Greek Archaeological Service Research Articles

Society and Archaeological Sites in Interwar Greece

Throughout the twentieth century, Greek society invested in the enhancement and management of archaeological sites and monuments seen as particularly important for the nation’s political and diplomatic agendas. Antiquities have always been part of public life in modern Greece, as evidenced by national campaigns emphasizing the timeless value of ancient Greek culture, promoted in the service of national, political and economic ends. In this context, the Greek Archaeological Service has long carried out works for landscaping and demarcating archaeological sites, as well as for enhancing access to them. This study, drawing on archival material of the Directorate for the Management of the National Archive of Monuments (DMNAM) and other sources as well as two case studies—the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae/Andritsaina and the archaeological site of Delphi—examines the factors that have determined the relationships between antiquities and Greek society. In particular, it focuses on contradictions, and occasional conflicts, related to such relationships during the interwar period (1918–1939) and the social impact of the promotion and enhancement of archaeological sites. The paper also emphasizes local communities’ and authorities’ involvement in managing archaeological sites in their regions due to high tourist interest during this period.

Scholarly Networks, Gender Sociology, and Knowledge Production in Aegean Survey and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Scholarly Networks, Gender Sociology, and Knowledge Production in Aegean Survey and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Middle Byzantine glazed pottery from Nauplio: an overview

From the 1970s up to the present day the Greek Archaeological Service has carried out several rescue excavations at the castle and in the Lower town, which have yielded interesting ceramic material. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the unpublished Middle Byzantine glazed pottery identified in the other rescue excavations conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service.

The Mycenaean Settlement on Tsoungiza Hill. By James C. Wright and Mary K. Dabney (Nemea Valley Archaeological Project 3). Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens 2020. Pp. 1240. $150. ISBN 978-0-87661-924-7 (cloth).

<i>The Mycenaean Settlement on Tsoungiza Hill</i>. By James C. Wright and Mary K. Dabney (Nemea Valley Archaeological Project 3). Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens 2020. Pp. 1240. $150. ISBN 978-0-87661-924-7 (cloth).

CONSTRUCTING THE ‘URBAN PROFILE’ OF AN ANCIENT GREEK CITY: EVIDENCE FROM THE OLYNTHOS PROJECT

This article argues that a holistic approach to documenting and understanding the physical evidence for individual cities would enhance our ability to address major questions about urbanisation, urbanism, cultural identities and economic processes. At the same time we suggest that providing more comprehensive data-sets concerning Greek cities would represent an important contribution to cross-cultural studies of urban development and urbanism, which have often overlooked relevant evidence from Classical Greece. As an example of the approach we are advocating, we offer detailed discussion of data from the Archaic and Classical city of Olynthos, in the Halkidiki. Six seasons of fieldwork here by the Olynthos Project, together with legacy data from earlier projects by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and by the Greek Archaeological Service, combine to make this one of the best-documented urban centres surviving from the Greek world. We suggest that the material from the site offers the potential to build up a detailed ‘urban profile’, consisting of an overview of the early development of the community as well as an in-depth picture of the organisation of the Classical settlement. Some aspects of the urban infrastructure can also be quantified, allowing a new assessment of (for example) its demography. This article offers a sample of the kinds of data available and the sorts of questions that can be addressed in constructing such a profile, based on a brief summary of the interim results of fieldwork and data analysis carried out by the Olynthos Project, with a focus on research undertaken during the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Storage Shipsheds at Kommos: reviewed

From 1976 to 2000, the University of Toronto excavated, under permits granted by the Greek Archaeological Service and through the American School of Classical Studies, the site of Kommos in Southce...

Introduction

Introduction

THE PIRAEUS FROM 86 BC TO LATE ANTIQUITY: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE LANDSCAPE, FUNCTION AND ECONOMY OF THE PORT OF ROMAN ATHENS

Modern perceptions of the ancient Piraeus have been monopolised by the urban image and function of the port as the naval stronghold of Classical Athens. Existing scholarship so far has tended to consider the post-Classical centuries, especially the era following the sack of the port in 86bcby the Romans, as a period of decline. Such preconceptions, based on largely superficial readings of a few ancient literary texts and a near-total disregard of the material evidence, have created a distorted image of the Piraeus and its significance in the Roman period. Drawing upon textual sources as well as archaeological evidence, this paper explores the changing nature of urban settlement, maritime functions and the economy of the port from the time of its destruction in 86bcto around the sixth centuryad. Particular emphasis is placed on a re-examination of the existing evidence from rescue excavations conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service as they relate to the topography of the Roman port and its long-term evolution. This combined study offers a more complex picture of the infrastructure, urban image and operational capability of the port during the Roman period than was hitherto possible. It also permits a more balanced understanding of the port's function at local, regional and provincial levels, and thus enables comparisons with other Roman ports in the Aegean and the rest of the Mediterranean.

