Knossos Curatorial Project Enhanced Volunteering Traineeships
Miss Eulilee Brown and Mr. Quentine Zarka working in the Curatorial Project of the KSM (February 2019)
Fixed-term: 2 months
BSA Knossos Research Centre, Crete
The British School at Athens offers two short-term (8 weeks) full-time volunteers traineeships on its Curatorial Project based in the Stratigraphical Museum at Knossos. These opportunities are available from 5th October to 4th December 2020.
The Knossos Stratigraphical Museum houses the historic collections of material from excavations at Knossos. The core of the collection consists of the boxes of material, principally pottery, kept by Evans from his excavations at the palace and elsewhere in the Knossos valley. These are supplemented by material from the many British excavations at Knossos that have occurred since Evans’ time and more limited bodies of material from sites elsewhere in Crete. The collections in the Stratigraphical Museum provide a vital resource for researchers. As well as being an unparalleled reference collection, which has been the basis of many leading archaeologists’ training in Cretan material culture, they are constantly in the process of publication and reassessment, the results of which have major impacts on our understanding of the historical development of Crete and the wider Aegean. The British School facilities at Knossos also include a hostel and a research library. They are situated on the outskirts of Heraklion, the 4th largest city of Greece.
The Curatorial Project entails the cleaning, photographing, and repackaging of the Stratigraphical Museum holdings, and the creation of catalogue records in the BSA’s Museums and Archives Online system (using Axiell’s EMu Software) under the supervision of the Project Manager, Miss Genevieve Lascombes. In awarding traineeships, preference will be given to who hold a degree in Museum Studies, Conservation, Archaeology or a related subject, and wish to gain practical experience in handling a wide range of materials and object-types dating from the Neolithic period to Late Antiquity. Experience in the processing of Bronze Age, Greek and Roman pottery would be advantageous. Volunteers will be required to prepare and enter catalogue data after training in the Axiell’s EMu system.
The BSA will provide BSA membership and travel costs of up to €250. Self-catering accommodation is also available at a substantially reduced rate in the BSA’s Research Centre at Knossos.
Due to the current situation with Covid-19, we kindly ask the applicants to take the necessary steps to register with a travel and health insurance provider. The BSA requests from the successful applicants to isolate for 48 hours before using the facilities of the Knossos Research Centre.
Further information about the BSA and its facilities at Knossos is available at www.bsa.ac.uk. Informal enquiries about the Curatorial Project and these positions may be addressed to the Knossos Curator, Dr Kostis S. Christakis (knossoscurator@bsa.ac.uk).
Applications should be sent as e-mail attachments to the School Administrator, Mrs Tania Gerousi (school.administrator@bsa.ac.uk), to be received by Friday 25th September 2020. Candidates must also ensure that their referee sends their letter of reference (via email) to Mrs Gerousi by the closing date.
Applications must include:
- A cover letter
- A curriculum vitae, with contact details
- The name, address, telephone numbers and e-mail address of one referee.
We would expect to respond to the successful applicants within two days.