Athenian Agora Research Articles

Stories in Clay: Mythological Characters on Ceramics in Archaic Etruria

AbstractAttic vases were imported to Etruria in large numbers during the Archaic period (650–450 B. C. E.). A large corpus of decorative imagery has been scrupulously recorded in great detail, presenting a contrast with the antiquarian excavation methods which unearthed them. This article considers a corpus of imported ceramic vessels excavated at Chiusi, Tarquinia and Vulci to explore the presence of different characters and themes in Greek mythology within Etruria, examining the popularity of particular mythological motifs and images. These are then compared with a subsidiary corpus of comparable date from the Athenian Agora. The results of the analysis are interpreted to suggest that Etruscan consumers were deliberately acquiring iconographic content that related to indigenous Italian mythologies, values and ideals. The analysis proposes that the reception of imported mythology reflects themes of consequence in Etruscan mythology, closely related to the context of the use of these vessels in both feasts and funerals.

The Dedicatory Inscription of the Stoa of Attalos in the Athenian Agora: Public Property, Commercial Space, and Hellenistic Kings

The Dedicatory Inscription of the Stoa of Attalos in the Athenian Agora: Public Property, Commercial Space, and Hellenistic Kings

Exploiting Textured 3D Models for Developing Serious Games

Abstract. Digital technologies have affected significantly many fields of computer graphics such as Games and especially the field of the Serious Games. These games are usually used for educational proposes in many fields such as Health Care, Military applications, Education, Government etc. Especially Digital Cultural Heritage is a scientific area that Serious Games are applied and lately many applications appear in the related literature. Realistic 3D textured models which have been produced using different photogrammetric methods could be a useful tool for the creation of Serious Game applications in order to make the final result more realistic and close to the reality. The basic goal of this paper is how 3D textured models which are produced by photogrammetric methods can be useful for developing a more realistic environment of a Serious Game. The application of this project aims at the creation of an educational game for the Ancient Agora of Athens. The 3D models used vary not only as far as their production methods (i.e. Time of Flight laser scanner, Structure from Motion, Virtual historical reconstruction etc.) is concerned, but also as far as their era as some of them illustrated according to their existing situation and some others according to how these monuments looked like in the past. The Unity 3D® game developing environment was used for creating this application, in which all these models were inserted in the same file format. For the application two diachronic virtual tours of the Athenian Agora were produced. The first one illustrates the Agora as it is today and the second one at the 2nd century A.D. Finally the future perspective for the evolution of this game is presented which includes the addition of some questions that the user will be able to answer. Finally an evaluation is scheduled to be performed at the end of the project.

The Southeast Fountain House in the Athenian Agora: A Reappraisal of Its Date and Historical Context

The Southeast Fountain House in the Athenian Agora: A Reappraisal of Its Date and Historical Context

Excavations in the Athenian Agora, 2008–2012

Excavations in the Athenian Agora, 2008–2012

Salt efflorescence on pottery in the Athenian Agora: A closer look

Salt contamination in the ceramic collection of the Athenian Agora, American School of Classical Studies, Greece, was confronted for the first time by the fulltime conservation staff that was appointed in 1979. A review is presented of the examination and analysis of the salt contaminants for their identification and of simulation tests to determine their source(s) and mode of formation since 1990. In the analytical campaigns of 1992 and 1994, calclacite (Ca(CH3COO)Cl·5H2O) (ICCD 12-0869) and calcium acetate hemihydrate (Ca(CH3COO)2·0.5H2O) (ICCD 19-0199) were identified with X-ray diffraction and polarized light microscopy and examined with the environmental scanning electron microscope. The various means with which to mitigate the contamination and the crystallization-deliquescence cycles, e.g. consolidation, desalination, and climate control, were also studied. The article focuses on the processes involved in the formation of acetate salt compounds with the publication of the first solubility and deliquescence diagrams of the Ca(CH3COO)2–CaCl2–H2O system at 25°C. Comparisons are drawn with recent work carried out on thecotrichite (Ca3(CH3COO)3Cl(NO3)2·7H2O). The course of action adopted by the conservation staff of the Athenian Agora to combat efflorescence has been termination of cleaning with hydrochloric acid and desalination as a remedial measure in lieu of the costly replacement of wooden cabinets with enameled steel storage cases for the extensive ceramic collection (52,000 catalogued ceramics). Volatile acetic acid concentrations in wooden storage cases in the collection have been found to range from 1039 ± 20 to 1267 ± 20 µg/m3 (400 to 500 ppb) at 25°C. Since 1979, all newly excavated ceramics and all ceramics exhibiting efflorescence in the collection have been routinely desalinated. No efflorescence has formed on the desalinated objects. Various methods of mitigation such as controlling the RH are also discussed.

