Sanctuary Of Poseidon Research Articles

Geology and construction: survey of archaeological sites and their natural environments (Gulf of Corinth, Greece)

This study attempts to demonstrate how Greek builders exploited their geological environment during the Archaic to Hellenistic periods. Four major sites in the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth are compared: the old city of Corinth, the sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia, ancient Sikyon and the Heraeum at Perachora. Ancient builders utilised primary topographic features and natural resources to their advantage, thus reducing costs. They preferred local low-density stones sourced from the more recent Corinth syn-rift deposits (calcarenite, oolitic grainstone, sandstones, stromatolites and conglomerates), rather than the pre-rift Mesozoic carbonates. These local stones represent more than 90% of the volume employed for public construction. Greek builders also imported allochthonous high-porosity limestones for their temples. Hard stones, such as marbles, do not appear to have been attractive to ancient builders at any of the studied sites.

Religion and family politics in Hellenistic Kalaureia. Three new inscriptions from the sanctuary of Poseidon

This article presents three unpublished Hellenistic inscriptions from the sanctuary of Poseidon in Kalaureia (modern Poros): two found during archaeological excavations on the site and one recorded in a letter that was once part of Ioannis Kapodistrias’ official correspondence. All three inscriptions were dedicatory and carved on bases supporting portrait statues. Interestingly, they were offered to Poseidon by members of a single family already known from other documents in the Kalaureian epigraphic corpus. Remarkably, eight out of the 18 inscriptions discovered in Kalaureia make repeated references to men and women of this very family, which appears to have materially dominated Poseidon’s temenos and its environs during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC through the careful placement of portraits of its members. Most of these statues were conspicuously placed by the entrance to the sanctuary, though at least one of them was erected inside of the god’s temple. In our article, we present in detail the three new inscriptions, one of them an epigram, and attempt an analysis of the religious behaviour of this prominent local family against the background of contemporary sociopolitical developments.

Snakes and other microfaunal remains from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia

The microfaunal remains recovered at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia (Poros island, Greece) are abundant and varied. They belong to a number of different animal taxa, including snakes, frogs, lizards, and some micromammals. They have been found in several locations but the largest concentration originates in a closed Late Hellenistic/Early Roman deposit within a cistern (Feature 03). The snakes in this assemblage are numerous, belonging to terrestrial and aquatic species, and to both venomous and non-venomous varieties. Bones of some of them along with certain frog bones show traces of burning, which may suggest some type of manipulation before the deposition. The microfaunal remains from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia also strongly suggest that these types of animal were involved in ritual activities—dead or alive.

Physical environment and daily life in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros. The bioarchaeological remains

The section below contains reports on bioarchaeological remains recovered in the excavations in Areas D and C in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros, between 2003 and 2005. The excavations were directed by the late Berit Wells within a research project named Physical Environment and Daily Life in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia (Poros). The main objective of the project was to study what changed and what remained constant over time in the everyday life and in both the built and physical environment in an important sanctuary of the ancient Greeks. The bioarchaeological remains, of a crucial importance for this type of study, were collected both by means of traditional archaeological excavation and by processing extensively collected soil samples. This text aims to providing the theoretical and archaeological background for the analyses that follow.

Trees and shrubs in the sanctuary. Wood charcoal analysis at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros

Wood charcoal analysis at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros aims to provide information on the vegetation of the area and its management and on the range of plants used in the activities taking place at the sanctuary. During the excavations of 2003–2005 in Areas D and C, systematic samples from fills and features from all the excavated strata were recovered and water flotation was used for the separation of wood charcoal from the sediment. Wood charcoal was found in two pits dated to the Early Iron Age, near the supposed altar of the Archaic period (Feature 05), in a deposit of the Hellenistic period (the “dining deposit”), in floor deposits (Early Iron Age and Late Classical/Early Hellenistic periods), and fills of different chrono-cultural periods (Archaic–Early Roman). All the taxa identified in the wood charcoal assemblages are thermophilous Mediterranean elements, most of them evergreen broad-leaved. The assemblages show that the most frequent taxon is the olive, followed by the prickly oak, the Fabaceae, and the heather. In most assemblages mock privet/buckthorn, strawberry tree, the pear and Prunus family species are present, while Aleppo pine, lentisc, the fig, and the carob trees are less frequent. Olive cultivation was an important economic activity during the whole life of the sanctuary and probably olive pruning constantly provided the sanctuary with fuel. The woodland would be the additional source of firewood for the sanctuary’s needs for fuel for mundane activities such as heating and cooking, for more formal ones, such as sacrifice, but also for industrial activities such as tile firing. Activities related to the reorganization of space and the expansion of the sanctuary may be reflected in charcoal of carpentry by-products as the fir, cypress, and maybe pine remains.

