Research in Genoa

June 3, 2019

Greetings from Genoa!

This is my first time blogging from this city (my first real visit, since I’m not counting the ten minutes I spent switching trains last summer), but I’m excited to experience Italian city life. Last year, I spent four weeks in the mountains of northern Italy, contributing to the excavation of a paleolithic site. Since then, I’ve managed to complete my final year at CU Denver and graduate with a Master’s degree. With that part of my training finished, I’m using my newfound expertise to analyze materials excavated over the last three years. No pressure or anything.

Fireworks from Republic day (June 2, Genoa)

Subsequently, two days after my graduation, and during a snowstorm (this erratic weather pattern is common to Colorado), I began my flight to Europe. I should probably have suspected something after I received a terminal ticket to Munich (instead of Genoa), but I was rather exhausted from the end of the semester, visiting family, graduation, and packing everything I owned for my August move, and didn’t think anything of it. Upon my arrival in Amsterdam, I discovered I was rerouted to Munich because my original flight to Genoa had been canceled, and my rebooked flight from Munich-Genoa was already canceled (due to strikes in Italy). I went to Munich anyway, because I figured at least it would be a shorter train ride if necessary, and the airline promptly lost my luggage. Luckily, this was only my clothes and not the plethora of research equipment I was bringing. Even better, I was issued a ticket for the following day, and a bed for the night.

I was quite relieved to watch the plane float over the rugged Italian coastline and land in Genoa without any further complications. My backpack was even waiting for me at the luggage claim.

Genoa is unlike any city I’ve traveled through. Most of the buildings are giant square blocks with banks of windows, often five, six, seven stories tall, stretching along the coastline and ascending the side of the mountains. The effect is that short buildings are suddenly revealed as massive, and sheer drops, steep walls, and stunning views of the city are a daily part of life. It’s breathtaking to stand at the height of rooftop gardens and know that the building falls away for six stories below you. Winding cobble paths connect the major thoroughfares to the apartments, busy streets swarm with pedestrians and vehicles. Many of the buildings here are old, far older than most occupied cities in the Americas. Despite the towering architecture, vegetation is abundant, from mossy paths, to the vines clinging to fences, rooftop gardens, and rows of trees lining sidewalks and shadowing the roads. A thriving port borders the coastline, extending anthropogenic activities over the sparkling waves.

My daily walk to the University

Most of my work takes place at the University of Genoa. The university (est. 1481) is two blocks from the port, and surrounded by similarly historical buildings. It is possible to wander extensively through the university, although this might have more to do with my propensity for becoming lost, and the numerous passages threading throughout the building. I know this because I became slightly misplaced trying to find the paleo laboratory. A word of caution: elevators are not for the claustrophobic, although they are fun to ride.

The lab itself is tucked under one of the buildings and is the most interesting lab I’ve set foot in. Despite whitewashed walls, it has a catacombs vibe (I’m told it was a bunker, although I’m unsure if that was the original purpose), and is larger than any other paleo/archaeology lab I’ve worked in. Each room contains several tables and is lined with shelves full of archaeological material. More archaeological finds, from multiple sites, are tucked into alcoves and the storage room, a winding narrow area at the back. Of course, it has computers and other electronic equipment, and an area to clean and sort artifacts. The only downside is the fact that the lab is naturally cave-like and chilly, but it’s similar to our South African lab in that I am constantly bundled up.

The Paleolab at the University of Genoa

The equipped lab notwithstanding, I brought some specialized equipment for faunal analysis (borrowed from the zooarchaeology lab at CU). As you can tell, this didn’t amount to much:

...But are the basics for any proper analysis. Most of those boxes contain parts of a high-tech electronic microscope and a special light that I can manipulate to look at a bone from every angle. Instant, scaled, high-resolution of photos of specimens.  Usually, I’m the only person here, (except for the student’s lab days), as our Italian colleague Fabio and students are prepping for the field season at a Neanderthal site in northwestern Italy. My goal is to pick up the analysis of the faunal material where it left off last summer, looking at the fauna both from near the burial and from the Neanderthal occupation layers. After two long semesters, it's great to be back in the lab and looking at bones.