ACTION CONTROLLED ACTION As the name implies, in controlled action you can control all aspects of a production. This includes actors, their actions, the set lighting, and sound recording, if any. You usually work from a well-developed script that includes all the details. If the actors speak, the dialogue is in the script. If the action is described by a narrator, the narration is in the script. If the film is silent, the titles appear in the script. Examples of controlled-action films include training films, some documentaries and historical records, and many publicity or recruiting films. Controlled action, motion-media productions are produced only by personnel with specialized "C" school or university training. As a nonspecialized Photographer's Mate, you will be faced with uncontrolled or semicontrolled action elements of a production or film. UNCONTROLLED ACTION In a controlled-action situation, everything is normally written in the form of a detailed shooting script. Predictable filming is performed and there are few crises, except the occasional human oversights and mechanical malfunctions. The other world of motion-video recording (uncontrolled action) is full of crises and surprises. Success primarily is due to good reflexes, accurate guesswork, and quick thinking. Careful planning is not the most significant factor. Most of your motion-media assignments will be uncontrolled or semicontrolled action. Your success as a maker of uncontrolled-action films depends on your knowledge of the capabilities and operation of video equipment. You must also possess a high level of technical skill. There is neither time nor opportunity for research or practice while doing this kind of assignment. You must be prepared in advance. News, sports, special events, and on site-coverage of ongoing activities make up the bulk of this type of assignment. Another class of uncontrolled action is the documentation of events that follow a known course or pattern, such as parades and ceremonies. These are called semicontrolled, because you know in advance approximately what is going to happen, even though you cannot influence it for recording purposes. Both types of assignments are challenging, exciting, and usually welcomed by confident camerapersons. But, they can be "unfortunate experiences" for those not properly prepared to cope with them. PREPARATION FOR FILMING UNCONTROLLED AND SEMICONTROLLED ACTIONS Obviously you cannot develop a specific, detailed plan for shooting uncontrolled or semicontrolled action. You must get as much information about the assignment as possible and in as far in advance as possible. This information helps to provide an estimate of requirements for equipment, supplies, scheduling of personnel, transportation, camera positions, lighting, and other technical details. Whenever you are assigned to cover VIP arrivals, award presentations, or special events, you should immediately contact the person or agency in charge of the project. This person is usually the public affairs officer (PAO). The PAO can furnish you the full scope of your assignment and provide the following basic information: Name and title of the person(s) involved Place and time of arrival Complete schedule of activities When possible, you should personally inspect the location and route of the proposed action (site survey). If this cannot be done, try to get drawings, maps, plans, or photographs of the area. Eyewitness descriptions or pictures of similar events also may be helpful. Ask questions about the location of the subject, the type and direction of movement, and the sequence of actions to be recorded. With this information, you can draft a rough plan. By working closely with the project officer, you should be kept reasonably well informed and can arrange your shooting in a logical order. Be careful, however, not to "plan yourself into a trap." Expect last minute changes in your plan, and, therefore, keep alternative plans in mind and ways they can be put into effect quickly. Next, determine shooting requirements and the number of cameras and people you need. Check probable camera locations for the long, medium, and closeup shots. Determine the amount of tape you require, and consider the possibility of some unplanned requirements. Determine whether you will need transportation and additional equipment. A hypothetical assignment: The lab has received the following orders: "The Chief of Naval Operations and his party are expected to arrive aboard your ship tomorrow. The flag requires complete photographic coverage of all official activities of the CNO and his party while on the ship." The division chief has assigned you to cover the motion media. After you check with the officer in charge of the event, you find that the CNO and his party are expected to arrive by aircraft at 1300 hours. The party consists of the Chief of Naval Operations and three aides. The purpose of this visit is to inspect the ship and to present several awards. The CNO and his party plan to depart at 1700 the same day. With this information you can now plan your shooting outline. In an event of this kind, you cannot expect to stage or control many shots. The following shooting outline is an example of what you might come up with: Scene 1: Aircraft (A/C) with CNO landing. Scene 2: Side boys, flag officer, and CO on deck in front of island. Scene 3: A/C taxies to island. Scene 4: CNO’s party disembarks A/C. Scene 5: Flag officer and CO greet CNO. Scene 6: CNO inspects