doctorate in history?’
It was a clumsy attempt to steer him towards the purpose of his meeting and Anna winced inwardly as he replied.
‘Archaeology. Rather than history.’
‘A similar discipline, I would have thought.’
He looked surprised for a moment and tilted his head to one side. ‘I suppose the link is close enough. There are many routes to understanding the past. You have an interest in history?’
‘I teach it. At school. The Ashthorpe Victory Academy.’
‘An academy? It sounds impressive.’
‘Less so, if you understood our education system. Basically it’s a rebranded comprehensive school. No big deal. But I love teaching my subject. So, yes, I have a professional interest in history.’
‘Good. Very good. Then we share an interest in the past. So, I’d better tell you why I have asked to meet you.’
Anna smiled encouragingly.
Dieter sat back and collected his thoughts. ‘I am not the first archaeologist in my family. My great-grandfather was the first. A noted man in the field, back in the nineteen thirties. He was one of the best students of Professor Dörpfeld.’ He spoke the name as if Anna should have heard of it. ‘He in turn was an admirer of Schliemann, who discovered Troy. Like Schliemann, the professor was a passionate reader of Homer, and he wanted to continue Schliemann’s work. No. He wanted to achieve something greater. He wanted to find the palace and tomb of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s second great work. You know the Odyssey ?’
‘I’ve read some of it, when I was at school.’
‘Then you will know that after the war with Troy was over, Odysseus wandered for many years before he returned to his kingdom of Ithica. At least that is the story that Homer tells. In truth, his return was probably without so much incident. He, and his men, came back from the war, their ships laden with spoils from Troy. Treasures that he would have kept in his palace. That was what Dörpfeld believed and he led an expedition to Ithica to search for the remains of the palace of Odysseus.
‘He and his followers, my great-grandfather amongst them, searched Ithica for years, finding few ancient remains, never anything large enough to be the palace of a king. So he considered the possibility that the ancient sources might not provide enough information. Ithica is a small island. If it had a king then it is possible that his realm extended to other islands nearby. So, my great-grandfather, Karl Muller, was sent to carry out excavations on Lefkas, while another colleague searched on Kefalonia.’ Dieter raised his hands. ‘It was, as the phrase goes, a long shot, but Karl accepted the challenge. I think, maybe, he hoped he would find something that would make his own reputation. I have his diaries of those years. His diaries, his notebooks and his photographs.’
‘And did he discover anything?’
Dieter hesitated an instant. ‘Not really. No. Just the remains of a large building. There was never enough evidence to identify it as the palace of Odysseus.’
‘Oh.’ Anna could not hide her disappointment. ‘What a shame. So what’s your interest? Do you hope to continue where he left off?’
The German smiled. ‘Nothing like that. No. There’s barely any trace left of the excavations. Just fragments. My interest is more, ah, ethnographic. I want to provide an account of the relationship between my great-grandfather’s team and the local people at the time. My research is a comparative study between invasive and sympathetic archaeological methodology with respect to indigenous populations.’
Anna nodded slowly and Dieter caught her expression and laughed. ‘It is really much less complicated than it sounds.’
‘I should hope so.’
The waitress brought their wine on a tray and set the glasses down. They waited until she had walked away before Dieter resumed.
‘So, I have my great-grandfather’s records, and what I need is the other side of the story. The memories of
It was a clumsy attempt to steer him towards the purpose of his meeting and Anna winced inwardly as he replied.
‘Archaeology. Rather than history.’
‘A similar discipline, I would have thought.’
He looked surprised for a moment and tilted his head to one side. ‘I suppose the link is close enough. There are many routes to understanding the past. You have an interest in history?’
‘I teach it. At school. The Ashthorpe Victory Academy.’
‘An academy? It sounds impressive.’
‘Less so, if you understood our education system. Basically it’s a rebranded comprehensive school. No big deal. But I love teaching my subject. So, yes, I have a professional interest in history.’
‘Good. Very good. Then we share an interest in the past. So, I’d better tell you why I have asked to meet you.’
Anna smiled encouragingly.
Dieter sat back and collected his thoughts. ‘I am not the first archaeologist in my family. My great-grandfather was the first. A noted man in the field, back in the nineteen thirties. He was one of the best students of Professor Dörpfeld.’ He spoke the name as if Anna should have heard of it. ‘He in turn was an admirer of Schliemann, who discovered Troy. Like Schliemann, the professor was a passionate reader of Homer, and he wanted to continue Schliemann’s work. No. He wanted to achieve something greater. He wanted to find the palace and tomb of Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s second great work. You know the Odyssey ?’
‘I’ve read some of it, when I was at school.’
‘Then you will know that after the war with Troy was over, Odysseus wandered for many years before he returned to his kingdom of Ithica. At least that is the story that Homer tells. In truth, his return was probably without so much incident. He, and his men, came back from the war, their ships laden with spoils from Troy. Treasures that he would have kept in his palace. That was what Dörpfeld believed and he led an expedition to Ithica to search for the remains of the palace of Odysseus.
‘He and his followers, my great-grandfather amongst them, searched Ithica for years, finding few ancient remains, never anything large enough to be the palace of a king. So he considered the possibility that the ancient sources might not provide enough information. Ithica is a small island. If it had a king then it is possible that his realm extended to other islands nearby. So, my great-grandfather, Karl Muller, was sent to carry out excavations on Lefkas, while another colleague searched on Kefalonia.’ Dieter raised his hands. ‘It was, as the phrase goes, a long shot, but Karl accepted the challenge. I think, maybe, he hoped he would find something that would make his own reputation. I have his diaries of those years. His diaries, his notebooks and his photographs.’
‘And did he discover anything?’
Dieter hesitated an instant. ‘Not really. No. Just the remains of a large building. There was never enough evidence to identify it as the palace of Odysseus.’
‘Oh.’ Anna could not hide her disappointment. ‘What a shame. So what’s your interest? Do you hope to continue where he left off?’
The German smiled. ‘Nothing like that. No. There’s barely any trace left of the excavations. Just fragments. My interest is more, ah, ethnographic. I want to provide an account of the relationship between my great-grandfather’s team and the local people at the time. My research is a comparative study between invasive and sympathetic archaeological methodology with respect to indigenous populations.’
Anna nodded slowly and Dieter caught her expression and laughed. ‘It is really much less complicated than it sounds.’
‘I should hope so.’
The waitress brought their wine on a tray and set the glasses down. They waited until she had walked away before Dieter resumed.
‘So, I have my great-grandfather’s records, and what I need is the other side of the story. The memories of
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