AMCA

Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and Classics Lab Update

Posted by ehusleto
Student sitting with ancient world artifacts.
Lead Lab Intern Cole Himmelheber with some of the artifacts in the AMCA Lab.

By: Elijah Smith, Class of 2026

Since opening its doors, the Butler University Ancient Mediterranean Cultures and Archaeology (AMCA) Lab staff has handled, refurbished, interpreted, and cataloged various historical artifacts from the Ancient World. Located on the third floor of Jordan Hall, the Lab has employed many student interns to help AMCA Director, Archaeologist, and Classics Professor, Lynne Kvapil with the collection. Dr. Lynne Kvapil. Students earn credit or receive an hourly wage for their work. Recently, I spoke with two of the interns: junior History Major and Classics Minor, Cole Himmelheber, and junior Anthropology, and Criminology and Psychology majors and Sociology minor, Emma Podvorec.

The day-to-day activities of the lab vary based on what is needed. The Lead Intern, Cole, delegates and makes sure that everything is running smoothly and efficiently. The list of projects can be extensive but rewarding ranging from simply updating information in the in-house database to working directly with an artifact. Currently, Emma is working with an Egyptian funerary cone which she describes, as “my baby. So I’ve been like translating the hieroglyphic setter on that and then on any other artifact from different museums across the world to see how that works.” Cole is working with Boaty, an ancient Egyptian model boat, to refurbish it. The antiques are stored at a specific temperature range. The interns carefully avoid chipping the wood or paint and constantly check for mold. They are also working on display cases for the front of the Archeology Lab to present artifacts to the Butler Community. As Cole describes it, “Once that is completed, it might be just outside the door, but it is a mobile display case. So, there are many opportunities to integrate the wider Butler community to what we’re doing. We can see a lot of our little treasures in here.”

The Lab doesn’t just deal with artifacts, they also develop and cultivate a variety of research texts for students to utilize. While every college has a library students can pull from the HAC department has a unique one in the AMCA Lab. Previous students have used lab resources for final papers/projects, Butler Summer Institute research, and thesis work. Curious? Just stop by the Lab or email Dr. Kvapil.

 

Meet Dr. Kvapil

Posted by Elly Fieffer

Biography

Lynne A. Kvapil (she/her), known by her students as Dr. K, is an archaeologist specializing in ancient Greece and Aegean Prehistory. Her research focuses on the Mycenaean Greeks, particularly farming, warfare, the manufacture of ceramics, and labor organization and management. As an active field archaeologist, Dr. K travels to Greece every summer, where she is the Assistant Director of the Nemea Center of Archaeology Excavations at the Mycenaean cemetery at Aidonia and the Petsas House Excavations at Mycenae. Dr. K has been awarded research funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mediterranean Archaeological Trust to support her ongoing research on the Mycenaean Greeks, and she has been a part of a successful grant-writing team that has been awarded funding from the Archaeological Institute of America and the Loeb Foundation to support the excavations at Aidonia.

Areas of Research and Scholarship

At Butler University, Dr. K teaches in all aspects of the ancient Mediterranean world, but most often she teaches about Ancient Greece, including Ancient Greek language courses, Ancient Greek Art and Myth, Ancient Greek Perspectives. She also teaches upper level courses in Ancient Greek and Roman Art and Architecture and Women in Antiquity. Dr. K is also a co-director of the Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and Classics (AMCA) lab, which won a 2015 Butler University Innovation Grant and which aims to help put the material culture of the ancient world into the modern classroom.

Upcoming and Current Butler Courses

  • PCA 262 CLA: Greek Art and Myth
  • TI 201 CLA: Ancient Greek Perspectives
  • CLA 322: Art & Architecture of Greece and Rome
  • CLA 323: Women and Antiquity
  • Topics: Archeology of the Dead
  • Elementary, Intermediate, and Advanced Ancient Greek
  • Independent Study Opportunities
  • Study Abroad and Archaeological Field School in Greece

Meet Dr. Bungard

Posted by Amy Arnold

Photo of Dr. BungardBiography

Dr. Bungard (he/him) hails from the Buckeye State, having earned a BA from Denison University in Granville, Ohio before moving westwards down I-70 to Ohio State University where he earned both an MA and a PhD. He has continued his travel westwards down I-70, landing here at Butler University, where he has taught since 2008.

Areas of Research

Dr. Bungard’s research looks broadly at humor and theatre from the ancient world. He has published on laughter in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes as well as several articles in English and Italian on the role of clever slaves in the comedies of the 2nd century BCE playwright Plautus. He is also interested in the ways that ancient theatre continues to speak to the modern world whether in the classroom or the enduring themes of Medea’s story, connecting her experience with music in the modern world.

Dr. Bungard has also turned his hand to translating various plays of Plautus. His translation of Truculentus has been performed by an all-female cast at Butler as well as an international cast in Toronto.

In an effort to help expand the love of ancient Roman theatre, Dr. Bungard is currently working on a series of Latin novellae for Bolchazy-Carducci. The non-fiction pre-reader, Explore Latin: Ludi Scaenici, is currently out. These novellae will provide tiered readings in Latin about a working-class family on the Aventine Hill who love to go watch Plautus’ plays during the Ludi Megalenses.

Dr. Bungard’s interest in humor stems from humor’s ability to encourage us to think about gaps in a world that we may think is perfectly whole. Humor exposes our values and prejudices, and it allows us to find alternatives when discussions founder along the lines of beliefs that may seem ‘natural’ and ‘normal’.

Current and Upcoming Butler Courses

Dr. Bungard teaches intermediate and advanced Latin courses on authors as broad ranging as Caesar, Vergil, Seneca, and Plautus. He also teaches upper level courses in translation on Ancient Drama, Ancient Law, and Epic Poetry. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, led him to teach a First Year Seminar entitled “Why Is It Funny?”.

In addition, Dr. Bungard regularly takes students to Rome and the Bay of Naples for summer study courses on Roman literature, exploring the intersections of texts and physical sites. As part of this course, students develop short digital stories imagining what it would have been like to live near Mt. Vesuvius on the fateful day of the eruption in 79 CE.

  • CLA 261: Etymology: Word Power
  • CLA 303: Drama on the Ancient Stage
  • CLA 324: Law and Orator