The Symposium in Context: Pottery from a Late Archaic House near the Athenian Agora by Kathleen M. Lynch

BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 179 precisely with Ath. pol. 57 either. In his defense of the passage, Canevaro must weigh in on several issues, such as the roles of pollution and intentionality in Athenian homicide law, but he unquestioningly follows most commentators in assuming that feœgein refers to the penalty of exile rather than going on trial. Even so, he admits to not being able to explain every detail, which this reviewer found refreshingly candid. Dem. 24.149–151 offers a very lengthy version of the oath sworn by the Athenian judges, the so-called Heliastic oath. For convenience, Canevaro relies somewhat on Fränkel’s 1878 reconstruction of the oath1 and finds this version deficient both in lacking two clauses that are included by Fränkel and in including several that seem based either on Demosthenes’ argumentation elsewhere in the speech or on external sources. Previous scholars have argued for the exclusion of the same two clauses and the inclusion of some that Canevaro would exclude. On many of these issues he is probably right, but there seems to be an unjustified assumption that the judges’ oath never changed. And while Canevaro must limit himself to considerations of authenticity in the Demosthenic context, others will no doubt go on to explore more fully what such forgeries can reveal to us about hellenistic appropriations of Demosthenes’ works. This book is a formidable work of scholarship from a brilliant young scholar ably assisted by his doctoral advisor Edward Harris, who in fact is directly responsible for the analysis of the documents in Dem. 21 Against Meidias. The author reviews and illuminates innumerable issues that have been raised in the last two hundred years of scholarship (though a glance at Wentzel’s 1895 study of lexicography would not have gone amiss)2 and will no doubt prevent mistaken assumptions about the historical reliability of these legal documents for generations to come. Simon Fraser University David C. Mirhady The Symposium in Context: Pottery from a Late Archaic House near the Athenian Agora. By Kathleen M. Lynch. Princeton, New Jersey: American School of Classical Studies at Athens (Hesperia Supplement 46). 2011. Pp. xx, 377. This study catalogues and analyses the material deposited in a well in a house near the Athenian Agora. Well J 2:4 “is the first Agora well from the Late Archaic or Early Classical period for which all excavated material was saved, and thus presents an unusually complete view of an Athenian household assemblage” (1). This find offers a ripe opportunity for the kind of contextual study to which archaeology has turned in the last decades. This book demonstrates that a close and careful study of this kind may speak to questions of wide scope and great significance. After a brief introduction (Chapter One) setting out the study’s aims, Chapter Two establishes the archaeological context of the deposit. The well and house were built in the last quarter of the sixth century. Stratigraphic analysis reveals that the contents of the well consist of period of use deposits and then fill from a single depositional event 1 Max Fränkel, “Der attische Heliasteneid,” Hermes 13 (1878) 452–466. 2 G. Wentzel, “Beiträge zur Geschichte der griechischen Lexicographen,” Sitzungsberichte der Königlich-Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 26 (1895) 477–487 = Lexica Graeca Minora, ed. H. Erbse (Hildesheim 1965) 1–11. 180 PHOENIX when the well was closed. It was filled soon after 479 as part of the clean-up after the Persian destruction. Comparative analysis of the shapes and decoration of the vessels confirms that the deposit represents a domestic assemblage. Although the location of the well and the pattern of deposition show that the assemblage belonged largely to a single house, some of the material in the fill must be extraneous. The quantitative analysis presented in Chapter Three establishes what should be included in the household assemblage. A contextual analysis of the deposit reveals what we have: the contents of the china cupboard of an Athenian household ca 480, which appears to have been, as best as we can tell, of middling status. This knowledge offers in turn to shed considerable light on the historical context...