Plants in the sanctuary. Charred seeds from Areas C and D at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros

Excavations at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaueria in the years 2003–2005 produced a small but quite interesting assemblage of charred seeds and fruits. Their analysis adds to a small existing body of such evidence and sheds light on several issues including aspects of the physical environment in the past, the agricultural economy in the area of the sanctuary, the role of plants in cult, and also the preparation and eating of plant foods and the possible alternative uses of them. The charred seeds that are presented here are part of a larger body of bioarchaeological remains that illuminate daily life in the sanctuary.

Animals in the sanctuary. Mammal and fish bones from Areas D and C at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia. With an appendix by Adam Boethius

During the excavations at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia an extensive archaeo-environmental programme was implemented, resulting in the collection and analysis of a wide range of animal remains. This paper presents the mammal and fish remains in detail and offers interpretations which take into account the archaeology of the site, other types of finds, as well as the discourse on animals in cult. The material is examined in terms of chronological phases and of particular features within them in an attempt, common in all types of analysis within the Kalaureia Excavation Program, to link the material remains to human actions, placing emphasis on the materiality of cult. The degree of analysis and interpretation detail varies among different occupational phases of the sanctuary, because of the greatly uneven preservation and quantity of animal remains. In certain cases of disturbed deposits and poor preservation, such as the bones from the Archaic and Classical strata, the analysis is left open-ended and the interpretation is pending, in view of subsequent studies that will include contemporary material from other locations within the sanctuary. In other instances, however, where closed or well-defined deposits are available, detailed analysis of the zooarchaeological data was possible and meaningful.

Marine and terrestrial molluscs in the sanctuary. The molluscan remains from the 2003–2004 excavations in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia

This paper presents the hand-collected molluscan remains that were recovered from the excavations in Areas C and D of the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Poros, in the years 2003–2004. The paper aims at the presentation of the finds and at using the molluscan biological and ethological traits to provide insights into the possible capture methods and use. Land snails are also summarily presented.

Animals in the sanctuary. Bird bones and eggshell

Excavations at the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia and the application of a systematic soil sampling and water flotation programme led to the collection of a moderate amount for bird bones and eggshell fragments. Their dating in the first millennium BC and their association with cult renders them a significant addition to the extant bird remains record in Greece. In this paper the bird and egg remains are presented in detail by chronological phase and by feature, they are compared with other contemporary assemblages of bird remains, and some commentary is offered on their significance.

Archaic pottery and terracottas from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia

The excavation season of 2009 in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia brought to light a deposit of Archaic pottery and associated metal and other objects in conjunction with a long terrace wall (Wall 49) southeast of the Temple of Poseidon. The deposit in question is the largest accumulation of Archaic material recovered from the entire sanctuary thus far. The fine-decorated, black-glazed and coarse pottery together with the terracotta figurines are discussed in detail in this article. Furthermore, the results of the quantitative analysis of the pottery are presented. The study of the deposit provides an overview of the ceramic vessels and other terracotta objects originally dedicated to the deity or used in the sanctuary during the Archaic period. Moreover, based on the chronology of its deposition, it seems possible to incorporate it into a narrative of the development of the sanctuary over time. The significance of the deposit as a whole will be more fully discussed in the forthcoming final publication of the Kalaureia Research Program. The context and the condition of the deposited pottery and terracottas allows for associating it with a period of important redefinition of the sanctuary’s sacred space, which took place towards the end of the 6th or the early 5th century BC.

A tale of three drums: an unfinished Archaic votive column in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia

Three unfinished column drums discovered at the Kalaureia Research Program excavations in 2007–2009 can be shown to have been intended for a monumental Archaic Ionic votive column. All drums have systematic masons’ marks on the contact surfaces. The latter parts of the inscriptions indicate the position of the drum in the shaft. Two alternative readings for the first part of the inscription are suggested: the first interprets it as a building instruction and the second as a price indication. The start of the building project took place very likely in the second half of the sixth century BC, and the deposit date of the fill surrounding the blocks indicates that the unfinished project was abandoned in the late sixth century BC. Reconstruction of the column shaft from the known drum dimensions demonstrates that the finished shaft would have been constructed with a slight entasis.

A smiting-god-figurine found in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia

In 2007 a Reshef figurine was found in a secondary context southeast of the Temple of Poseidon at Kalaureia. This article discusses its origin in the Syro-Palestinian area in the thirteenth century BC and suggests it arrived at Kalaureia towards the end of the Late Bronze Age and was deposited in a sacral context. As Reshef in later history was identified with Apollo in the Greek environment, the author speculates on there being perhaps a kernel of truth in the later myth of Apollo and Poseidon having exchanged dwelling places in the hoary past. The peculiar surface of the piece called for a technical analysis, which was carried out by Andreas Karydas from the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Demokritos, Athens. It clarified that the “pock marks” on the surface stem from the manufacturing process and are not the result of corrosion.

