Louise Hitchcock

Current position

Professor of Aegean Bronze Age Archaeology, Classics and Archaeology, University of Melbourne

Where did you study?

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

How did you become interested in archaeology?

After seeing the movie Lawrence of Arabia and reading 17 books about him.

What archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?

Tell es-Safi/Gath, Philistine City of Goliath, Israel; Vapheio-Palaiopyrgi Survey Project, Lakonia, Greece; I also publish on gender, identity, piracy and globalization.

Tell us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.

My Bedouin Sheepdog Fred, A Linear A inscribed clay label and the north facade of the Minoan "palace" at Petras (Sitia Crete), feasting deposits and an ivory bowl at Tell es-Safi/Gath

Tell us about a funny / disastrous / amazing experience that you have had while doing archaeology.

Funny: an eraser covered with mud that I thought was an inscription at Tell es-Safi/Gath; Disastrous: having amoebic dysentery in Syria and not eating for a week; amazing: staying at the German dig house at Palmyra and jogging around the site at dawn

What’s your favourite part of being an archaeologist?

The stories I tell about the objects

Follow up reading:

Nearly all of my articles and links for interviews can be found at: http://unimelb.academia.edu/LouiseHitchcock