The BSA’s activities in generalFootnote ¹

It has been a packed programme for the BSA in 2023, with fieldwork and research, academic events, outreach, knowledge exchange, and collaboration. This year marks 50 years since the Fitch Laboratory’s foundation in 1974 and a year-long programme of special events to mark the occasion has already begun (Fig. 2.1). In many ways the Fitch epitomizes the BSA’s ethos and mission: supporting and undertaking research in Greece and Greek lands through an emphasis on people and community in the past and present. The Fitch has been critical in creating and sustaining many of our research relationships and networks across the world, from our collaborations with the American and Austrian Schools in Athens and Aegina to our work with Newcastle in the UK on Tintagel.

Fig. 2.1.

Artistic view of the door to the Marc and Ismene Fitch Laboratory. © BSA.

We have really enjoyed getting to work with different communities this year. Our series of Young Archaeology workshops, which took place on Saturday mornings at the BSA for children between the ages of 10 and 16, has given our colleagues opportunities to experiment with new ways of teaching archaeology, particularly through sensory engagement. We have also welcomed children from the Home Project (an organization that looks after unaccompanied minors who are forced migrants) at the BSA to learn about archaeology through hands-on and well-being activities (Fig. 2.2).

Fig. 2.2.

Children from the Home Project piecing together modern pots. © BSA.

It has been wonderful working with the British Embassy and British Council so closely and we are particularly grateful for the support of Ambassador Matthew Lodge and his wife Alexia. In spring 2023 we co-organized a Writing Festival with the theme of ‘the journey’, drawing on work of ancient and contemporary writers (Fig. 2.3). While we all gained new insights into the concept of the journey, we especially appreciated the keynote speech given by the brilliant Victoria Hislop. The full range of lectures and other events can be found in the BSA newsletter.

Fig. 2.3.

Participants of the Festival of Writing event, with travellers’ notebooks laid out in the BSA library. © BSA.

The School Students make invaluable contributions to the BSA research agenda in its broadest sense, and also contribute to life at the BSA by organizing the Finlay Forum seminar series and the social Gin Nights. Our 2023 School Students (Fig. 2.4) have all progressed on to excellent positions: Dr Flavia Vanni is now on a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at Newcastle University and Dr Elizabeth Foley took up a fixed-term lectureship at the University of Manchester. Dr Rachel Phillips returned to the BSA to take up the position of Macmillian-Rodewald Student, working on her postdoctoral project on Bronze Age mortuary practices using art historical perspectives.

Fig. 2.4.

BSA School Students 2022–2023. Left to right: Dr Flavia Vanni, Dr Elizabeth Foley, and Dr Rachel Phillips. © BSA.

We welcomed another three students to the BSA in the academic year 2023: Andriana Xenaki (Cambridge), one of our Cary students who is using statistical models and GIS applications to examine settlement patterns in the mountainous areas of eastern Crete; Dr Sebastian Marshall (Cambridge), joining the BSA as another Cary Student who, having recently completed his PhD on ‘Sketching, Sight-seeing and Scholarship: Greece and Asia Minor, 1828–1898’, used the SPHS Photograph Collection in the BSA archives for a new project on images of rural Greece; and Dr Matthew Evans (Warwick), our Richard Bradford McConnell Student, who works on the social and cultural history of the Hellenistic and Roman Aegean, spending time at the BSA reshaping his PhD thesis on gymnasia as a monograph.

The Leventis Fellow in Hellenic Studies is Dr Tulsi Parikh (Fig. 2.5), and we are hugely grateful to the Leventis Foundation for their ongoing support of this fellowship. Tulsi is working on worshipper experience of sacred space through movement and sensory engagement. Tulsi also uses her work to explore inclusivity and accessibility within archaeology. She co-organized a conference with Alexia Petsalis-Diomides (St Andrews) on inclusivity and material culture in June 2023 and she regularly organizes outreach activities with underrepresented communities in Athens.

Fig. 2.5.

Dr Tulsi Parikh teaching undergraduate students at the sanctuary of Athena at Sounion. © BSA.

This year, the 1821 Fellow, Dr Michalis Sotiropolos, has given a number of lectures in North America and Canada (UCLA, Simon Fraser, Vancouver, Washington, and Toronto) concerning his research on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation funded project Unpublished archives of British Philhellenism during the Greek Revolution of 1821. At the heart of the project are the archives of George Finlay (1799–1875) and Captain Frank Abney Hastings (1794–1828). Key contributors to the project include its mentor, Professor Roderick Beaton (BSA chairman), Amalia Kakissis (BSA archivist), Eleni Gkadolou (BSA digital assets manager), and Ioannis Dalezios and Nathan Meyer (current and former BSA IT officers). The three-day international conference ‘Philhellenism and the Greek Revolution of 1821: Towards a Global History’ was co-organized with the National Library of Greece, and was made possible by the generous financial support of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Fig. 2.6). It was here that Digital Finlay was launched: the new electronic catalogue of the Finlay Papers and the digitized items selected for this project, which are now freely available on the BSA’s Digital Collections website.

Fig. 2.6.

Panel discussion at the international conference Philhellenism and the Greek Revolution of 1812. © BSA.

