My time as the CIG Intern

After getting the news that I would be the next intern at the Canadian Institute, I was over the moon (and slightly terrified) to have the chance to live and work in Athens for three months. The internship could not have come at a better time, even if the days before were a blur of packing chaos. I had just wrapped up my final class at Concordia a few weeks earlier. I was still riding the “wait, did I actually graduate?” wave before immediately cramming my entire life into a single suitcase and jumping into an Uber to catch my flight.

It didn’t quite feel real until I walked outside the Eleftherios Venizelos airport and was hit by a wave of heat and the all-too-nostalgic smell of Greece. I was in the right place.  

Most of my time at the Institute was spent doing a little bit of everything, which honestly ended up being one of my favourite parts of the job. Some days I was in the library cataloguing new books or trying to track down elusive LC numbers. Other days I was deep in the Fred Winter archives, comparing decades-old folders to digital spreadsheets and slowly building a searchable system. I also managed all the Institute’s social media, writing posts, editing photos, and discovering my one true passion: Canva. On top of that, I updated the fieldwork pages on the website (24 of them!), rewriting summaries and adding bibliographies so each project had a proper presence. Researching all these Canadian archaeological projects connected to the Institute was a pleasure; I learned so much about the history of Canadian research here and gained a clearer picture of the impact we’ve had in the field.  

Left: Monastiraki Flea Market
Centre: Photography exhibition at The Art Foundation (TAF)
Right: Graduate showcase at the Athens School of Fine Arts 

Before long, I fell into a lovely routine: mornings in the Institute library, afternoons wandering around Athens, and evenings spent chatting with my roommates or popping into whatever event was happening that day. I’m pretty sure I shattered my all-time step count record just aimlessly roaming the city. I will miss my favourite cafés, going running through the National Garden, and the countless trips to museums, flea markets and pop-ups around Athens.

I was also really lucky to be here for several events hosted at the Institute this fall, including an embassy reception, a Canadian film screening, a lecture by Dr. Margaret Aiken, and the opening of the Institute’s exhibition on Kastorian communities in Canada. It was so cool to see the behind-the-scenes work that goes into setting up an exhibition like this and then watch it all come together on opening night. I was happy being able to help out wherever I could, whether it was running last-minute errands, assembling furniture, ironing tablecloths, or greeting guests at the door. It was a very charming mix of responsibilities that made me appreciate just how many tiny moving parts go into making these events work.

Even though I’d been to Greece before, most of my time had been split between Athens and Crete, so I hadn’t seen much of the mainland. One of the best parts of living in Athens for three months is how easy it is to escape the city for little weekend adventures, and I made it to several places that had been sitting on my must-see list forever: Mycenae, Epidaurus, the Meteora monasteries, and the Temple of Aphaia on Aegina. In mid-October, I hopped on a bus to Delphi and ended up solo-hiking the 18km loop to the Corycian Cave. Delphi was absolutely surreal—sunny when I arrived, then suddenly swallowed in this thick, misty fog that made the whole sanctuary feel magical (I could barely see two steps in front of me). Despite nearly getting trapped in a herd of goats with their very angry shepherd dog at the top of Mount Parnassus, this was easily my favourite trip of the entire three months.

Spending the fall in Athens as the Canadian Institute’s intern has been such a privilege, and I genuinely can’t believe how fast it went by. I’m not emotionally prepared to say goodbye to Greece, or its sunsets, and return to -25 snowy Montréal, but here we are. I hope to be back again soon!

Aiko Byrne, Concordia University intern, Fall 2025

Reflections from Athens: A semester of research and discovery

I have been extraordinarily fortunate to spend the last two years in Greece, and I am grateful for the opportunity provided by the Neda and Franz Leipen Fellowship, which has allowed me to continue living in a city and country that I have come to love deeply. In September 2025, I began my stay at the Canadian Institute in Greece with the hope of finishing my PhD thesis over the course of the academic year. The resources and hospitality of the CIG have greatly aided my progress towards this goal.

My doctoral research centers on Greek pottery collected during a field survey of the landscape around the ancient city of Metaponto in southern Italy. In particular, I have developed a revised typology for the important black gloss pottery from the Classical and Hellenistic periods. With ceramic studies, it is essential to have access to a broad variety of comparative material – in this I have been very well served by the libraries of the CIG and other foreign archaeological institutes such as the American and British Schools. I have also been able view material from important collections such as those housed in the National Archaeological Museum and the Athenian Agora. With the help of these resources, I have revised several chapters of my dissertation this semester and submitted a journal article related to my work.

