By Dr Craig Barker
Like the very disciplines of archaeology and history which they study, archaeological institutions usually have complex and conflicting histories, with a little-documented prehistory, many lost artefacts and multiple interpretations of what actually happened. The Society of Mediterranean Archaeology is no different.
This not the official history, but it is a history; a history of the first two decades of SoMA.
Deep in the mists of time, back in the last millennium (that is, 1997) the Foundation for Classical Archaeology sought the creation of a subcommittee for promotion of their activities amongst the student body of the University of Sydney. And so the unwieldy-titled Young Members Promotion Committee of the Foundation for Classical Archaeology (YMPCFCA) was born. Ably lead by Catriona Angus and with a committee of then active postgraduate students of archaeology and associated professionals, including Wayne Mullen, Beatrice McLoughlin, Gina Scheer, Camilla Norman, Andrew Merryweather, Matt McCallum, Steven Ellis, Helen Nicholson and myself amongst others. Immediately realising the way to garner support amongst the student body was through social events, we set to work organising wine and cheese evenings under the University of Sydney’s famed jacaranda tree. The first ever event was a Christmas Party in November of that year, attended by the Chancellor of the University. In 1998, the committee hosted a talk in the Nicholson Museum by Dr Karin Sowada and a function in the Australian Museum related to the exhibition “Life and Death Under the Pharoahs”.
By 2001, with the dissolution of the Foundation for Classical Archaeology, the committee decided to continue its work and to become the official Sydney University society for the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens. After much discussion the name Society of Mediterranean Archaeology was decided upon (with the pithy acronym SoMA), a constitution was drawn up for the organisation, and I took on the role of SoMA’s inaugural President, a role I would be honoured to serve for 17 years. Our charter was to promote archaeological activity in the Mediterranean to the broader student body.
In the first year we held a public lecture on ‘The Kato Phana Archaeological Project, Chios’ delivered by Dr Lesley Beaumont in April, and in May the talk ‘Greater Angkor: Temples and Places’ by Associate Professor Roland Fletcher (already demonstrating the breadth of our interest as an organisation). In October we hosted the first of our ‘Meet and Greet’ events with Dr Edna Stern of the Israel Antiquities Authority. These events set in stone the template for our early activities, and membership was a mere $5 – what a bargain!
The raison d’etre of the existence of SoMA in the early years was the creation and endowment of a student scholarship. This scholarship was named in honour of archaeological stalwart Olwen Tudor Jones (1916-2001), in part because she had actively encouraged and supported generations of students, especially at the AAIA excavations at Zagora and Torone, and in part because like SoMA itself she took archaeology seriously but was fun and enjoyed a good time with good friends.
We set to work with gusto to raise funds, with annual wine and cheese evenings, a welcome to students each first semester and a Christmas Party at the end of each second semester. The raffles became legendary, as did the competition between our committee supporters as to who could sell the most tickets in a single event (Helen Nicholson, Syd Evans and Fran Keeling all can equally lay claim!) Hundreds of dollars were raised for the scholarship each year. The raffle prizes grew ever more extravagant and eccentric as the years passed (including “the Craw” in 2010!), and I had the great privilege of MC’ing these Christmas Parties.
In a remarkably short period of time, thanks particularly because of the major donations and support from Olwen’s family and friends, enough money was raised to enable a fully funded annual scholarship, and since 2001 students of archaeology and related subjects at the University of Sydney have participated in fieldwork projects in places as diverse as Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Bulgaria and Jordan (fulfilling our deliberately broad definition of ‘Mediterranean’). Initially offering $1200 towards travel (now $1500) the scholarship attracted the brightest students of the University of Sydney each year. Most of these students would not have gained first-hand experience were it not for this travel scholarship, and it remains SoMA’s greatest achievement to date.
The busy social calendar only grew through the early years – talks co-presented with the student society ArchSoc, welcoming parties for new students of archaeology and Christmas parties that grew in their extravagance each year. Some of the fundraising events became infamous – from streakers to bagpipers, to lost pizza deliveries and a function the night before the 2007 federal election which saw most of the committee members voting with hang-overs. By then the committee of SoMA had been joined by others such as Brett Myers, Candace Richards, Olivia Kelley and Bernadette McCall, and the events were assisted by the then Nicholson Museum attendant, the late Rob Thornley, who was often the last to leave the parties long after midnight. Parties were held on the Botany Lawns and within the grounds of the Medical School, CCANESA rooms, as well as our old haunting grounds in the Quadrangle. Through all of this however, we never lost sight of the serious desire to raise funds for the scholarship and to promote the work done by Australian archaeologists across the Mediterranean. We often held lectures and assisted with the presentation of the AAIA’s annual visiting professorship by providing a reception in the Nicholson Museum after the lecture.
Whilst in more recent years the social side of SoMA became a little less active, it was still able to offer the travel scholarship each year, with the successful students providing a summary of their activity in the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens Bulletin from across the Mediterranean region.
Now more than two decades after its foundation, with the “young members” of the 1990s approaching middle age, a new committee has taken over the running of SoMA in 2017, and the future looks very bright indeed. Join us on the journey. It has sure been fun so far.