Dr Lyndsay Coo (Bristol) was Visiting Fellow for the academic year 2022–23. Lyndsay was a wonderful presence in the BSA (Fig. 2.7). During her time she was working on two projects: a student introduction to Oedipus Tyrannus and a project on sisterhood in Greek tragedy, which will result in the first book-length work in any language on sisters in ancient Greek literature. The latter develops an innovative methodological framework for the study of sisterhood, drawing on approaches from Classical literary criticism, feminist political theory, and the sociology of the family. Lyndsay gave an outstanding presentation on her work on the sisterhood project at both the informal Finlay Forum and the Upper House Seminar.

Fig. 2.7.

Dr Lyndsay Coo on a field visit to the Epigraphic Museum. © BSA.

Dr Antonis Kalogeropoulos (Liverpool) was at the BSA in December and January as Early Career Fellow. He worked on his project Social Media Platforms and Journalism in Low-trust and Heavily-disrupted Digital Media Environments: The Case of Greece. During his time in Athens, Antonis interviewed Greek journalists and digital managers of Greek news media organizations about the role that social media platforms play in their work. He also developed a research paper with colleague and previous BSA Early Career Fellow Lamprini Rori about the role of media in the spread of misinformation in Greece

The BSA and University of the Arts London Bursary holder in 2023 was Joshua Whitaker (Fig. 2.8). Joshua works in different media, including film making and photography, and his interests in Greece and the BSA were wide ranging. He spent spring at the BSA researching the Delphic Oracle and St Paul’s presence in Greece: he created a short film in the BSA library, and presented his research ‘Acid History’ in a talk at the BSA Upper House.

Fig. 2.8.

Joshua Whitaker in front of the temple of Apollo at Corinth. © BSA.

Saziye Ahmet (Fig. 2.9), Head of Classics at Kelmscott School (a multicultural state School in East London), spent a week in Athens in June on a BSA school teacher fellowship. Saziye noted that the teaching award completely transformed the way she teaches Ancient Greek and Classical Civilisation, and, thanks to the BSA award, she can continue to develop and solidify the Classics curriculum at Kelmscott. This will give students a broad experience of Classics that transcends the walls of the classroom.

Fig. 2.9.

Saziye Ahmet in front of the National Archaeological Museum. © BSA.

BSA research

The BSA hosted and collaborated on a number of successful conferences and workshops in 2023–2024, including: Philhellenism and the Greek Revolution of 1821: Towards a Global History (15–17 March 2023); the international symposium From Sparta to Lacedaemon: daily Lifeways of a Byzantine City (3 May 2023; Fig. 2.10); and the colloquium Philhellenism and Greek Identity Formation in Literature, the Arts, and Scholarship: In Honour of Roderick Beaton (18 May 2023).

Fig. 2.10.

Speakers at the conference From Sparta to Lacedaemon: Daily Lifeways of a Byzantine City. © BSA.

Dr Eleni Gkadolou, our British Academy funded digital asset manager, is collaborating closely with all departments to create and harmonize digital data in the development of the BSA Digital Humanities infrastructure (Fig. 2.11). Eleni’s work will support information and knowledge sharing, and wider public engagement. Nathan Meyer has been a huge help in this effort, and we are very grateful to him for his ongoing support.

Fig. 2.11.

Schematic diagram of BSA Digital Humanities workflow, with Knossos data model. © BSA.

The work started last year on the Knossos spatial data is in its final phase (Fig. 2.12). The Knossos spatial dataset includes excavation and survey sites, toponyms, and archaeological contexts in the valley of Knossos, and is associated with the Stratigraphical Museum collections. It has been converted to a digital gazetteer with different levels of detail, as well as into spatial layers within a GIS prototype. This prototype will, in the future, integrate archival material (e.g. excavation diaries and plans) linked to the Stratigraphical Museum’s objects.

Fig. 2.12.

Archaeological map of the Knossos valley area. © BSA.

Thanks to Eleni and to our archivist, Amalia Kakissis, the BSA is also currently leading on the joint BIRI digitization project, which includes all eight of the British International Research Institutes, and is coordinated by a new BSA colleague, Konstantina Georgiadou. Part of the work has been to set standards and methodologies for developing a joint web portal, to enable access to and facilitate querying and searching collectively in our resources. The BSA is leading on a work package concerning the use of digital storytelling to illustrate links between collections and to create engaging and interactive experiences for the research community and the wider public.

Recent BSA publications include volume 118 of the Annual of the British School at Athens and volume 69 of Archaeological Reports (published in collaboration with the Hellenic Society). Anumber of BSA studies, monographs, and edited collections have been published recently, including BSA archivist Amalia Kakissis’ edited volume Byzantium and British Heritage: Byzantine Influences on the Arts and Crafts Movement (Reference Kakissis2023) (Fig. 2.13); the volume Knossos: From First to Second Palace by Carl Knappett, Colin Macdonald, and Iro Mathioudaki (Reference Knappett, Macdonald and Mathioudaki2023); and Michael Loy’s monograph on Connecting Communities in Archaic Greece (Reference Loy2023). Digital publications supported by the BSA continue to become available at pace, with seven major updates made to Attic Inscriptions Online in 2023, including further releases on the Attic demes, decrees of Athenian Areopagos Council, and the first release, in collaboration with the University of Heidelberg, of Attic Inscriptions of Delphi. Archaeology in Greece Online (maintained in collaboration with the EfA) currently has 17,813 public entries.

Fig. 2.13.

Amalia Kakissis presenting a copy of her edited collection on Byzantium and British history. © BSA.

We were delighted to open the BSA’s doors to undergraduate and postgraduate students once again for our taught courses, including the Glass course (Fig. 2.14), online teachers’ course, Numismatics course (Fig. 2.15), Byzantine Archaeology and History course, and the BSA summer school (Fig. 2.16). The BSA is grateful to several funding bodies (Craven Committee Award, Cambridge Faculty of Classics, Hellenic Society, A.G. Leventis Foundation, Gilbert Murray Trust, and Classical Association), who widened course participation, and the work of colleagues who made excellent contributions to the teaching and organization of our teaching programme, which is coordinated by our assistant director Dr Georgios Mouratidis. Course tutors for 2023 included, for the postgraduate course in Numismatics, Dr Clare Rowan (Warwick) and Dr Mairi Gkikaki (Warwick); for the postgraduate course in Byzantine History and Archaeology, Dr Rossana Valente (Roma Tre), Dr Vicky Manolopoulou (Durham), and Dr Flavia Vanni (BSA); for the postgraduate course Glass in the Mediterranean and the Near East, Dr Yael Gorin-Rosen (Israel Antiquities Authority), Prof Ian Freestone (UCL), and Dr Carlotta Gardner (BSA); and for the undergraduate course in Archaeology and Topography of Greece, Dr Tulsi Parikh (BSA), Dr Laura Magno (Louvain), Dr Michalis Sotiropoulos (BSA), Amalia Kakissis (BSA), Dr Eleni Gkadolou, (BSA), and Dr Michael Loy (Cambridge).

Fig. 2.14.

Participants of the ‘Glass in the Mediterranean and the Near East’ course. © BSA.

Fig. 2.15.

Participants of the postgraduate course in Numismatics. © BSA.

Fig. 2.16.

Students of the undergraduate course ‘Archaeology and Topography of Greece’, in front of the agora of Athens. © BSA.

The library has been as busy and welcoming as ever (Fig. 2.17). In May, Professor Ursula Coope (Oxford) offered the Michael Frede Memorial lecture (Fig. 2.18), a collaboration between the BSA and the University of Athens. Kira Hollebon (Reading) was the library/archive intern for 2022–23, but sadly had to leave BSA in the beginning of 2023 due to unexpected circumstances. Charlotte Townsend (Cambridge) took up the position in May and stayed with us until the end of the year (Fig. 2.19). We also benefitted from the help of intern Georgia Kapopoulou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens). Thanks to collaborative efforts in the library, over 200 map sheets and five rare books were digitized and uploaded to the BSA Digital Collection platform (Fig. 2.20).

Fig. 2.17.

Librarian Evi Charitoudi gives a tour to students on the Byzantine course. © BSA.

Fig. 2.18.

Prof. Ursula Cope delivers the Michael Frede Memorial lecture in the BSA Upper House salon. © BSA.

Fig. 2.19.

Charlotte Townsend, BSA Library/Archive intern. © BSA.

Fig. 2.20.

Screenshot from the Library Collections page of BSA Digital Collections. © BSA.

Much of the time of our archivist, Amalia Kakissis, has been spent overseeing the BIRI Joint Digital Coordination and Strategy project and on the 1821 project. Amalia continues to accept and organize the cataloguing of donations, and she has undertaken a huge programme of training of interns and volunteers.

Rosa Methol and Lara Kirkland (Liverpool) and later Sophie Stewart (Aberystwyth) worked on the Nicholas Coldstream Personal Papers. Sam Newmarch (Manchester) processed the Sylvia Benton Personal Papers (Fig. 2.21) and gave an excellent Finlay Forum talk on his work. Eloise Meyer (Tulane, Fig. 2.22) undertook a wide variety of archive tasks on the Hood Archive, the BSA LEGO Classicist Collection, and the Mercy Money-Coutts Seiradakis Personal Papers. Shanghui Lin (Byron College), worked on the inventory of the Sinclair Hood Archive (Fig. 2.23). We are also grateful to Melissa Rabnett (Lincoln), Alexander Simpson (Lincoln) and Emma Burton (Heidelberg) for all their work in the archives.

Fig. 2.21.

Sylvia Benton papers. © BSA.

Fig. 2.22.

Archive volunteer, Eloise Meyer. © BSA.

Fig. 2.23.

Shanghui Lin at work on the Sinclair Hood Archive. © BSA.

For the archive, Charlotte Townsend (BSA Library-Archive intern) assisted the archivist and digital assets manager with BIRI Digitization Project, inventoried corporate records and completed the catalogue of the 1936 Exhibition Collection. The latter was the subject of Charlotte’s Finlay Forum talk (Fig. 2.24).

Fig. 2.24.

Title slide from Charlotte Townsend’s Finlay Forum talk on the 1936 Exhibition. © BSA.

The BSA is, as always, grateful to individuals and families who have donated material to the archive. During this past year the Hood family has sent more material for the Sinclair Hood Archive, including additional photographic material and works of art, containing pieces by Piet de Jong and John Craxton. The family of Dr John Ellis Jones donated papers relating to his work in Greece. We gratefully received some David French papers from his daughter Anne, and Peter Bury donated a beautiful portrait of his great-grandfather John Bagnell Bury.

The Bader Archive lecture was delivered by the 1821 Fellow in Modern Greek Studies, Dr Michalis Sotiropoulos.

