Roman Archaeology Group - Rebecca Banks

Rebecca Banks was the first recipient of the Don Boyer Roman Archaeology Travel Scholarship. In July 2006 she flew to Spain to join a team of archaeologists under Director Fernando Contreras excavating the Roman town of Sanisera, located on the northern tip of the island Menorca in the Mediterranean. The dig focussed on the Roman Republican fort located there, believed to be constructed in 123-121 BC during the conquest of the islands by the General Quintus Caecilius Metellus, and where the local Balearic Slingers were recruited. The students of the field school were also shown the remains of the Roman town and its necropolis, a nearby Napoleonic tower and sites of the native Talyotic population. It was a superb experience for her as her initial report made clear:

"Just writing to let you know I am having the most fantastic time at the Field School. The Roman fort we are excavating is keeping me intrigued with small surprises such as a small hearth, fill and stone structure. We were lucky enough to find a Republican coin as well. Thank you so much for helping me get here, and please thank Don, as well as the RAG. Rebecca"

Rebecca went on in 2007 to take a First Class Honours degree in Classics and Ancient History with a dissertation on the Temple of Bel at Palmyra in Syria (see her article in RAG 3.1 for December 2007). She is shortly to return to Europe where she will join the University of Reading field school excavating on the Roman town of Silchester in Hampshire and will be volunteering at the London Museum with database and collection work. This is to be the first step in a programme of archaeological fieldwork she plans to use as the basis for moving on to be accepted at a UK university to study archaeology and to pursue a higher degree.

For more information on the Spanish dig Rebecca participated in click here

The "A Team" at Sinisera, 2006

Sweating it out! Sinisera, 2006

Repairing an amphora at Sinisera, 2006

In a Talyotic burial chamber