This not the official history, but it is a history; a history of the first two decades of SoMA.
Deep in the mists of time, back in the last millennium (that is, 1997) the Foundation for Classical Archaeology sought the creation of a subcommittee for promotion of their activities amongst the student body of the University of Sydney. And so the unwieldy-titled Young Members Promotion Committee of the Foundation for Classical Archaeology (YMPCFCA) was born. Ably lead by Catriona Angus and with a committee of then active postgraduate students of archaeology and associated professionals, including Wayne Mullen, Beatrice McLoughlin, Gina Scheer, Camilla Norman, Andrew Merryweather, Matt McCallum, Steven Ellis, Helen Nicholson and myself amongst others. Immediately realising the way to garner support amongst the student body was through social events, we set to work organising wine and cheese evenings under the University of Sydney’s famed jacaranda tree. The first ever event was a Christmas Party in November of that year, attended by the Chancellor of the University. In 1998, the committee hosted a talk in the Nicholson Museum by Dr Karin Sowada and a function in the Australian Museum related to the exhibition “Life and Death Under the Pharoahs”.
By 2001, with the dissolution of the Foundation for Classical Archaeology, the committee decided to continue its work and to become the official Sydney University society for the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens. After much discussion the name Society of Mediterranean Archaeology was decided upon (with the pithy acronym SoMA), a constitution was drawn up for the organisation, and I took on the role of SoMA’s inaugural President, a role I would be honoured to serve for 17 years. Our charter was to promote archaeological activity in the Mediterranean to the broader student body.
In the first year we held a public lecture on ‘The Kato Phana Archaeological Project, Chios’ delivered by Dr Lesley Beaumont in April, and in May the talk ‘Greater Angkor: Temples and Places’ by Associate Professor Roland Fletcher (already demonstrating the breadth of our interest as an organisation). In October we hosted the first of our ‘Meet and Greet’ events with Dr Edna Stern of the Israel Antiquities Authority. These events set in stone the template for our early activities, and membership was a mere $5 – what a bargain!
The raison d’etre of the existence of SoMA in the early years was the creation and endowment of a student scholarship. This scholarship was named in honour of archaeological stalwart Olwen Tudor Jones (1916-2001), in part because she had actively encouraged and supported generations of students, especially at the AAIA excavations at Zagora and Torone, and in part because like SoMA itself she took archaeology seriously but was fun and enjoyed a good time with good friends.
We set to work with gusto to raise funds, with annual wine and cheese evenings, a welcome to students each first semester and a Christmas Party at the end of each second semester. The raffles became legendary, as did the competition between our committee supporters as to who could sell the most tickets in a single event (Helen Nicholson, Syd Evans and Fran Keeling all can equally lay claim!) Hundreds of dollars were raised for the scholarship each year. The raffle prizes grew ever more extravagant and eccentric as the years passed (including “the Craw” in 2010!), and I had the great privilege of MC’ing these Christmas Parties.
In a remarkably short period of time, thanks particularly because of the major donations and support from Olwen’s family and friends, enough money was raised to enable a fully funded annual scholarship, and since 2001 students of archaeology and related subjects at the University of Sydney have participated in fieldwork projects in places as diverse as Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Bulgaria and Jordan (fulfilling our deliberately broad definition of ‘Mediterranean’). Initially offering $1200 towards travel (now $1500) the scholarship attracted the brightest students of the University of Sydney each year. Most of these students would not have gained first-hand experience were it not for this travel scholarship, and it remains SoMA’s greatest achievement to date.
The busy social calendar only grew through the early years – talks co-presented with the student society ArchSoc, welcoming parties for new students of archaeology and Christmas parties that grew in their extravagance each year. Some of the fundraising events became infamous – from streakers to bagpipers, to lost pizza deliveries and a function the night before the 2007 federal election which saw most of the committee members voting with hang-overs. By then the committee of SoMA had been joined by others such as Brett Myers, Candace Richards, Olivia Kelley and Bernadette McCall, and the events were assisted by the then Nicholson Museum attendant, the late Rob Thornley, who was often the last to leave the parties long after midnight. Parties were held on the Botany Lawns and within the grounds of the Medical School, CCANESA rooms, as well as our old haunting grounds in the Quadrangle. Through all of this however, we never lost sight of the serious desire to raise funds for the scholarship and to promote the work done by Australian archaeologists across the Mediterranean. We often held lectures and assisted with the presentation of the AAIA’s annual visiting professorship by providing a reception in the Nicholson Museum after the lecture.
Whilst in more recent years the social side of SoMA became a little less active, it was still able to offer the travel scholarship each year, with the successful students providing a summary of their activity in the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens Bulletin from across the Mediterranean region.
Now more than two decades after its foundation, with the “young members” of the 1990s approaching middle age, a new committee has taken over the running of SoMA in 2017, and the future looks very bright indeed. Join us on the journey. It has sure been fun so far.
Banner photo credit: Roman Road by Craig Barker, courtesy of Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project