologist? : Letters From the Field 1968-1974

Do I Really Want to Be an Archaeologist? is an edited collection of letters that Karen D. Vitelli wrote from pre-EU Greece and Turkey to family during her later years of graduate school and early field work (at Franchthi Cave, Gordion, and a training session at Corinth) through to the completion of writing her dissertation in Athens during a coup (1968-1974). An introductory chapter provides background information to clarify references in the letters, additional new comments within the letters amplify points and events, and a final chapter sums up her post-dissertation years. The letters were written during lively times politically and socially, as well as archaeologically, in Greece and around the world. The author was often torn between immersing herself in the past and being involved in the upheavals of that present. The letters show her frequent questioning about whether to remain in archaeology or become an ‘activist,’ and how she eventually found ways to do both. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents Page 5 Acknowledgements 6 Chapter 1. The Background to the Letters 7 Chapter 2. Getting to Greece. Off to my first dig, 1968 21 Chapter 3. My First Dig, Porto Cheli, 1968 34 Chapter 4. Fall Term at the American School, 1968 52 Chapter 5. Winter term at the American School, 1969 65 Chapter 6. More Digs: Turkey and Back to Greece, 1969 88 Chapter 7. Beginning Dissertation Research, 1969-70 111 Chapter 8. Wrapping up the Dissertation Research. Nafplion 1970: April-August 122 Chapter 9. Avoiding, and Finally Starting the Dissertation, Athens 1973 143 Chapter 10. Finishing the Dissertation, During a revolution. 161 Bibliography 194 Back cover 195 History of Archaeology,Historiography