Student Michael Koletsos at Nemea, Greece

This summer I traveled to Greece and worked within the Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea with a team from the University of California, Berkeley. Our team was divided into smaller groups and every three days we rotated into work at the different trenches or the museum. We opened two trenches in the Hero Shrine to determine what occurred there during the early periods of the site. We also opened a trench in search of the hippodrome that was home to the horse racing event held during the Nemean Games. I especially enjoyed creating my own interpretation of what occurred at the site at the end of the season based upon the evidence we discovered. This opportunity was truly a worthwhile experience for me because I learned more about the process of archaeology, visited many sites in Greece, and met other students from around the country with similar interests.

Michael is a junior Archaeology major at UE. More information about UC Berkeley’s excavations at Nemea can be found here.