Andrea Samz-Pustol

I first worked with the AIRC as a field school participant in the 2009 Villa delle Vignacce excavation in the Parco degli Acquedotti in Rome.  After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 2010 with a double major in Classics and Art History, I returned to Rome as an intern to catalog, clean, and organize the finds from the previous excavation seasons at the Villa delle Vignacce.  My friend, Kenny Carosi, also from the 2009 season, joined Professor Chris Renaud, Sara Palma, and I as we sifted through finds bags from the previous four seasons in an ancient cistern adjacent to the site.  We spent our days cataloging the plethora of artifacts (e.g. marble wall and floor slabs, opus sectile, statuary, glass, pottery, mosaics, marble architectural ornamentation, frescoes, and brick stamps), reassembling broken objects, deciphering brick stamp lettering with Chris, and hypothesizing about the artifacts’ functions within the villa.  Chris and Sara were always willing to field my many questions about the artifacts, the site, and Roman architecture, and I learned a great deal from them.  We also got lessons in modern Italian history, politics, and language from Sara, our native Roman finds expert, during our daily coffee breaks.  By the end of the summer I was an expert at identifying marble and pottery types and better understood the Villa delle Vignacce’s complex history.  In addition to my own personal benefit, we nearly finished cataloging four seasons' worth of artifacts in just over two months! 

I also assisted the AIRC’s field school at the Porta Marina in Ostia Antica for one day each week.  I helped teach the students excavation techniques and artifact identification, as well as assisted the trench supervisors and finds expert.  It was especially rewarding to see the students use what I taught them by correctly identifying and handling artifacts as we excavated.

When we weren’t working in the cistern or at Ostia, I spent my time exploring Rome and traveling all over Italy.  I visited sprawling antique markets, biked through Tuscany, climbed seven hundred year old towers, hiked the Cinque Terre, toured Tiberius’ Villa at Sperlonga, and sometimes just sat down in Piazza Navona with a cone of raspberry gelato.  Whether I was spending a lazy few hours in my favorite piazza in Rome or traveling on the weekends, I enjoyed every minute of my time in Italy.

I cannot place enough value on my experience as an intern with the AIRC.  Not only did it provide me another opportunity to study in Rome, but it has also allowed me to continue to pursue my passion: Classical archaeology.  The knowledge that I gained from both my field school and internship experience will benefit my professional career as an archaeologist for many years to come.