Intensive Survey Data from Antikythera, Greece

The Antikythera Survey Project was an interdisciplinary programme of fieldwork, artefact study and laboratory analysis that considered the long-term history and human ecology of the small Greek island of Antikythera. It was co-directed by Andrew Bevan (UCL) and James Conolly (Trent), in collaboration with Aris Tsaravopoulos (Greek Archaeological Service), and under the aegis of the Canadian Institute in Greece and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Its various primary datasets are unusual, both in the Mediterranean and beyond, for providing intensive survey coverage of an entire island’s surface archaeology.

Investigating ancient cemeteries on the island of Astypalaia, Greece

As first mentioned in last year's issue (AI 2000-2001, p.4), the Institute has joined the 22nd Ephorate of the Greek archaeological service in a three-year study of human remains from two recently discovered cemeteries on the island of Astypalaia, which date back to the first millennium BC. The member of staff of the Institute who collaborates on the project with Greek colleagues describes the work undertaken during the first field season and the research potential of the finds.

The ancient cemeteries of Astypalaia, Greece

The small island of Astypalaia in the southern Aegean Sea has produced two first millennium BC cemeteries, one containing remains of individuals of all ages, the other exclusively newborn babies and young children. The sites have been studied by the 22nd Ephorate of the Greek Archaeological Service since 1996. Since 2000 there has been a formal collaboration with the Institute of Archaeology to study the human remains, first described in Archaeology International 2001/2002. Here the leading scholars involved in the project describe the work undertaken over the last eight years.

New Work at Kato Phana, Chios: the Kato Phana Archaeological Project: Preliminary report for 1997 and 1998

The first two fieldwork seasons of the Kato Phana Archaeological Project took place in 1997 and 1998 as a collaborative venture between the British School at Athens and the Mytilene Ephorate of the Greek Archaeological Service. The work comprised archaelogical surface survey and mapping of the lower Kato Phana Valley, cleaning and planning of the sanctuary of Apollo Phanaios and geophysical testing of selected areas around the sanctuary site. This article first sets out the aims of the Project and describes earlier work at the cult centre (Geometric to Early Christian periods) by K. Kourouniotes and W. Lamb. This is followed by an account of the survey methodology and of the results gained: these include the location of Bronze Age findspots NE and SW of the cult centre and a dense concentration of sherds, tile and ancient masonry, ranging in date from the Archaic to Early Christion periods, radiating out from the sanctuary, particularly to the S and SE. To the NW, the survey also succeeded in identifying the ancient quarry site from which grey limestone blocks were cut for the sanctuary constructing. The paper concludes with an account of the geophysical testing carried out at Kato Phana, and looks forward to the next projected phase of the Project's fieldwork.

The Art of Rhetoric at the Amphiareion of Oropos

Commentary: My intent in doing this project was to illustrate that an archaeological site as (apparently) obscure as the Amphiareion of Oropos holds a wealth of evidence about the nature and practice of rhetorical contests. Indirectly, I also hoped to illustrate that developing new methods of analysis through “field work” in classical rhetoric complements conventional arm-chair research - characteristic of literary analysis - as a source of primary evidence. The study opportunities and support that I received in 1974 and 1977 from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Greek Ministry of Science and Culture convinced me that the Amphiareion would be appropriate for study. The Amphiareion was small enough for an in-depth examination and large enough to be known by ancient geographers such as Pausanias. From 1977 to 1985 I analyzed the information I had gathered about the site: the inscriptions my wife, Jane Helppie, and I had photographed and drawn on our field trips, the commentary of ancient sources, and the results of archaeological excavations under Basil Petracos and the Greek Archaeological Service. This study reveals that rhetoric was practiced at locations other than prominent centers such as Athens and that these practices were sustained for centuries. In the future I plan to visit other larger and better known sites in order to continue the search for information that provides the basis for a richer understanding of the history of written communication in Greece.

Byzantine Thebes: excavations on the Kadmeia, 1980

In May and June 1980 Dr K. Demakopoulou undertook exploratory excavations on behalf of the Greek Archaeological Service in the central square of the city of Thebes. Deposits of the Byzantine and later periods continued down for more than 5 metres. The finds, primarily from domestic habitation, are presented here.