The Knossos Research Centre (KRC)

Turning to the KRC, summer 2023 was very busy with research, outreach, and knowledge exchange (Fig. 2.25). There were two KRC summer lectures: one by Dr Stella Mandalaki (Heraklion Archaeological Museum) on dance rituals in Bronze Age Crete, and the other by Mrs Evi Saliaka on board games of strategy and skill of the Venetian guard of Spinalonga.

Fig. 2.25.

Montage of public engagement events from the Knossos Research Centre. © BSA.

The four-day cultural festival, ‘EARTH WATER FIRE: Celebrating Cretan Pottery from Antiquity to the Present’, returned after the Covid hiatus. Events included lectures on Cretan pottery with particular emphasis on the importance of the Thrapsano ceramic tradition as a living heritage, with workshops for adults and children and musical evenings with Cretan artists.

The Villa Ariadne was the focus of a series of four lectures on its people, building, and gardens. The BSA hosted an audio installation directed by Magda Corpi of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. Those present were called upon to descend into the hinterland of between, tracing the invisible world that lights the path for the experience of the visible. French photographer and poet, Mr Nyima Marin, presented his art book L’Adieu du Minotaure (Reference Marin2022) and the event also included a lecture on the ‘Cretan Labyrinth: the reality behind the myth’.

On 29 June, the BSA joined the Embassy to host the King’s Birthday Party at the KRC with British Ambassador Matthew Lodge, BSA colleagues, and guests from across Crete (Fig. 2.26).

Fig. 2.26.

BSA staff members with Anastasia Andritsou (British Council), Jaime Turner (British Embassy), and Konstantinos Throuvalas (British Embassy) at the King’s Birthday Party, Knossos Research Centre. © BSA.

A large team of collaborators sowed flaxseed in the KRC garden to produce handmade yarn (Fig. 2.27). This material will be woven using the Cretan traditional weaving techniques in an ongoing ethnographic project in collaboration with the University of the Mountains, Crete.

Fig. 2.27.

Sowing flaxseeds in the Knossos Research Centre garden. © BSA.

The summer events came to a close with the staging of an ethnoarchaeological project at which potters from Thrapsano set up a pithos-making workshop in the Knossos village square and introduced participants to the craft of making storage vessels. We are grateful to our collaborators on all of these projects

In terms of research, a special mention should be made of the Knossos Legacy and Sustainability Project, led by Dr Conor Trainor (Warwick), Dr Jo Day (Dublin), and Prof. Emilia Oddo (Tulane). Through its study of legacy material and focus on the analysis of ceramic assemblages from different chronological periods, this project also provides training for the next generation of ceramicists.

The Knossos curator is focused on the Stratigraphic Museum Rebuilding Project. In close collaboration with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, the BSA will transform the Knossos Stratigraphical Museum and the KRC by providing world-class facilities for future generations of scholars. This project will ensure the best possible storage and conservation conditions for our precious collections and for attracting a new academic audience.

The Marc and Ismene Fitch Laboratory

On 29 November 2024, the Fitch Laboratory will mark its fiftieth anniversary. As the Fitch was the first archaeological science laboratory in Greece, this anniversary marks half a century of archaeological science in Greece. Dr Carlotta Gardner, the Fitch 2024 research and outreach officer, along with the BSA archivist Amalia Kakissis, have been researching the history and contribution of the laboratory to the wider field of archaeological science in Greece and beyond (see Kiriatzi and Gardner, this volume).

Over the past year, the Fitch Laboratory has opened its doors to a whole range of new audiences, including children and non-academics. We even moved the laboratory to the Athens Technopolis in Gazi, participating in the Athens Science Festival in October 2023.

An important aspect of the Fitch’s vision is to grow its connections with contemporary potting communities, with the aim of linking two groups that study and/or make pottery. This encapsulates a range of ethnoarchaeological and experimental work in Greece and the UK, as well as developing a collaboration with the Craft Potters Association through our participation in their spring 2024 festival in London.

Work in more than 30 projects has been undertaken in the last year, covering all periods from the Neolithic to Medieval, and expanding beyond the main Aegean focus (Fig. 2.28). This research has been undertaken by the Fitch staff, associate or visiting researchers, and international collaborators. Two of the current projects are highlighted here, starting with the main project of the current Williams Fellow in Ceramic Analysis, Dr Sergios Menelaou.

Fig. 2.28.

Map indicating the location of Fitch Laboratory projects and collaborations in 2023. © BSA.

Sergios’ research focuses on the Early Bronze Age northeast Aegean, covering an interface zone between the Aegean and Anatolia (Fig. 2.29). This is an area that is of crucial importance for understanding cultural and social complexity during the Early Bronze Age, which was a period of intense mobility and technological transfer within the context of regional differentiation.

Fig. 2.29.

Map of sites in the Aegean/Anatolian interface investigated by Dr Sergios Menelaou. © BSA.

This study, implementing a methodology that combines macroscopic and morphostylistic examination of pottery with thin-section petrography and elemental analysis (WD-XRF) for both pottery and geological samples, is the first to undertake a comprehensive analytical examination at the prehistoric ceramic industry of key sites for this period, including Poliochni on Lemnos, Thermi on Lesbos, and Emporio on Chios.

