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Last night I dreamt of Pacheia Ammos. Though it was still mid-summer, there was already a feeling of nostalgia in the air, and a chill wind blew along the seafront and through the empty cafés. I walked from one room to the next, searching for somewhere to stay, while Greek men pointed me in a different direction each time I asked. I climbed concrete stairs to the top of the Golden Beach Hotel, and watched the ferry boats in the distance, loaded with cars and bound for faraway places. Then I heard Greek music wafting up from the Taverna below, thought of dancing, and awoke.

When you tell people you are spending the summer on an archaeological dig, those who have any experience with excavations begin to tell you how it will affect your daily life.

In 1600 B.C., during the Minoan civilization on Crete, Gournia was bustling with the activity of a small city, with construction of the enormous central palace underway. Working with John McEnroe, the John and Anne Fischer Professor in Fine Arts, Maeve Gately ’12 and Kiernan Acquisto ’13 are excavating the site to learn more about its ancient past.

John McEnroe, the John and Anne Fischer Professor of Fine Art, has published Architecture of Minoan Crete: Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age with the University of Texas Press.