From the Editor

Previous articleNext article FreeFrom the EditorStephanie L. BudinStephanie L. Budin Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmailPrint SectionsMoreHello, Readers!Greece is burning again. According to all the major news media, the island of Rhodes is getting the worst of it. Just two years ago it was the archaeological site of Olympia in the Peloponnese that went up in flames. And that’s not the only kind of burning: Last week (I’m writing this in late July), the Athenian Acropolis closed down to tourism because of the extreme heat. According to all those same major news media, and I quote: “Welcome to the new normal.”Climate change is finding all sorts of new ways ot mess with archaeology. This isn’t entirely new. Back in 2007 I took part in an excavation on Cyprus that was atypically but conveniently for me, taking place in spring. Normally the dig took place during the summer break, once classes were over. But the previous year the team lost several days owing to extreme heat, when it simply was not feasible to have people in the field. So in 2007 they decided to move the dig season from summer break to the Easter season, shielding folks from the Summer’s brutality. We wound up losing only one day to a severe wind-storm, which reminded me of Dante’s second level of Hell (Lust, not inapproriate as we were close to the birthplace of Aphrodite), and reminded the students from Edinburgh of home. The point is, archaeologists are known for their heat tolearance, and the heat is now pushing back in such a way that even the archaeologists are starting to cave.So there is heat for the archaeologists, heat for the tourists, and fire literally all around. And thus once again we must bring up the matter of how the archaeological community is going to deal with the global warming problem, especially when it comes to protecting ourselves in the field.There is a strong probability that excavation seasons are going to start shifting away from the summer months. This is already common in Egypt and Sudan, and, as noted above, becoming desirable for Cyprus. The major concern here is how such new schedules will interact with the standard academic calendar, which normally has student or professors in the classroom during the cooler seasons. Will excavation seasons become shorter to fit into spring break and the gap between Michaelmas and Hilary? Will graduate programs in archaeology tweak their schedules to allow for digs mid-semester? As the seasons shift, will December become the new June? (If you are in the southern hemisphere, please feel free to flip those.) Are we about to see a LOT more people in underwater archaeology programs? Or shall we just become much better at digging at night, hopefully in cooler temperatures?What we can do for the sites—to protect them from heat and fire—is a whole other headache. (Again, the underwater archaeology groups are mostly immune.) Many of the older, larger digs have permanent structures—museums, interpretive centers—on site, where humans can cool down and enough water might be stored to deal with localized flames. One might hope that more heat retardant material might be swapped in for the metals currently used in scaffolding and stair bannisters. Might it possible that solar panels can serve the double function of providing shade over a dig while generating electricity for such permanent structures? Already the site of Pompeii is making use of “invisible” (they look like terracotta roof tiles) solar panels to generate electricity, so there is both hope and precedent. Should a fire-retardant ditch system become part of standard operating procedure when excavating?I am not thrilled with the new normal. But it is here, and we are better off dealing with it reasonably and responsibly. I don’t think installing a full-scale sprinkler system at, say, Megiddo, is entirely feasible, but small steps might make a world of difference down the line for the sites, the archaeologists, and those who come to appreciate both.Stephanie L. Budin, Editor Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Near Eastern Archaeology Volume 86, Number 3September 2023 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/727500 Copyright © 2023 by the American Society of Overseas ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.