side boys. Scene 7: LS, MS, and CU of CNO presenting awards. Scene 8: CNO makes speech Scene 9: CNO and party tour ship. Scene 10: CNO and party return to A/C. Scene 11: A/C taxies to fantail for deck launch. Scene 12: A/C takes off. Now, how do you get the coverage? In scene 1, you could be in a high position for an establishing shot showing the flight deck with the A/C landing. After the A/C lands, you move down to the flight deck and shoot scene 2, MS, of the side boys, the flag officer, and the CO taking their positions on deck to greet the CNO. Scene 3 is an LS showing the A/C taxiing to the island. For scene 4, shoot an MS of the CNO and his party leaving the A/C. Scene 5 is a CU of the flag officer and CO greeting the CNO. Scene 6 starts with an LS of the CNO inspecting the side boys. Circumstances permitting, move in for an MS and CU of the inspection. Scenes 7 and 8 should be easy to shoot because of the time it takes to read citations, make awards, and give a speech. This should allow plenty of time for you to move about and get long shots, medium shots, close-ups, and cut shots. Follow your judgment and intuition for shooting scenes 9, 10, and 11. Scene 12 is your closing shot. Again, shoot from a high position to show the flight deck. Pan the A/C and follow it until it is out of sight. The shooting outline not only serves as a "program" for planning the sequence of coverage, but it also provides a basis for determining camera placement, movement, and shot framing. RECORDING GRAPHICS Graphics have many applications, such as title cards, cast lists, maps, tables, charts, photographs, and inserts. Graphics should not be treated casually. Without precautions, graphics can become unsharp, confusing, tilted, distorted, and incomplete. Much of the graphics and text used in motion-video productions are created on a character generator. A character generator is an electronic device used to create words or graphics and electronically inserts them over a video picture. When a character generator is not available, graphics must be recorded by a camera When you are shooting graphics that will be viewed on a monitor, the camera lens must be centered and parallel the graphic. The graphic and camera must be level. Your framing must be correct. Get in close enough with the video camera to show clearly all detail, but not so close that some of the information area is lost. Avoid using a wide-angle lens. Besides the possibility of camera shadows falling on the graphic, distortion is likely to occur and will be most noticeable when panning over the graphic. A longer focal-length lens overcomes the distortion problem, but is less smoothly panned. LIGHTING Because light reflections can obscure detail on a shiny graphic, the experienced graphic artist and photographer will avoid glossy materials and glossy photographs. However, when it is causing objectionable reflections, the graphic can sometimes be tilted slightly to help clear them; otherwise, relighting or surface dulling may become necessary. The lighting for a TV graphic is similar to lighting reflection originals in copy work. Graphics must be flat. Unmounted, warped, or curved surfaces easily show unwanted reflections. SAFE TITLE AREA In the production of slides for use as television graphics, important picture information must be confined within the area of the TV monitor. Figure 13-15 is drawn in proportion to a 35mm film frame and shows the safe title area, maximum transmitted area, and film frame.   IDENTIFYING RECORDED IMAGE CONTENT If you were notified that you won a brand new Jaguar or Lamborgini, you would probably be ecstatic. If you were presented with a truckload of unidentified, assorted parts and told that you now had everything required to put the new car together, you probably would not be entirely grateful. Maybe you could assemble it (if you were an experienced mechanic), but you know that more information would save you time, frustration, duplication of effort, and help tremendously toward a successful outcome. On the other hand, if every part were clearly identified and the exact relationship to every other part was unmistakably described, you would certainly appreciate the gift much more. Being faced with several thousand feet of unidentified videotape is very much the same kind of situation. The biggest problem encountered by imaging personnel in the Department of Defense during Operation Desert Storm was the lack of identification of exposed imagery. There were literally boxes of film and videotape lining the passageways in the Pentagon. Most of this imagery was of little value because it was not identified, or it was labeled inaccurately. Accurate records are almost as important as good video coverage in achieving a professional product. Imaging products must be labeled, so the subject matter and subject location are easily identifiable on the tape. Often, there is no opportunity for personal contact between the cameraperson and editor; therefore, records identifying the filmed image content are the only information available. Logically, the better the records, the more useful the videotape. The opposite rule is also true. Inaccurate records can make the video coverage useless. Do not let that happen to your work. SLATING The slate you use to identify video scenes may take several forms. In emergencies you may even write scene identification on a scrap of paper and film it before shooting the scene; however, in most instances, your slate is more formal. Your regular slate is made to show whatever information is necessary. Generally, this includes the command or unit, title or subject, name of the cameraperson (identifies who is responsible for filming or videotaping the good or bad footage), date, location, and camera serial number (fig. 13-16). If you are part of a large organization that has several crews, then also include the unit number. In short, the slate should contain information needed for proper identification of each scene on your film.   