A new inscribed statue base from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia

In the Kalaureia Research Program excavations of 2007 and 2008, four joining blocks of a statue base were unearthed. The monument is a dedication from the polis of Arsinoe in the Peloponnese: its inhabitants offered two statues, of King Ptolemaios and his sisterwife Arsinoe Philadelphos, to Poseidon. The present article publishes the monument and its inscription, and proceeds to present a reconstruction and an attempt at positioning the monument in its historical context.

From Polis to Borders: Demarcation of Social and Ritual Space in the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia, Greece

This article focuses on three interrelated themes in the study of ancient Greek religion, looked at through the mateiral evidence from the sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia on the island of Poros, Greece. First, I look at the so-called polis model and its applicability to an interpretation of Kalaureian material related to the cultic life of the sanctuary from the point of view of the 'historiography' of Greek religion. I then discuss the historical context of the archaeological material, with particular emphasis on the topic of the sanctuary as a known place of asylum particularly during the Hellenistic period. Thirdy, I examine the archaeological material related to eating and dining and its potential connections to the demarcation between sacred and profane activities and between sacralised and profane space in the sanctuary, with special interpretative attention to the significance of border(s) and boundaries. Drawing attention to these issues may help us understand the dynamics and interplay between 'official' and 'private' aspects of ancient Greek religion, within both the tradition of the scholarship of ancient Greek religion and the so-called 'archaeology of cult'.

What Is Ekphrasis for?

Previous articleNext article No AccessWhat Is Ekphrasis For?Simon GoldhillSimon GoldhillKing’s College, Cambridge Search for more articles by this author King’s College, CambridgePDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Classical Philology Volume 102, Number 1January 2007Special Issues on EkphrasisEdited by Shadi Bartsch and Jaś Elsner Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/521129 Views: 459Total views on this site Citations: 20Citations are reported from Crossref [© 2007 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.]PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Laura Schmitz-Justen “Art is Seeing Things”: Ekphrastic Education in Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet, English Studies 103, no.22 (Mar 2022): 317–337.https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2022.2043033Paroma Chatterjee Between the Pagan Past and Christian Present in Byzantine Visual Culture, 3 (Sep 2021).https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108985628Magdalena Garnczarska Some Remarks on the Significance of Gold Based on Byzantine Ekphraseis of Works of Art, Studia Ceranea. Journal of the Waldemar Ceran Research Centre for the History and Culture of the Mediterranean Area and South-East Europe 10 (Dec 2020): 83–121.https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.10.05Nikolaos Papazarkadas, Jenny Wallensten Religion and family politics in Hellenistic Kalaureia. Three new inscriptions from the sanctuary of Poseidon, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 13 (Nov 2020): 139–222.https://doi.org/10.30549/opathrom-13-06Cory Geraths Civic ekphrasis : Classical and contemporary description in the public-speaking classroom, Communication Teacher 34, no.33 (Sep 2019): 210–215.https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2019.1662935Anna Kotłowska, Katarzyna Gucio Love and Theatre in the Works of Nikephoros Basilakes, Studia Ceranea 9 (Dec 2019): 543–574.https://doi.org/10.18778/2084-140X.09.27Kate Mitchell Painted Traces: Art and Ekphrasis in Elizabeth Kostova's The Swan Thieves, Victoriographies 9, no.33 (Nov 2019): 259–279.https://doi.org/10.3366/vic.2019.0353Linda Grant Latin Erotic Elegy and the Shaping of Sixteenth-Century English Love Poetry, 16 (Aug 2019).https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108663847Yvonne Liebermann The return of the ‘real’ in Ali Smith’s Artful (2012) and How to Be Both (2014), European Journal of English Studies 23, no.22 (Oct 2019): 136–151.https://doi.org/10.1080/13825577.2019.1640416Lili Pâquet Selfie‐Help: The Multimodal Appeal of Instagram Poetry, The Journal of Popular Culture 52, no.22 (Apr 2019): 296–314.https://doi.org/10.1111/jpcu.12780Nathaniel B. Jones Painting, Ethics, and Aesthetics in Rome, 94 (Jan 2019).https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108329514Udo Kannengiesser, John S. Gero Ekphrasis as a Basis for a Framework for Creative Design Processes, (Jan 2019): 265–283.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05363-5_15Renate Brosch Ekphrasis in the Digital Age, Poetics Today 39, no.22 (Jun 2018): 225–243.https://doi.org/10.1215/03335372-4324420Catherine Ware The ashplant and the golden bough: Heaney in Vergil’s labyrinth, Classical Receptions Journal 30 (May 2018).https://doi.org/10.1093/crj/cly007Nigel Krauth, Christopher Bowman Ekphrasis and the writing process, New Writing 15, no.11 (May 2017): 11–30.https://doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2017.1317277Peter A. O’Connell Enargeia , Persuasion, and the Vividness Effect in Athenian Forensic Oratory, Journal for the History of Rhetoric 20, no.33 (Sep 2017): 225–251.https://doi.org/10.5325/jhistrhetoric.20.3.0225Peter A. O’Connell Enargeia , Persuasion, and the Vividness Effect in Athenian Forensic Oratory, Advances in the History of Rhetoric 20, no.33 (Sep 2017): 225–251.https://doi.org/10.1080/15362426.2017.1384766Maria-Eirini Panagiotidou ‘In the mind’s eye’: A cognitive linguistic re-construction of WD Snodgrass’ ‘Matisse: The Red Studio’, Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 25, no.22 (May 2016): 130–144.https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947016636272Susan L. Fischer (Re)staging the Tragic Gaze in Lope's El castigo sin venganza : A Verbal (Mis)representation of a Visual Representation?, Comedia Performance 12, no.11 (Apr 2015): 137–167.https://doi.org/10.5325/comeperf.12.1.0137Asma Mansoor Ekphrastic Practices in Catalysing Creative Writing in Undergraduate ESL Classrooms, New Writing 11, no.22 (Apr 2014): 208–227.https://doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2014.904887