Preliminary results indicate that there was an overall technological continuity with period-specific change. Significant quantities of imports at each site – particularly during the mid-third millennium BC – signify the intensification of connectivity of Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios, and Samos with several Cycladic islands. This is in addition to sites in the western Anatolian littoral and other eastern Aegean islands like Imbros. Early indications are that these island communities were significantly more socially complex and interconnected than once envisaged, and that they comprised active social and economic hubs in different networks of mobility.

Dr Edyta Marzec’s research is on the Classical and Hellenistic Cyclades (Fig. 2.30), part of a project called INSIDE (Interdisciplinary Studies of Hellenistic Pottery from the Island of Delos). In addition to the study and analysis of pottery from Delos, Edyta has recently undertaken integrated macroscopic and laboratory analysis of ceramic materials from Tinos. Along with the analysis of raw materials from the island, this work has resulted in the identification and characterization of local pottery production in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Tinian workshops produced a range of ceramic materials, including transport amphoras, cooking wares, table wares, weaving tools, lamps, and building materials. Some of the building materials were occasionally stamped with a symbol depicting trident or an inscription ‘Τηνίων’.

Fig. 2.30.

Dr Edyta Marzec alongside one of the Archaic pithoi from the Cyclades. © BSA.

Combined with the ceramic analysis from EfA’s work at Delos, this study is showing that the Tinians were one of the major suppliers of Delos, especially in cooking pottery, lamps, and building materials. This local data helps to redress the bias which thus far has been on products of long-distance trade with Delos during the Late Hellenistic period.

The Fitch hosted three training courses for 16 PhD students from a range of European universities as part of its participation in PLaCe (Fig. 2.31), a Marie-Curie network that aims to train the next generation of archaeological scientists in the interdisciplinary study of pre-modern plasters and ceramics from the eastern Mediterranean. We offer our thanks to all the contributions from colleagues at the ASCSA Wiener Laboratory and UCL.

Fig. 2.31.

Students on the PLaCe course learning how to process raw materials and make their own clay paste recipes and pots. © BSA.

Archaeological fieldwork (Map 2.1)

Map 2.1.

Sites of BSA study and fieldwork in 2023. 1. Toumba Serron; 2. western Samos; 3. Palaikastro; 4. Chios-Emporio; 5. Keros/Dhaskalio; 6. Lefkandi; 7. Mycenae; 8. Olynthos; 9. Knossos.

This year saw the second season of excavation at the Neolithic village of Toumba Serron (ID19617) on the eastern side of the Strymon valley of Northern Greece. The project is directed by Dimitra Malamidou (Ephorate of Antiquities of Serres), Dr Nicolas Zorzin (National Cheng Kung University), and Dr James Taylor (York).

Excavation work was pre-empted in November (2022) by a final visit to the site by Dr Christian Tzankov (University of Mining and Geology, Bulgaria) and Dr Petar Zidarov (New Bulgarian University) to complete the site’s magnetometry survey. This meant that the summer field season began with a complete set of geophysical data covering the whole limit of the enclosed settlement (Fig. 2.32).

Fig. 2.32.

Overview of the completed magnetometry survey at Toumba Serron. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Serres.

In 2023, excavation and drilling operations continued from the previous season to ground-truth the geophysical survey completed between 2019 and 2022 (Fig. 2.32). Research questions this year were three-fold: 1) to continue to characterize the nature, extent, and preservation of the deposits on the site, and refine the dating of the site; 2) to uncover a complete representative Late Neolithic structure; and 3) to expose and examine the morphology of the large linear feature that appears (from the geophysical survey) to form the outer boundary of the site. With regard to the latter, the team were specifically interested in establishing whether this was a wall, or a ditch and bank structure.

Three trenches were opened this season to address these key questions. The first, measuring 10m × 5m, enlarged one of the areas explored in 2022 (G5_83) that had already yielded evidence of Late Neolithic structural remains just inside a circular enclosure inside the site; two further 20m × 3m trenches were oriented perpendicular, and intended to cross, the outer perimeter structure of the settlement visible in the geophysics outputs.

Excavations in Area 4 (Fig. 2.33) were conducted to examine potential burned buildings and a very large circular enclosure (120m in diameter) within which 30 burned buildings may be enclosed at the top of the Toumba. The trench had previously revealed a series of linear probable structural elements at a depth of 1.2–1.4m, which appeared to correspond to the magnetometry data and were associated predominantly with Late Neolithic I(LNI) pottery. In 2023, the area was reopened and the whole trench brought down by hand to the same level, while the area was expanded five metres to the north (G573) in an attempt to reveal the northern end of this structure, which had expanded into the northern limit of excavation. In the northern extension, a structure quite high in the stratigraphic sequence was located that, despite being badly preserved (due to its location just under the plough zone), also yielded artefacts dating to the LNI period, indicating for the first time that the site may have two phases of LNI activity. Wider exposure of the earlier structure (in G583) indicated the presence of structural postholes and collapsed mud building material linked to a structure at least 2.9m wide (apparently oriented NNE–SSW), which may have been damaged by fire.

Fig. 2.33.

Post-excavation orthophoto of Area 4. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Serres.