The slate may actually be a piece of slate with the data written or lettered on it in white chalk. Quite often the "slate" is white with an acetate surface, and the data is written on it with a black grease pencil. When you slate a scene, hold the slate in front of the camera lens and record it for about 10 seconds for videotape or 3 feet for motion-picture film. Of the information you place on your slate should be clearly printed in large, block letters. Film your slate so it fills the complete frame. If your slate is not full frame, the lettering may be too small to read when the tape is viewed. If you do not have time to film the slate at the beginning of the scene, do it at the end of the scene. This is known as tail slating. Record the slate upside down, then rotate it right side up when tail slating. This shows that a tail slate was used; otherwise, the viewer might assume that it is associated with the scene following it  on the tape. When recording without a script, you have no scene numbers to slate for each scene; therefore, for identification purposes, you slate only at the beginning of each tape. If for some reason you cannot slate at the beginning, tail slating applies. Although you, the camera operator, do not derive any particular value from the slate, the person editing your film becomes frustrated, if not completely lost, when slates are not included. This is particularly true when your scenes are not shot in the same order as the script is written. The task of locating individual shots is almost impossible unless each scene is slated when it is originally filmed. You can understand now why you must slate each scene when shooting from a script. VIDEO/FILM DATA SHEET Video/film data sheets are valuable to you (fig. 13-17). By looking at them you can tell the scenes that have been shot and those that still need to be done. Their main value, however, is to the editor. Without data sheets, the editor does not know the order in which the scenes were shot. Notice how the slate and data sheets work hand in hand. For a large project, the editor can check the data sheets and find a particular tape or scene easily. By screening just one videotape, the editor can spot the scene by checking the slate images. Imagine looking for a particular scene, at random, when it could be anywhere in a dozen or more tapes. Many hours are wasted when your data sheets are not properly prepared. The data sheet also may prevent accidental use of the wrong footage. If a scene was refilmed to correct an error, both the rejected and corrected versions of the same scene can be identified.   VIDEOTAPE CARE The performance of videotape is often directly related to the care and proper maintenance it has or has not received. Temperature extremes should be avoided when storing tape between recording and playback. Wide temperature variations can result in a tremendous amount of stress on the innermost tape layers caused by dimensional changes. If a tape has been in storage at sub-zero temperatures, for example, you must "condition" it to room temperature. Complete dimensional equilibrium may take as much as about 16 hours. Never use direct heat to speed up the conditioning process. High temperatures can create harmful differences in layer-to-layer tension on the reel. Never use extreme cold, such as a freezer, to cool down a hot tape. In general, recommended storage conditions for videotapes are as follows: Relative Humidity . . . . . 50% - 60% Temperature . . . . . . . . 60°F - 80°F For best long-term storage, rewind video cassettes uniformly for even tension before boxing. Tapes should always be in one of two places-in the VTR or in the original box. Stand videotape boxes upright. Do not store tapes in a horizontal position. This can cause a prime cause bending and distorting of reel flanges that can be a major cause of tape edge damage. To prevent damage, you should protect videotapes by covering them when they are not in use. Keeping them in dustproof cassette containers prevents the accumulation of airborne dust on the tapes. Dust can be of dropout. Body oils and salts from your fingertips can pick up and hold foreign particles that,  when transferred to the tape, cause dropouts.   PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION Photographic composition is the pleasing arrangement of subject matter elements within the picture area. Creative photography depends foremost on the photographer's ability to see as the camera sees because a photograph does not reproduce a scene quite the way we see it. The camera sees and records only a small isolated part of the larger scene, reduces it to only two dimensions, frames it, and freezes it. It does not discriminate as we do. When we look at a scene we selectively see only the important elements and more or less ignore the rest. A camera, on the other hand, sees all the details within the field of view. This is the reason some of our pictures are often disappointing. Backgrounds may be cluttered with objects we do not remember, our subjects are smaller in the frame or less striking than we recall, or the entire scene may lack significance and life. Good pictures are seldom created by chance. To make the most of any subject, you must understand the basic principles of composition. The way you arrange the elements of a scene within a picture, catch the viewer’s attention, please the eye, or make a clear statement are all qualities of good composition. By developing photographic composition skills, you can produce photographs that suggest movement, life, depth, shape, and form, recreating the impact of the original scene. How are photographic composition skills developed? You look, you study, you practice. Every time you take a picture, look all around within the viewfinder. Consider the way each element will be recorded and how it relates to the overall composition. You must become thoroughly familiar with the camera and learn how the operation of each control alters the image. Experiment with the camera and look at the results carefully to see if they meet your expectations. With experience and knowledge of your equipment, you begin to "think through your camera" so you are free to concentrate on composition. Devote serious study to the principles of good composition. Study books and magazine articles on composition. You should analyze various media: motion pictures, TV, magazines, books and newspapers, and evaluate what you see. What is good about this picture or that TV image? What is bad about it? What principles of good composition could you apply in a different way to make the picture better. Good or correct composition is impossible to define precisely. There are no hard-and-fast rules to follow that ensure good composition in every photograph. There are only the principles and elements that provide a means of achieving pleasing composition when applied properly. Some of these principles and elements are as follows: Center of interest Subject placement Simplicity Viewpoint and camera angle Balance Shapes and lines Pattern Volume Lighting Texture Tone Contrast Framing Foreground Background Perspective As you study these principles of composition, you should soon come to a realization that some are very similar and overlap one another a great deal. Because all or most of these principles must be considered and applied each time you take a picture, it may all seem quite confusing at first. With experience you can develop a sense of composition, and your consideration and application of the principles will become almost second nature. This is not to suggest that you can allow yourself to become complacent or careless in the application of the principles of composition. Doing so will be immediately obvious because the results you produce will be snapshots, not professional photographs. The principles of composition that follow apply equally to both still and motion media photography. CENTER OF INTEREST Each picture should have only one principal idea, topic, or center of interest to which the viewer's eyes are attracted. Subordinate elements within the picture must support and focus attention on the principal feature so it alone is emphasized. A picture without a dominant center of interest or one with more than one dominant center of interest is puzzling to a viewer. Subsequently, the viewer becomes confused and wonders what the picture is all about. When the picture has one, and only one, dominant "point of interest," the viewer quickly understands the picture. NOTE: "Point of interest," as used here, has the same meaning as center of interest; however, using the term point of interest prevents giving the impression that the center of interest should be located in the center of the picture. The specific topic, idea, or object to be portrayed must be set in your mind as you prepare to take a picture. When there is nothing in the picture to attract attention to a particular area or object, the eyes wander throughout the scene. The center of interest may be a single object or numerous ones arranged so attention is directed to one definite area When the center of interest is a single object that fills most of the picture area or one that stands out boldly, such as a white sail against a background of dark water, attention is attracted immediately to it. As may be expected, not all subjects are as simple to arrange or as bold and impressive. A photographer usually has at his or her disposal many factors or elements that can be used and arranged within the picture area to draw or direct attention to the primary idea of the picture. Some of these elements are lines, shapes, human figures, tone, and texture. Human figures attract attention more strongly than almost any other subject matter and unless they are the main object of the photograph should probably be kept out of the picture; for instance, a photograph showing a person standing at some distance in front of a building may leave the observer wondering whether the person or the building is the primary subject. When people are included in a scene for comparative size of objects or just for atmosphere, keep them from looking directly at the camera. When people look at the camera and therefore at the viewer of the picture, the viewer tends to return their gaze by looking directly back into their eyes. When they are not the intended point of interest, we miss the statement and purpose of the picture. When people are subordinate elements within the