Contribution of multiplexed electrical resistance and magnetic techniques to the archaeological investigations at Poros, Greece

AbstractThe Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia is located on the island of Poros in the Saronic Gulf in Greece. Two Swedish archaeologists first carried out excavations at the site in 1894; in 1997 investigations were resumed by the Swedish Institute at Athens. Although there are traces of occupancy in the area by the early Bronze Age, the results so far attest to some activity in the very late Bronze Age (ca. 1100 BC); with a considerable proportion of the remains dating from the eighth century BC and the visible remains dating to the sixth to second centuries BC.A geophysical investigation was conducted at the site using both electrical resistance techniques and magnetic methods. A small area of 20 × 15 m at the southeast section of the site was surveyed with high‐resolution multiplexed electrical resistance techniques in order to maximize the information content of the subsurface remains in both horizontal and vertical extent.The local vertical magnetic gradient of the Earth's magnetic field was measured using a fluxgate gradiometer, and multiplexed electrical resistance techniques were applied in order to map the subsoil resistance at different depths. In addition, the whole area was investigated with a double twin probe configuration.Emphasis was given to the use of the multiplex electrical resistance technique with different configurations. A small grid to the southeast of the survey area was investigated with a twin probe configuration, recording the subsurface resistance at four increasing depths. Additionally, 0.5 m dipole–dipole and 0.5 m Wenner mapping configurations were performed. The above data were processed using a specifically developed processing package (GPP). The resistance instrument was also programmed in such a way as to conduct parallel resistance tomographies along the x and y directions with a pole–pole array. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ancient Beehives from Isthmia

Abstract: Ceramic beehives are known to have been utilized in ancient Greece. Excavations by the University of Chicago at Isthmia have produced many fragments with an interior combed surface characteristic of this special vessel. In addition to four almost complete beehives of horizontal type, four restored hives and a number of fragments of an upright style of hive from the Sanctuary of Poseidon and the Rachi settlement are published here. They provide the first substantial evidence for the existence of the upright hive in ancient Greece.

Sacrifices et repas publics dans le sanctuaire de Poséidon à Ténos : les analyses archéozoologiques

From groups of bones discovered in the sanctuary of Poseidon and Amphitrite at Tinos, there is evidence of certain aspects of bloody rituals in this great Cycladic religious centre. The bones studied came from levels corresponding to the period of greatest fréquentation of the cult place, between the 3rd and 2nd century B.C. The results of archaeozoological analysis help to reconstruct with greater accuracy the procedures of the sacrifices and rituals known from texts. In addition to details about the rituals performed, the study of the bones offers general information on the choice of species and more specialised information on the age of slaughter, the size of the animals sacrificed, the method of slaughter, the methods of dressing the carcasses, the selection and cutting up of the haunches as well as the parts eaten or consecrated to the two principal Tinos divinities.

Espaces sacrés, rites et oracles dans l'Œdipe à Colone de Sophocle

Survey of the three sacred spaces in Œdipus at Colonus (the sanctuary of the Eumenides, the deme of Colonus with the sanctuary of Poseidon, the grave of Œdipus) ; study of the usual rites connected with each one of these three sacred spaces (libations, sacrifice, purifying bath) ; study of the special rite of supplication connected with two of these sacred spaces (Œdipus' supplication in the sanctuary of the Eumenides ;Polynices' supplication at the altar of Poseidon). With that exceptional presence of the sacred in his last tragedy, with the noteworthy organization of the sacred spaces and their connexion with usual or exceptional rites, Sophocles appears as both the most pious of tragedians and a clever dramatist.

Greek Architectural Terracottas from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia

Greek Architectural Terracottas from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia