The Savannah morning news., 1902-02-16
EXCAVATIONS IN GREECE.

Washington, Feb. 14-Miss Harriet
o. Boyd, professor of archaeology in
Smith College, is the only woman who
ever received a permit from the Greek
government to excavate the antiquities
Cf the country. 1t is not always an
easy permit to secure, and 1t was un-
heard of to grant it to a woman. But
Greece could not refuse Miss Boyd
She was the only American woman
who went to the front to nurse the
Greek soldiers during the Greco-Tuv-
l<ish war in 1897. A student in the
American School of Archaeology at
the time, she abandoned her studies
when the war broke out and offered
her services to the government. There
was a furore of admiration over the
patriotism OF the bright young stu
dent Queen Olga gave Miss Boyd spe
cial permission to go as nurse, and,
upon her return, after five months a,
the front, personally decorated the
American girl in recognition of her
services. Afterwards, when she mod
estly asked the Greek government if
she might not go over on the Island
of Crete and dig little. it was impos-
sible to refuse her. Her first eXcaV0t-
ing was done in the spring of 1900.
when she discovered houses and tombs
of 800 z. c. At the next meeting o
the American Archaeological Institute
Miss Boyd read a paper on her work
of the previous summer.
X was heard by Mrs. Cornelius Stew
enson of Philadelphia, for many years
secretary OF the American Exploration
Society. She interested other members
of the society and funds were raised
to send Miss Boyd back to continue
her work last spring. Miss Blanche
Wheeler Of Providence, who had stud
led at thc American School ct Rome,
accompanied her. Their londilg place
was Gambia, and thence they pushed
back for sixty miles into the interior.
riding OF horseback, straight away
from railroads and civilization, into
country inhabited only by peasants.
They had a pack train. but they
did not transport many supplies, pre-
ferring to trust to those furnished by
the peasants. They could buy chick
ems and rice, mutton and Wild rabbits'
They hired the peasants as Workmen'
and Miss Boyd had under her y force
varying from so to 100 in number. She
kept the books, called the pay roll ana
paid the men herself. The majority
of them received % cents a day, but
lHOSe QSltu Win lIe rillOIC uCliN0IN
opera tions commanded 40 cents.
Riding over the country in her search
for clues word was brought Miss
Boyd from a peasant that he could
guide her to a place where there were
old walls and pottery fragments. They
followed the peasant to a spot where
the stones icolSed as If they had been
placed in line for a wall. Three days
later they had opened houses, laid
q, L., 4
vases, bronzes and implements to make
it certain that they had found the site
of a Mycenaean city. 1t was an ex-
citing moment when they caught the
first glimpse of these walls, buried
from human sight hundreds of years
before the Christian era. Within half
a yard of the surface they discovered
a plentiful supply of bronzes. They
uncovered in all an acropolis and
fourteen houses, laying bare section
of this old Mycenaean town. Their
finds are now in the museum in Cam
dia, the Greek government not al
lowing the removal of any such OBJ
jects from the country. The discov-
cries are valuable as throwing light
upon the life of the Mycenaeans. They
found a great abundance of household
implements, showing the domestic life.
and indicating that they were an emf
nently peaceful people.
Miss Boyd and Miss Wheeler were
accompanied by a faithful guide, Aris-
tides, and his mother, who had proved
very trusty and valuable the year be-
fore. On coming away, Miss Boyd was
ready to give a certificate of good char
acter to the Cretan peasant, when Aris-
tides revealed his own diplomacy by re-
marking You don't suppose they
would have been so nice to you, do you,
if they hadn't known that you went to
nurse the soldiers?"
The acumen of the young American
archaeologist is the most noticeaple
from the fact that the French and Ger
man explorers had both passed this re-
gion by as offering no field for research
and the English excavations had traV-
eled over the site not three weeks De"
fore.
Miss Boyd has been lecturing before
many scholarly societies, composed
mostly Of men, this winter. Those VINO
know her only by her achievements
are apt TO be surprised when they nno
that a woman so learned can also 1e
so young and pretty. She UNDERSTANDS
the first principle OF good dressins'
which is suitability. and so. while snc
wears n short dress and tall boots
when experimenting excavations on
the cretan frontier. she appears up9n
the metropolitan lecture platform J"
exquisite costumes OF silk and lace
Minnie J. Reynolda'