In Area 5, a 20m × 3m trench was positioned intersecting the external bounding feature of the settlement and some of the areas inside and outside of this structure at the north of the settlement. Excavations revealed that this was indeed a human-made structure constructed of courses of mudbrick to form a substantial earthen wall, approximately 3.5m wide. To the north of the trench was some tentative evidence of a large negative feature (Fig. 2.34). Cut into the uppermost ‘fills’ of this were two quite tightly flexed burials. These constitute a potentially unprecedented find, as there are no examples of Late Neolithic burials in the upper Strymon valley. Firm dating of these individuals is yet to be confirmed.

Fig. 2.34.

(Top) Pre-excavation orthophoto of burial locations in Area 6; (bottom left) orthophoto of disturbed westernmost burial prior to lifting; (bottom right) orthophoto of better preserved eastern burial prior to lifting. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Serres.

The archaeological interventions at Toumba Serron continue to be extremely productive, confirming the presence of structures linked to two phases of LNI activity on the site. Surface finds and background material also continue to indicate the presence of LNII activity, however no structural evidence has been found in situ for this period, suggesting it may be quite localized, or quite high in the sequence and thereby dramatically affected by modern agricultural practices including deep ploughing. The presence of human remains on the site has the potential to significantly raise the profile and significance of the site, especially if they turn out to be Late Neolithic. Exploration of this area to establish whether there is a pattern of extra-mural burial and cemetery activity here will form a key part of the research agenda for the 2024 field season.

The Emporio Hinterland Project (EHP; ID19562) is a collaboration between the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chios and the BSA led by Prof. Andrew Bevan (UCL) and Dr Olga Vassi (Ephorate of Antiquities of Chios). This project aims to conduct intensive survey of a 10km² portion of southwestern Chios, around the well-known archaeological site of Emporio (Fig. 2.35). EHP’s priority in 2023 was to achieve as wide a coverage as possible of the study area via pedestrian survey and complementary topographic and architectural mapping. The team walked ca. 65,000 individual 10m survey units over an area of 6.6km². Combined with the small 2021 survey (conducted under Covid limitations and a delayed permit), about 75% of the mandated study area has now been covered, including most of the areas of intense human activity. Surveyors recorded counts of ca. 50,000 pottery and ca. 10,000 tile fragments on the landscape surface, and made permanent collections of ca. 5,000 diagnostic potsherds, as well as some knapped stone.

Fig. 2.35.

(a) Map of the EHP survey area, with the 2021 coverage shown in white and the 2023 coverage in red. In yellow outline is the remaining part of the survey that we hope to complete in 2024. The inset photo (b) provides an example of a field team walking in open terrain at 10m spacing. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Chios.

Preliminary results indicate a range of new sites of prehistoric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Late Roman, and Medieval date were discovered, while some other site locations from previous studies were this year re-identified, revisited, and better defined. Only a small amount of prehistoric evidence appears across the whole survey area: at present it is possible to identify only a few small prehistoric scatters and isolated finds beyond the excavated prehistoric levels at Emporio and the rescue excavations at the small site of Phoki (Fig. 2.36).

Fig. 2.36.

Part of a single, small, inland scatter of Late Neolithic and possible Early Bronze Age finds in the Emborio valley: (a) an oval section vertical handle, perhaps from a jug or small jar, (b) a coarseware body sherd, (c) a chert fragment, (d) an obsidian bladelet, and (e) an obsidian nodule. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Chios.

A very limited amount of prehistoric knapped stone, including obsidian, was found (Fig. 2.36). Only one small scatter found in the valley behind the Emporio harbour produced a few obsidian finds (including an obsidian bladelet, with the best comparanda being from later Neolithic levels at Emporio), as well as coarseware potsherds and knapped chert fragments.

This corroborates the pattern observed in the 1950s Emporio excavations, where the later Neolithic and Bronze Age lithic assemblage was not especially impressive (Hood Reference Hood1982). This is a further indication that we should not let the high profile of the Emporio ‘as publication’ mislead us about the relatively modest size and modest resources of the Emporio site, as well as the seeming low density of other Neolithic–Bronze Age activity nearby. This is especially clear if we contrast it with large contemporary sites on the opposite Turkish coast, such as Limantepe. One small scatter found in the valley behind the Emporio harbour produced, for example, a few obsidian finds (including an obsidian bladelet, with the best comparanda being from later Neolithic levels at Emporio) as well as coarseware potsherds and knapped chert fragments.

A further dearth worth highlighting is the very limited surface evidence surviving from the seventh-century BC town and its environs on the hill of Profitis Ilias. In the 1950s the excavators had already noted how eroded the deposits were, explained either as limited pottery deposition during the town’s brief ca. 100-year life or that much of the possible evidence had been eroded downslope. The recording of a standing soil section below Profitis Ilias (on the northern edge of the modern village of Emporio) suggests the same thing, with evidence of stratified material, including a pit and walling visible at some depth below hillwash deposits. In the Emporio valley, a wider geoarchaeological pattern of hilltop erosion and valley bottom build-up obscuring possible prehistoric to Roman land surfaces is visible (but only in a narrow tongue of land).

More straightforward is the very considerable quantity of evidence across all periods from ca. 650 BC onwards, beginning in the Archaic and through to the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Late Roman, Medieval, Ottoman (to confirm), and recent. The Archaic period is, as we might expect from the rich evidence elsewhere on Chios, a peak period, with a lot of coarse- and fine-decorated ceramics, tile, and surviving wall foundations at several sites. There are examples of fancier Archaic surface material (Fig. 2.37), and a terracotta figurine head is one of several pieces of evidence suggesting a small, special site astride the modern road north out of Emporio and up towards the modern mastic museum. This roadway was clearly a key artery in the past, with sites of many periods found alongside it and a long line of heavy-set walling on its east side.