picture and they are looking in a direction other than at the camera, the viewer’s attention is directed from the people to what they are looking at, which should be the center of interest; for example, when people are grouped around a piece of machinery that is the center of interest of the picture, have them look at the machine, rather than the camera. SUBJECT PLACEMENT Sometimes good composition is obtained by placing the center of interest in the geometrical center of the picture; it is generally not a good idea to place it there. Too frequently it divides the picture into equal halves and makes the picture uninteresting and difficult to balance. By dividing the picture area into thirds, both vertically and horizontally, and locating the center of interest at one of the intersections of the imaginary lines, you can usually create a feeling of balance to the composition (fig. 5-5).   In photographic composition there are two general guides for determining the best location for the center of interest. The first is the principle of thirds. The other is dynamic symmetry. In the principle of thirds, the intersection of lines that divide the picture area into thirds are marked by O’s. These intersections are good locations for the center of interest in most photographs. Notice we said THE center of interest. Remember, have only one center of interest to a picture-keep it simple. The principle of dynamic symmetry is a similar idea. A good location for the center of interest is found by drawing or imagining a diagonal line from one corner to an opposite corner. Then, draw a second line perpendicular to the first from a third corner (fig. 5-6). The intersections of the lines are the location for the center of interest.   SIMPLICITY Simplicity is the key to most good pictures. The simpler and more direct a picture is, the clearer and stronger is the resulting statement. There are several things to be considered when we discuss simplicity. First, select a subject that lends itself to a simple arrangement; for example, instead of photographing an entire area that would confuse the viewer, frame in on some important element within the area. Second, select different viewpoints or camera angles. Move around the scene or object being photographed. View the scene through the camera viewfinder. Look at the foreground and background. Try high and low angles as well as normal eye-level viewpoints. Evaluate each view and angle. Only after considering all possibilities should you take the picture. See beyond and in front of your subject. Be sure there is nothing in the background to distract the viewer's attention from the main point of the picture. Likewise, check to see there is nothing objectional in the foreground to block the entrance of the human eye into the picture. A last point of simplicity-tell only one story. Ensure there is only enough material in the picture to convey one single idea. Although each picture is composed of numerous small parts and contributing elements, none should attract more of the viewer's attention than the primary object of the picture. The primary object is the reason the picture is being made in the first place; therefore, all other elements should merely support and emphasize the main object. Do not allow the scene to be cluttered with confusing elements and lines that detract from the primary point of the picture. Select a viewpoint that eliminates distractions so the principal subject is readily recognized. When numerous lines or shapes are competing for interest with the subject, it is difficult to recognize the primary object or determine why the picture was made. VIEWPOINT AND CAMERA ANGLE The proper viewpoint or camera angle is an important factor in good composition. Repositioning your subject within the viewfinder frame and changing the camera viewpoint or camera angle are two simple ways of controlling composition. Photographing from a different viewpoint or camera angle can often add drama and excitement or even bring out an unusual aspect of a subject. Most of the subjects you photograph are three-dimensional and should be photographed from an angle (to the right or left of and/or from higher or lower than the subject) that allows the viewer to see more than one side of the subject. The photographer should study the subject from different sides and angles. Walk around the subject and look at it from all viewpoints. See it from elevated and low positions as well as from eye level to find the best composition. This greatly assists in composing the subject for the best balance and helps to select a background that compliments, not distracts from the subject. The terms viewpoint and camera angle are often used in conjunction with one another and sometimes used interchangeably. They can also have different meanings depending on how they are applied. Viewpoint" is the camera position in relationship to the subject. "Camera angle" is the angle in which the camera lens is tilted; for example, a picture of sailors marching, made from ground level with the camera held horizontal with reference to the ground, may be referred to as a "low viewpoint" (or camera position); however, when this picture is made, again from ground level, but with the camera pointed up, it may be referred to as a "low camera angle." Likewise, a picture made from an elevated or high position, with the camera again held horizontal with reference to the ground, or even pointed straight down, can be referred to as a "high