Animals, Economics, and Culture in the Athenian Agora: Comparative Zooarchaeological Investigations

Animals, Economics, and Culture in the Athenian Agora: Comparative Zooarchaeological Investigations

Bronze Statuettes from the Athenian Agora: Evidence for Domestic Cults in Roman Greece

Bronze Statuettes from the Athenian Agora: Evidence for Domestic Cults in Roman Greece

Cultural Tourism in Greece at a Time of Economic Crisis

Cultural Tourism in Greece at a Time of Economic Crisis

The Symposium in Context: Pottery from a Late Archaic House near the Athenian Agora (Book Review)

The Symposium in Context: Pottery from a Late Archaic House near the Athenian Agora (Book Review)

Book Review of Inscriptions: The Dedicatory Monuments, by Daniel J. Geagan

The volume under review belongs to the well-known series of books encompassing the results of the excavations conducted in the Athenian Agora by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Within this series, four volumes dedicated to inscriptions have been previously published (D.W. Bradeen, Inscriptions: The Funerary Monuments. Agora 17 [Princeton 1974]; B.D. Meritt and J.S. Traill, Inscriptions: The Athenian Councillors. Agora 15 [Princeton 1974]; G.V. Lalonde, M.K. Langdon, and M.B. Walbank, Inscriptions: Horoi, Poletai Records, Leases of Public Lands.

3D VIRTUAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MIDDLE STOA IN THE ATHENS ANCIENT AGORA

Abstract. Reconstruction is an action that re-builds a ruin or a non-existing structure trying to reproduce its form and shape at a given moment of its past. Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage monuments used to be common practice during the 19th and 20th centuries. However, contemporary ways of thinking and approaching the issue of reviving the past have introduced a lot of scepticism as far as reconstructions are concerned. An attractive alternative is virtual reconstruction, which does not involve any intervention to the existing relics, while it offers all advantages to the curator. In this paper the virtual reconstruction of a non-existing building of the Athenian Agora is described, presented and visualized. All data collected were evaluated and used appropriately for the final product. It is evident that, on one hand, the data collected do not all belong to the target period and, on the other, not all the data necessary to built up the model are available today. Therefore, one needs to carefully select the data corresponding to the period of study and complete them with suitable hypotheses. It is imperative that both tasks must be done in collaboration of the archaeologists and architects responsible for the monument. In this context a hierarchy of the data was developed, based on their reliability as far as their “correctness” is concerned. The data were categorized for their reliability after careful evaluation. The accuracy of the data depends on the source; hence the data which originate from a drawing or from one study of the 3D reconstructed monument are considered more accurate than data which come from a source referring to architectural elements of other monuments or written reports of travelers. Sometimes the data appear in more than one source, in this case they must be checked for their reliability. In cases of remaining artifacts that could be found in the museum and belonged to the building a different approach was followed. They were used to produce 3D models and these were later attached to the final 3D model. From the final virtual reconstruction a short video has also been produced for the better visualization of the result.