Fig. 2.37.

Two examples of white-slipped, Archaic period finds from the 2023 fieldwalking, both probably of local sixth century BC Chian manufacture: (a) a fragment from a wine jug, (b) the head of a painted female figurine. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Chios.

The team conducted a high quality drone-based survey of major sites in 2023. Imaging was also completed of a new rock art site on the northern slopes of Profitis Ilias (first identified the previous year, prior to our survey) in which the underside of a small rock shelter has been painted in red pigment with a design of multiple circles-with-stems, bordered by parallel lines.

The third season of the West Area of Samos Archaeological Project (ID19618), led by Dr Michael Loy (Cambridge), Dr Anastasia Christophilopoulou (Cambridge), and Prof Naoise MacSweeney (Vienna), focused on intensively exploring the Karlovasi basin in the northwest of Samos island (Fig. 2.38). Five weeks were devoted to fieldwalking, with two weeks of ceramics study and ethnographic work already having taken place earlier in the year.

Fig. 2.38.

The Karlovasi basin viewed from Kastrovouni. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Samos and Ikaria.

Intensive field walking of 50 × 50m grids took place between 28 August and 29 September, covering 4.80km² spread across 833 individual walker tracts (Fig. 2.39). Two fieldwalking strategies were employed throughout the season. First, long test transects were walked in the area bounded by the villages of Hydroussa and Kontakeiika and by the river Fourniotiko, with more intensive walking conducted at those points on the transects indicative of hotspots. Second, areas were walked with complete coverage that had been suggested as possible points of interest through ethnographic survey and local knowledge, in the regions of Xirokampos, Agios Nikolaos, Vryses, and Hydroussa.

Fig. 2.39.

Team members walking tracts in the field, Xirokampos area. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Samos and Ikaria.

In total, 38,919 sherds of pottery were counted, with 2,267 collected as diagnostic feature sherds. The density of pottery scatters was used to identify up to 18 possible areas of interest (AOIs; Fig. 2.40). Many of these areas yielded predominantly Early Byzantine pottery, notably with many fewer transport amphoras but more table wares than had been found in southwest Samos in 2022. Of particular interest for the first millennium BC are the AOIs HK-10 (a trough located between two gentle hills, eroding much Hellenistic and Roman pottery) and Vrys-1 (Hellenistic and Roman material found on a cultivated plain behind the hamlet of Vryses). Worked ashlar blocks, possibly ancient, were located at the AOIs X-1, X-2, and X-3. While preliminary work and ethnographic interviews had suggested that similar structures would be found at Agios Nikolaos, above Xirokampos and at Hydroussa, such features were otherwise absent in the landscape. Few pieces of Archaic and Classical pottery were found this year, for the most part interpreted as those that had been washed down by the Fourniotiko river.

Fig. 2.40.

Map of possible AOIs found (yellow) across the whole survey area (blue). © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Samos and Ikaria.

Barely any transport amphoras that date earlier than the Early Byzantine period were found this year. By contrast, the majority of first millennium sherds were table wares. From Xirokampos, the diagnostics were predominantly Late Roman and Early Byzantine, with a few pieces of black-glaze found right by the coast. At Agios Nikolaos, there were early-modern sherds, with some pieces dating as late as the 20th century. From the Hydroussa-Kontakeiika test transects, most of the ceramics were Roman or Hellenistic, with the Hellenistic material concentrated towards the west side of the region. The southwest of the region (close to the river) also yielded some pieces of Archaic date. Most pieces appear to have been locally manufactured in south Ionia.

In extensive survey this year, 108 points of interest (POIs) were registered, bringing the total number in the database to 288. Most of the POIs registered were either built structures (39, including both walls and partial or whole buildings) or clusters (14, mainly ceramics, but also concentrations of rocks). In addition, there were eight wells registered, and four points noted for terracing features and four for paths. Alarge number of POIs (24) were registered this year in the ‘landscape’ category, mainly noting points of interest undertaken during exploratory hikes through the landscape.

To investigate connectivity between the north and south basins in west Samos, five exploratory hikes were completed between these two areas, taking various routes through the landscape between Marathokampos and Karlovasi. The purpose was two-fold: to explore the navigability of specific routes or pathways between the north and south; and to give an opportunity to conduct extensive survey and to record POIs while moving throughout the landscape. The latter was achieved by recording with tablets and KoBo Collect in the usual way. The former was achieved by recording route data on Strava and exporting as KMZ files for GIS. Systematic acquisition of drone data was completed this season for the Hydroussa–Kontakeiika area, with 30 flights completed to create an orthophoto mosaic of the area.

The collaboration between Prof. Carl Knappett (Toronto), Dr Andrew Shapland (Oxford), Dr Chrysa Sofianou (director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi), and Dr Theotokis Theodoulou (Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities) saw a third campaign of underwater survey and mapping at Palaikastro (ID19619).

The underwater work saw the fuller recording of the Roman shipwreck located two years ago, the mapping of a second Roman shipwreck dating to the second century AD, and the discovery of a further wreck of the eighteenth–nineteenth century AD. In addition, two Roman and four Byzantine anchors were found around Cavo Plako. Their presence testifies to the use of the southern side of the cape as a temporary anchorage, probably during the summer months when the annual winds blew from the north/northwest, as they do today.

