|
Peter Gesner
What
is your current position?
Senior Curator Cultures & Histories Program (Maritime Heritage) Queensland Museum, based at the Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville.
Where
did you study archaeology?
I studied at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (”kandidaat” Ancient History, “doctoraal” Mediterranean Proto-history) and in-between those 2 degrees I did a Grad Dip. in Maritime Archaeology at WAIT (now Curtin University) assisted by an Australian-European Awards Program scholarship.
How
did you become interested in archaeology?
History was my favorite subject at school. I drifted into Archaeology one summer during an introductory field school, working on an early medieval site in the eastern Netherlands. Grad studies at the Uni of Amsterdam required 2 ancillary subjects – I choose Archeology as one (Maritime History at Leiden University as the other) and really got bitten by the bug after attending a 2 month field school in Syria participating in a large survey looking for a Middle Bronze Age site along the Tigris river. As Scuba diving had been my hobby for a while beforehand, it was inevitable –I suppose- that I would end up poking around underwater!
What
archaeological projects are you working on at the moment?
I is de Pandora Man! (see http://www.mtq.qld.gov.au)
Tell
us about one of your most interesting archaeological discoveries.
Human remains in the Pandora wreck – who was that guy? I’m going to try to get to the bottom of that –yes, pun intended- if it’s the last thing I do professionally! We affectionately refer to him as Harry, along with his two shipmates, Tom and Dick, whom we have also recovered; but Harry’s is the most complete skeleton!
Tell
us about a funny/disastrous/amazing experience that you have had
while doing archaeology.
Receiving amazingly generous hospitality in Kurdish villages in Syria and learning about their genocide-like experiences at the hands of their neighbours. Not surprisingly, I have strong empathies in their camp (Quite possibly a brush with Ba’athist border police in Iraq coloured my views somewhat!)
What’s
your favourite part of being an archaeologist?
Traveling to some beautiful places along coastal Australia from Ningaloo, Rottnest Island, the Aldinga drop-off, and the GBR all the way to Booby Island in the Torres Strait; meeting and working with a wide range of truly amazing, dedicated and gifted people; and, getting the occasional invitation to present a paper or run a field school overseas.
Follow
up reading:
Expedition Leader’s Chronicle 1997, 1998, 1999 Pandora Expeditions
http://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/features/pandora/chronicle.asp?intro=98
|