viewpoint"; however, if the camera is not held horizontal to the ground or pointed straight down, but pointed at some angle between horizontal and vertical, the camera position could be referred to as a "high camera angle." Eye-Level Shots With the camera held horizontal, eye-level shots are usualIy made at a height of about 5 1/2 feet, the height from which the average adult sees, and with the camera horizontal. With the camera held at eye level but pointed up or down, the camera position changes and you have either a low or high camera angle, respectively. Low Viewpoint and Low Camera Angle Low viewpoints and low camera angles can add emphasis and interest to many ordinary photographs. A low viewpoint can be used to distort scale or add strength to a picture or to emphasize certain elements within the picture. A low camera angle is achieved when the camera angle is located below the point of primary interest and pointed upward. Low angles tend to lend strength and dominance to a subject and dramatize the subject. Low angle shots are used when dramatic impact is desired. This type of shot is very useful for separating the subject from the background, for eliminating unwanted foreground and background, and for creating the illusion of greater size and speed (fig. 5-7). High Viewpoint and High Camera Angle High viewpoints and high camera angles help orient the viewer, because they show relationships among all elements within the picture area and produce a psychological effect by minimizing the apparent strength or size of the subject (fig. 5-8).   BALANCE Balance in photographic composition is a matter of making pictures look harmonious. Each element in a picture has a certain amount of value in respect to all the other elements. Every tone, mass, shape, tree, rock figure, building, line, or shadow contributes a certain amount of weight that must be arranged correctly in the composition to give the impression of balance. The subject placement within the picture area is the factor that must be carefully considered. Composition is kept in balance by two different methods: symmetrical, or formal, balance and asymmetrical, or informal, balance. Symmetrical, or Formal, Balance Symmetrical, or formal, balance in a photograph is achieved when elements on both sides of the picture are of equal weight (fig. 5-9A). The idea of formal balance can be related to a seesaw, When there are two equally weighted objects on the seesaw and they are equidistant from the pivot point, or fulcrum, the board will be in balance. Pictures with formal balance may look static and unexciting; however, they do present an air of dignity. Formal balance does not always mean a picture has to the seesaw in perspective. The forces or weights are be symmetrical. Symmetrical pictures, in which both presumed to be approximately equal; but, the imaginary sides are exactly the same, are produced only when you pivot point is set deep into the picture space. With this want a special effect; therefore, they are not often variation to symmetrical balance, a more interesting produced. A variation of symmetrical balance deals with photograph is usually created (fig. 5-9B). Asymmetrical, or Informal, Balance Asymmetrical, or informal, balance is usually much more interesting than symmetrical balance. In asymmetrical balance the imaginary central pivot point is still presumed to be present; however, instead of mirror images on each side of the picture area, the subject elements are notably different in size, shape, weight, tone, and placement. Balance is established by equalizing the element forces in spite of their differences. Asymmetrical balance is introduced when the presumed weight of two or more lighter objects is equalized by a single heavier object placed on the other side of the imaginary pivot point (fig. 5-10). Asymmetrical balance is more difficult to achieve than symmetrical balance, because of the problem of establishing relative weight values for dissimilar elements within the picture area as well as presenting some form of stability.   Aspects of Balance There are many other factors to consider in order to make pictures appear balanced. Some of these are as follows: An object far from the center of the picture seems to have more weight than one near the center. Objects in the upperpart of a picture seem heavier than objects of the same size in the lower part of a picture. Isolation seems to increase the weight of an object. Intensely interesting objects seem to have more compositional weight. Regular shapes seem to have more weight than irregular shapes. Elements on the right side of an asymmetrical picture appear to have more weight than elements of the same size on the left side of the picture. The directions in which figures, lines, and shapes appear to be moving within the picture area are important to balance; for example, a person may be walking in a direction, or his eyes may be looking in a direction, or the shape of some element creates a feeling of movement. When the feeling of direction is present within a scene, it tends to upset the balance if judged on the size of the subject alone. Understanding the factors required to create pictorial balance is essential for you to produce good pictures. To gain this understanding, you can continually test your feelings for balance as you look through your camera viewfinder. Once you gain an understanding of the principles of pictorial balance, achieving balance in your photographs becomes an easy process.