In addition to my own research, this semester has been full of social and cultural enrichment. I have been able to expand my horizons by attending academic and cultural events in Athens. Highlights include a concert at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, movie night at the CIG, and the Greek Religion Seminars at the Swedish Institute in Athens. Such events are also a great opportunity to make connections with other scholars, many of whom have become good friends!

It is a true privilege to live in Athens for a long period. Becoming a regular at local coffee shops, seeing the Acropolis from every vantage point, sampling the best of both Greek and foreign cuisines – these are just a few of the joys that come from calling this city home (at least temporarily!). The city is also a great base for exploring other parts of Attic and Greece, and I have been able to take short trips to incredible sites like the cave of Pan at Daphni. These trips have broadened my knowledge of both ancient Greece and the modern nation.

My first semester at the CIG has flown by in a blur of library work, coffee breaks, and museum visits. I am very happy to have made good progress in my work and developed many personal connections in Athens. I am grateful for the support of the Institute’s staff and the Neda and Franz Leipen Fellowship, which have facilitated this wonderful experience. As I return home for the holidays, I am already looking forward to another great term in 2026!

Καλά Χριστούγεννα και Καλή Χρονιά!
Eric Del Fabbro, Neda and Franz Leipen Fellow 2025-2026

The Abdera Urban Plan Project (AUPP): Results from the 2025 season

In June 2025, the AUPP began its second season with excavations at the site of the Roman period Insula of Houses at Abdera. The project is co-directed by Maria Chrysafi, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Xanthi and Dr. Maria Papaioannou from the Department of Historical Studies at the University of New Brunswick, under the auspices of the Canadian Institute in Greece and the Greek Ministry of Culture. Abdera is a coastal site in northern Greece nestled between the Rhodope mountains and the Aegean Sea with a spectacular view of the island of Thasos. Not far along the coast, to the west, is the site of Argilos where another CIG project was in full swing. Students from different disciplines and institutions – Canada, the US and Greece – convened to put into practice the knowledge they acquired in the classroom and from past experiences at other sites. Cohorts of workers and archaeologists from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Xanthi and professional museum staff offered their expertise and supervision to the group. 

Left: David Pogoson, (Civil Engineering, University of New Brunswick); Centre & Right: Site supervisor, archaeologist Efie Kosmidou, Ephorate of Xanthi (centre): training session

Investigations of the Insula of Houses, begun in 1952 by Dimitrios Lazarides, were later continued by the Greek Archaeological Service. The results from last year’s geophysical survey (2024) conducted by FORTH allowed us to map remains of courtyard and peristyle houses beneath the surface and confirm the presence of another housing block to the east. This year our goal was to locate the road bordering the north side of the insula and the north wall of the Roman period peristyle house, reexamine Lazarides’ trench in the east portico of the house and locate remains of the Hellenistic period. Work at the site was supervised by archaeologist Efie Kosmidou from the Ephorate of Antiquities of Xanthi who was always’ on the go.’  She is to be commended for her expertise and skills in organizing workers, students, trenches, site documentation, and making sure that all ran smoothly.

Above: aerial view of excavations along northern limits of Insula of Houses; Below: work along the north wall of the peristyle house. Students: Left: David Pogoson; Right: Kate Seeger, Michaela Mirkopoulos, Maria Zatusevschi, Mary Lucovich & Maria Georgia Papoutsi

Work commenced along the north side of the peristyle house where a small section of the north wall and an extensive destruction layer came to light. This was a challenging site to dig as the soil was as hard as concrete and work progressed slowly. Consequently, we were unable to reach the foundations of the wall as originally planned. We also excavated, northward, along the east wall of the peristyle house hoping to locate the road delineating the northern limits of the insula. There is much debate about the exact location of the road.

Left: Excavations in the east portico of the Roman period peristyle house. Lazarides’ trench (1954); Right: covering Lazarides’ trench

Excavations in the east portico of the Roman period peristyle house were more productive. We located and excavated Lazarides’ trench which offered a treasure trove of surprises! Work began at a slow pace as the surface soil, like elsewhere, was rock hard but conditions changed, and the team managed to reach the flagstone pavement of an earlier, Hellenistic phase.  This trench served as an excellent case study for documenting earlier excavations practices which intrigued us all.