Sculptors' Sketches, Trial Pieces, Figure Studies, and Models in Poros Limestone from the Athenian Agora

Sculptors' Sketches, Trial Pieces, Figure Studies, and Models in Poros Limestone from the Athenian Agora

An Overview of Recent Research in Mainland Greece

The selection of sites below reflects some of the most distinctive additions of 2012, arranged according to a number of themes, which reflect a dominant and continuing interest in sites that illuminate the urban and civic characteristics of archaeological locations in mainland Greece.Among the important discoveries of 2012 was the prehistoric stone pile and chamber tomb cut into bedrock at the Early Helladic cemetery of Asteria (ID3306), near Glyphada, Attica, which is discussed by David Smith below. The tomb was repeatedly reused: it contained one strongly contracted skeleton in front of the door and a pile of bones in the east half of the chamber representing at least 20 individuals (17 adults and three children). M. Pantelidou Gofa (ASA) reports on the 2012 season at Tsepi, Marathon, where a new deposit was investigated outside tomb 39, as well as two new tombs, 56 and 58 (ID3311), noting that Tomb 56 has all the known characteristics of the Tsepi tombs: rectangular with a built chamber, walls and threshold.In the Athenian Agora, investigations continued in 2012 of the Hellenistic and Classical road levels of the Panathenaic Way. John Camp reports the following on behalf of the ASCSA (ID2893, cf. ID2471).

Gladys D. Weinberg – E. Marianne Stern: Vessel glass.

Gladys D. Weinberg – E. Marianne Stern: Vessel glass. Princeton: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens 2009. XXXIII, 214 S. 23 Abb. 36 Taf. 4°. (The Athenian Agora. Results of Excavations Conducted by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 34.)

Greek Inscriptions from the Athenian Agora: Fragments of a Financial Nature

Greek Inscriptions from the Athenian Agora: Fragments of a Financial Nature

A New Moldmade Bowl from Athens

A recently found Hellenistic moldmade bowl from the Athenian Agora displays a number of unusual features, but is most likely an Athenian product of the Workshop of Bion, a potter who produced moldmade bowls from the last quarter of the 3rd century until at least 175 BC. One of its stamps, a bull’s head, is closely paralleled on bowls made in Argos, and adds to previous evidence for a close relationship between the two producers.

Kathleen M. Lynch, The Symposium in Context. Pottery from a Late Archaic House near the Athenian Agora, (Hesperia Supplement

Kathleen M. Lynch, The Symposium in Context. Pottery from a Late Archaic House near the Athenian Agora, (Hesperia Supplement

ERP implementation as a broad socio‐economic phenomenon

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation that goes beyond the restricted time and space limits of a project‐based restructuring effort, and to understanding of it as a broader socio‐economic phenomenon.Design/methodology/approachA case study of the adoption and implementation of an ERP in a Greek bank is examined through an extended multi‐level analytical framework based on Pettigrew's “contextualist” and “processual” research model. The metaphor of the ancient Athenian agora is used to theorise the socio‐economic environment around ERP implementation. In‐depth, semi‐structured interviews and documents were used as data.FindingsFindings suggest that although ERP implementation is seen by the majority of relevant IS literature as happening locally in restricted time‐frame, project‐based efforts, it rather emerges from broader socio‐economic contexts of the agora of techno‐organisational change. Different actors develop bounded understandings (viewpoints) of the agora which they use to navigate and engage it. A viewpoint is also a mechanism to link an actor's local circumstances with broad socio‐economic developments.Research limitations/implicationsThe context of financial services/markets offers possibilities for future research around ERP given the ongoing need for integration of legacy systems. Future case studies in financial service organisations could provide a link between frequent financial crises and technological development. Also, future studies of multiple ERP implementations as well as studies focusing on ERP suppliers’ choices, could add a comparative dimension useful to understand alternative agora configurations.Practical implicationsPractitioners should approach ERP implementation as a broad socio‐economic phenomenon instead of a project‐based episode of change.Originality/valueOriginality lies on the development of an extended, multi‐level analytical approach and on the introduction of a new spatial metaphor for understanding the socio‐economic environment around ERP implementation.