UMBC Students Dig Through Thousands of Years of History

The small piece of pottery was buried on a hillside in Greece when archaeologist Marie Spiro discovered it several decades ago.

The ivory-colored tidbit with a floral design is likely the bottom of a bowl or other dish, but the rest of its story is a mystery. That's up to senior Margaret Miller to find out as part of her museum studies class.

Spiro, an archaeology professor at the University of Maryland at College Park, has donated her personal collection of discoveries to the UMBC ancient studies department.

Spiro was looking for a place to donate her collection and Marilyn Goldberg, chairwoman of the ancient studies program, was looking for more hands-on projects for her students.

Miller is one of the students who got the first look at the pieces. Students sorted through boxes of the items and picked out those they found interesting.

Spiro, a specialist in the late Roman and early Christian periods, has worked on digs in Tunisia and Greece. On Monday night, she answered questions from students about her expeditions.

While she provided a lot of information about where she found the items, she offered few clues as to the stories behind them.

"I don't know," she said several times. "You find out."

Miller chose her piece because of the design but plans to research it more. When she heard the story of Spiro plucking it off the ground instead of in a formal dig, she said she was inspired to find out more about the history.

"The story of her finding it was great," Miller said. "She was just there."

The students had to clean and properly catalogue the items to properly store and organize the collection, which class instructor Esther Read said will be studied by students for years to come.

"When they get out to the museum world, these are the skills they're going to need," she said.

Read said she was glad Spiro challenged the students to research the pieces more.

"She's really pushing them to learn," she said.