World-wide archaeology

Dr Rick Jones and Dr Robin Coningham

Eruption of Vesuvius

1994 saw the start of Bradford work at Pompeii, in what looks like it will be a long and exciting programme. Pompeii is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites. Destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in August AD79, the city cleared of volcanic debris gives one of the most intimate impressions of ancient life. As the millions of visitors walk through the city streets they see bars, shops and houses, that seem to invite you to walk in and join the life of nineteen centuries ago. A city suddenly stopped in time, its houses destroyed and its people killed, has an evocative power to remind us of our own mortality.

Scramble

To the visitor it must seem that everything to know about Pompeii has been discovered. What's left to do ? Yet it has been the excitement of exposing the ancient city over the past two centuries that has presented it own problems. In the scramble to clear ancient buildings of volcanic debris the basic standards of archaeological recording have often been overlooked, especially in the earliest excavations. This means that many parts of the city may be exposed, but were never properly studied. This is important not only for understanding what is there, but also for recording what is disappearing. The constant erosion from vegetation, weathering and visitors is sometimes aggravated by dramatic events like the earthquake of 1980. There is an urgent need to document the remains before they are damaged more.

Modern archaeology also must analyse the remains. Pompeii represents a unique opportunity to study the dynamics of an ancient city at a single point in time. Yet the nature of the city can't be understood without research on the processes of social and economic change over time which formed the city and community that was destroyed. Our research is tackling both aspects. Damian Robinson is using a digital map of the ancient city and powerful Geographical Information Systems programmes to analyse different patterns of land-use around the time of its destruction. This work is based upon the plan that is already known. Our field research is working out new information on how one particular part of the city was changed over the centuries of its occupation.

Pirates and Brigands

Insula 1 of Regio VI of the city is a complete block of buildings next to one of the city's main gates. It was cleared two centuries ago, allegedly by pirates and brigands! Not surprisingly they left few records. The block contains what is probably one of the oldest standing buildings in the city, the House of the Surgeon, three hundred years old by AD79. It was named from a find of Roman surgical instruments, Other properties include another large residence, shops and workshops and bars. There is an elegant colonnaded garden that formed part of a house that had been created by adding two earlier houses together, in themselves made from an earlier four or five buildings. A lavish reception room has had a wide door knocked into the street, with a ramp wide enough to take a cart laid over a mosaic floor. There is also a tunnel or gallery that has never been excavated.

Unravelling the mysteries of how people were organising the places where they lived and how they kept changing them is now to be done. It gives the exciting opportunity to recover the whole history of how people used this part of the city from the start to finish, perhaps half a millennium. It involves not only the traditional study of the buildings, but also using modern environmental archaeology to examine bones, seeds and pollen. At least five more seasons are planned of recording and selective excavation to find details of the earlier buildings hidden beneath those standing at the time of the eruption. It should show the interplay between houses and workshops, rich and poor, along one of the city's main streets.

Classical problem

The practical task of making records of so many walls fast means that modern technology will be used, digital photography and computer image processing. The team brings modern scientific archaeology to a Classical problem. The enterprise is an international one. The project is directed by Rick Jones and Damian Robinson (Archaeological Sciences) and Sara Bon (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill). From 1995 they will be joined by Bernice Kurchin (City University of New York), who will be running a student Field School. There are many other specialists in the group. In 1994 Paul Cheetham (Archaeological Sciences) and Richard Frankel (San Francisco State University) carried out archaeological geophysical survey to seek traces of earlier buildings below the ground surface of AD79. Jane Richardson (Sheffield University) worked on the animal bones left in the city, revealing many horses and dogs that had lived and died there. Rob Janaway (Archaeological Sciences) investigated textile workshops. The team was completed by Archaeological Sciences undergraduates.

Bradford - Pompeii link

But the most fundamental collaboration is with the Italian authorities, the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei. The support and encouragement of those charged with the permanent responsibility of such an important site has been essential. It now looks like Bradford-Pompeii links will continue to grow in other ways. The Soprintendenza has recently opened excellently equipped laboratories, allow a continuing programme of scientific co-operation.

Alongside colleagues from many countries and in many projects, Bradford archaeologists have the privilege of making their contribution to finding new understandings of how the Pompeii that was destroyed was created. It is a unique opportunity to discover how an ancient urban community worked.