Regions of the Imagination: Archaeologists, Local People, and the Archaeological Record in Fieldwork, Greece

This paper takes a close look at the relationship of an archaeological team engaged on a regional survey for the Greek Archaeological Service to the local population, and at the practices and scholastic assumptions of the archaeologists. Regional survey, with its emphasis on populations and resources is found to resemble the work of census takers and bureaucrats (and not surprisingly many locals see the archaeologists as representatives of the state). Prehistoric farmers are treated as 'sensible' and apolitical, and archaeology is seen to adopt refined tactics that domesticate the unfamiliar and banish the difficult and contradictory from concern. The intellectual safety of demographic approaches becomes clearer when the multiplicity of relations between the team and the locals is considered - precisely the variety missing from the texts written about the past - and when the archaeologists attempt to banish local life and politics from their narratives.

Further Excavation of the Toumba Cemetery at Lefkandi, 1981

At Easter 1981, as part of a joint Greek-British investigation of the region of ‘Toumba’ at Lefkandi in Euboea, a further area of the known cemetery there was excavated. The Greek Archaeological Service was represented by Mrs. E. Touloupa, previously Ephor of Euboea, and the British School by M. R. Popham and L. H. Sackett: the operation was under the general supervision of the Ephor, Mr. P. Kalligas.Since the results of the previous excavations in this and the other cemeteries have recently been published with a full commentary, we have decided to give a quick and more summary account of the new finds as a supplement to the main publication to which reference is made for detailed discussion.

The Excavation of an Early Minoan Tholos Tomb at Ayia Kyriaki, Ayiofarango, Southern Crete

This report is concerned with the excavation of an Early Minoan tholos tomb just south of Ayia Kyriaki in the Ayiofarango, one of the river systems which gives out on to the Libyan Sea, just west of Kaloi Limenes (fig. i). Details of the site location (plate ia) can be found in the report on the Ayiofarango survey, which, together with this report and one other already published, make up the complete report of work undertaken by the authors in the vicinity of Kaloi Limenes in the summers of 1971 and 1972. The excavation of the tholos, which was undertaken because there were surface indications that looting was incomplete but possibly to be resumed, took place in September 1972 in collaboration with Dr. C. Davaras of the Greek Archaeological Service. The excavation lasted for a period of three weeks, and was undertaken by a staff of three supervisors and ten workmen, directed by the authors.

The Proportions of Kouroi

The Proportions of Kouroi

The Mycenaean sanctuary at Phylakopi

Professor Renfrew, who holds the Chair of Archaeology in the University of Southampton, has prepared for us an account of the sanctuary at the important site of Phylakopi in the Cycladic island of Melos, excavated by the British School of Archaeology at Athens from 1896 to 1899. The publication (Atkinson et al., 1904) was a landmark in the study of European prehistory. The person in day-to-day charge (although not nominally Director) was Duncan Mackenzie, who later assisted Evans at Knossos. Mackenzie's Daybooks have been preserved and are a useful source of stratigraphic information.Excavation was resumed in 1974–7, directed by Professor Renfrew, for the British School of Archaeology at Athens, with the authority of the Greek Archaeological Service. The most important and altogether unexpected result has been the discovery of a sanctuary of the Mycenaean period, with a number of very beautiful finds (cf. Frontispiece)* as well as some highly unusual ones (male figurines). The only well-preserved Mycenaean shrine previously excavated is that at Mycenae itself, discovered by Lord William Taylour and first published in this journal (Taylour, 1969 and 1970).The Phylakopi shrine is of great importance for the Mycenaean period in the Cyclades, for the understanding of Mycenaean cult and religion, and for the several works of art which it has yielded, including the Lady of Phylakopi, perhaps the most beautiful of the ceramic cult figures known from the Mycenaean world.

News Letter from Greece

The Greek Archaeological Service, the Society, the Foreign Schools and individual excavators have, over the years, continued to supply reports and photographs with generosity. We thank them and Prof. E. Vanderpool who is always ready to share an exciting new piece of information. ATTICA. Athens, Agora. The building formerly known as the "Poros Building" and identified by E. Vanderpool as the State Prison of Athens was reinvestigated in 1977 by J. Camp. The foundations of two Roman houses overlying the building were removed. The building is now fully exposed. Undisturbed levels in a number of rooms were excavated and the results of the initial excavation (1949) confirmed. The structure was built soon after the middle of the 5th c. B.C., damaged and repaired around 400 B.C., and remained in use perhaps until the sack of Athens by Sulla. Following excavation, the ground level was raised to that of the classical floor level, and walls were filled out where necessary with dry-stone masonry (pl. 53, fig. i). The excavator notes that the location and plan with provisions for bathing and the finds, which include a series of small medicine bottles, support Vanderpool's identification of the building as the place where Socrates spent his last days. Rhamnous. B. Petrakos continued work here in