Southwest of Cavo Plako, the remains of a second Roman shipwreck were discovered (Wreck 2; Fig. 2.41), along with a cargo of amphoras. Among the fragments, the team also found the neck of a Pseudo-Koan amphora (subtype Laboglia). There were four concentrations of broken amphoras overall, with depth ranges from 6m to 12.5m. To the northeast of the larger of the Grandes islets, the remains of a more recent shipwreck were found (Wreck 4), probably from the nineteenth century AD. In a thin layer of sand, the hull of a wooden boat was located at a depth of 10m, with bronze nails, some with a square cross-section, still standing out. There were aggregates of a decomposed metal load (perhaps iron bars) found deeper in the bedrock. Anewer metal wreck was also found to the north, between the two Grandes islets. These are probably sections from the wreck of Evanthia, which was located in 2021 south of the two islets. Two dives were made on the Roman wreck found in 2021 near the tip of Cavo Plako (Wreck 1) carrying Beltrán II amphora. In 2021 imaging had been completed without artificial lighting, so this year the team returned to image the structure with illumination (Fig. 2.42). The two dives made it possible to locate two more types of amphorae, probably of the Gauloise and Agora M54 types.

Fig. 2.41.

One of the four aggregates from Roman Wreck 2. The almost complete body of the Pseudo-Koan amphora can be made out. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi and Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.

Fig. 2.42.

Partially processed 3D rendering (orthophotomap) of Wreck 1 to the northwest of Cavo Plako. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi and Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.

Finally, the two submerged Minoan buildings in the middle and south of Kouremenos Bay were also revisited, with new 3D images of the structures created. Over the course of five diving days, 5.5km was covered. The dives mostly took place around Cavo Plako, at depths of 15–25m, and on the north side of the Grandes islets, at depths of up to 10m. In addition to the underwater surface survey, documentation dives were made at previously known or newly identified sites on each non-survey dive day.

Geophysical survey was also conducted in 2023, with both ground-penetrating radar and resistivity conducted in the Chiona and Kouremenos bays (Fig. 2.43). Resistivity and radar were used on the coast itself, with underwater resistivity also done up to a depth of ca. 1.5m. The areas surveyed cover a total of 17,250m² of resistivity and 7,091m² of radar.

Fig. 2.43.

Geophysical results from Chiona. © BSA/Hellenic Ministry of Culture: Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi and Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities.

A stretch of beach on Kouremenos was selected for its proximity to the submerged rectangular Minoan building. The results indicate that in the area adjacent to the submerged Minoan building, at the southern extent of the area surveyed, there are no signs of structures. However, at the north side there are some linear features that could be walls. The resistivity results from Chiona do not show any signals that could be related to manmade structures. The radar results from the salt flats are also largely empty, although with some hints of activity at the furthest point inland. The most promising results come from East Beach (Bodalaki). Here the radar results from close to the area of Trench 4 (an area excavated in 2022) show clear signs of structures. The resistivity also hints at the existence of a nearby submerged structure.

Alongside the main programme of fieldwork, a study season was conducted, with a focus on sorting and mending pottery from a substantial floor deposit with collapsed upper storey excavated on the Chiona promontory last year. This LM IIIA context produced more than a dozen storage jars, some broken into many pieces and scattered throughout the deposit, from top to bottom. Pottery from Trench 1 was also strewn and studied, with two main contexts, one of LM IIIA2-B and another of LM IB. Some pottery study also took place on the material from Trench 4, with Andrew Shapland recording over 18,000 sherds in 31 units in a database. Initial results suggest that the stratigraphy described in the 2022 report is borne out by the pottery deposits. Protopalatial (from MM IB) layers underlie the building, which appears to date from the Neopalatial period. No intact floor deposits are apparent, but rather a succession of cleaning and dumping events going into the Postpalatial period. There were very few joins within or between units.

People of the BSA

Sadly, this year we lost Dr Jonathon Musgrave (University of Bristol), who had worked on the human skeletal remains of numerous BSA projects from Myrtos Pyros in Crete to Koukos in Chalkidiki. His work on the occupants of the Vergina tombs with Jon Prag is still of fundamental importance.

In terms of staffing we said farewell to Kate Smith (Fig. 2.44), our London administrator and development officer, who has gone to start a new job and life in Bristol, and we welcomed Dr Flora Michalaki to take up Kate’s former position in London and Catriona Gallagher to the role of Public Engagement and Development Officer in Athens. We also said farewell to Miles Stevenson (Fig. 2.45), our development executive, who has really professionalized the BSA’s fundraising activities.

Fig. 2.44.

Kate Smith at the archaeological site of Delphi. © BSA.

Fig. 2.45.

Miles Stevenson in front of the Parthenon, Athens. © BSA.

As director, Iwould like to say a huge thanks to all the staff at the BSA in Athens, London, and Knossos, to the BSA council and subcommittee members, BSA Friends chair and committee, publications team, supporters, BSA Friends in Greece, and everyone who works behind the scenes in supporting the work of the BSA. Chairman Prof. Roderick Beaton and Deputy Honorary Treasurer Huw Smith generously give their time and energy so cheerfully to the BSA and Iam very grateful to them!