Anuradhapura

With the creation in April 1994 of a temporary lectureship in South Asian Archaeology, Bradford's Department of Archaeological Sciences has found itself linked with a number of ongoing and new collaborative research projects in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. One of these projects, working in Sri Lanka, has been working at the ancient city of Anuradhapura, one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. In the summer of 1994 four members of Bradford University, Dr Robin Coningham, Mr Rob Janaway, Steven Cheshire and Gary Dooney, spent six weeks working at the site with members of the Government Department of Archaeology and the University of Peradeniya.

Home to the royal court

Anuradhapura or 'the city of Anura', is the earliest capital of Sri Lanka and was home to the royal court from 437 BC to 1017 AD. However it is not only a city, but one of the great centres of Buddhism in South Asia visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists each year. The site consists of a central ten metre high mound covered in jungle, marking the old urban core, surrounded by over thirty square kilometres of Buddhist monasteries and huge reservoirs. Amongst the most spectacular of the Buddhist monuments are four great stupas, solid domes of earth and brick built over a Buddhist relic, which reach heights of over eighty metres and dominate the landscape of paddy fields and coconut trees.

New evidence

Our work at the World Heritage site has been based on the research orientated question of how and when the first recognisable urban form emerged in Sri Lanka. According to most scholars, Anuradhapura was expected to have been founded in c.250 BC as a direct result of contact with north Indian cities, which themselves had emerged some two hundred years earlier in the Ganges. The results of our collaborative work have, however, overturned this belief and show evidence of the presence of an urban form at the site as early as c.400 BC. This suggests that the mechanism which were responsible for the emergence of cities in north India were presumably a subcontinental wide phenomena. Indeed antecedents for the first city at Anuradhapura can now be identified in its archaeological sequence which stretches as far back as the Iron Age.

Our particular task for the summer of 1994 was to help the Government Department of Archaeology to define the full extent of the ancient city so that it could be adequately protected and managed. This was because there is a major threat to the site from an encroachment of the site by modern settlements and farming land. As we only had six weeks to complete this task we decided to mainly restrict ourselves to the use of archaeological geophysical survey. Through a combination of old land maps and surviving topography we identified areas in the surrounding paddyfields where shallow linear depressions suggested the presence of a silted moat. We cleared areas of jungle at the edges of the mound and set up grids which stretched down into the paddyfields and used a resistivity meter to survey areas on the east, south and north of the mound. This survey identified substantial anomalies which were then tested with a hand auger. The auger confirmed that we had successfully identified a silted rock-cut moat some 5 metres deep and 40 metres wide surrounding the city. This work has enabled this UNESCO World Heritage site to be protected and curated.

Royal medium

Another important area of Bradford's research programme at Anuradhapura has recently been acknowledged in the national press (Guardian, 12th January, On-Line Magazine pp.10-11). This particular topic concerns the early development of writing in South Asia. For over a hundred and fifty years scholars have believed that the first script was developed c. 250 BC in the north of the subcontinent as a result of interaction with the Persian empire. The emergent script was first used a royal medium and then became widely available for other uses such as helping merchants keep accounts. Following this initial development in the north it was assumed that the use of this script slowly spread south until it reached Sri Lanka one hundred years later. However, our work at Anuradhapura has overturned this theory by yielding evidence that the earliest script, known as Brahmi, was present in Sri Lanka from as early as c.450 BC. Moreover, we have evidence of a developmental sequence which saw the script alter in form from large irregular and rather crude characters to small, well formed ones. This early date of this sequence suggests that we might actually be witnessing the very development and adoption of the script itself. All the early inscriptions were found inscribed on ceramic vessel and consist of personal names in the dative cases - signifying ownership. We are currently working on a theory that suggest that the names do not necessarily refer to the owner of the ceramic vessel but of the contents. Ceramic vessels are often used today in Sri Lanka as containers and goods are often transported in them. Furthermore we are suggesting that the initial adoption of a script was connected with a demand for means of ownership to facilitate long distance trade and exchange and was only later adopted as a royal medium.

Our collaborative work at Anuradhapura in the summer of 1994 has helped to preserve one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites as well as to strengthen Bradford's academic links with South Asia. We also hope that the questions and theories which were are currently formulating will also be of interest to the general academic world. Archaeology at Bradford can now be said to be world-wide.