Washing pottery sherds in the garden of the Abdera Museum. From bottom left to right: “Shy Kitty” (Abdera), Kate Seeger (St. Mary’s University, Halifax,) Maria Zatusevschi (University  of Dallas, Texas), Maria Papoutsi (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), Mary Lucovich (University of Dallas, Texas), Mikaela Mirkopoulos (Toronto & University of Arizona), David Pogoson (University of New Brunswick), Athanasia Koutoula, Sinem Sadik and Chrysanthi Marinou (Demokritus University of Thrace)

Students took part in a multitude of tasks, from digging to sifting through dirt for small finds, keeping diaries and washing pottery in the courtyard of the Abdera Museum in the company of a camera-shy kitty (lower left corner) that arrived daily and on time to watch everyone work. Conservator Katerina Christou was always present to assist with the pottery and surprise us by presenting the small finds after cleaning and restoration: what a difference!  Other educational activities included pottery classes at the museum offered by the co-directors, Maria Chrysafi (EAX) and Maria Papaioannou (UNB).

From Left to Right: Hiking up to Hellenistic fortress; view at the top; Inside Macedonian tomb

Students also engaged in a variety of weekend excursions which included visits to the old city of Xanthi and its museums (especially the Folklore Museum and the most intriguing Museum of Shadows), the nearby Lagoon of Porto Lagos with its two little islands connected by wooden bridges, each with a church (the Monastery of St. Nicholas and the Church of Panaghia Pantanassa), and the famous pink flamingos! A field trip up to the well-preserved Hellenistic fortress at Kalyva on Mt. Rhodope was accompanied by a breath-taking view of the surrounding forests and visit to the well-preserved 2^nd century BC Macedonian tomb. Many thanks to archaeologist Kiki Hatziprokopiou (Ephorate of Xanthi), who although on sabbatical leave offered to conduct the tour. And last but certainly not least, the island of Thasos was also on the list, and a dip in the Aegean was a popular choice!

A visit to the site by his Grace Bishop of Polystylon, k. Sophronios and excavation team

During the excavation season, officials and members of the local community and tourists took a keen interest in our project and came to visit the site and ask questions … which we were not always able to answer! Among those that honoured us with their presence was his Grace Bishop of Polystylon, k. Sophronios, who after touring the Byzantine Acropolis of Abdera, known as Polystylon, made his way down to our site. As an antiquities enthusiast and ardent supporter of archaeological projects he wished us a productive season.

AUPP 2025, Team

We thank all the workers, museum and hostel staff, archaeologists, surveyor Athanasios Deliorides, archaeologist Konstantinos Darakis for aerial photos of the site, and the Director of the Ephorate of Xanthi Maria Chrysafi, for their hard work and hospitality. It would be amiss not to mention our cook ‘kyria Efie’ who with her delicious meals made sure the students were ready for a hard day’s work.

This project would not have been possible without the generous financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Xanthi.

We are looking forward to discussing and analyzing the results of this year’s 2025 activities and planning for the 2026 season. The outcomes will afford a better understanding of the complexity of Greek town planning and provide a more nuanced approach to the study of the built environment and those who shaped it.

Maria Papaioannou, co-director AUPP, University of New Brunswick

Welcome, Eric and Aiko!

The new academic year has begun at the Institute, and we welcome the Institute’s 2025-2026 Neda and Franz Leipen Fellow, Eric Del Fabbro, and Concordia University intern, Aiko Byrne. 

Eric Del Fabbro is a PhD candidate in the Department of Greek and Roman Studies at McMaster University. He is a writing a thesis entitled “Settlement dynamics in the ancient chora of Metaponto: An archaeological investigation into the social, political, and economic history of the countryside.” under the supervision of Dr. Spencer Pope.

The countryside around the ancient polis of Metaponto in southern Italy has been the subject of an intensive field survey aimed at understanding patterns of rural settlement from prehistory to the early modern period. Eric’s project uses the ceramic artifacts collected from the survey to identify the chronology and function of the rural sites. The countryside was occupied by a dense network of farmsteads, necropoleis, and sanctuaries from the Archaic to Hellenistic period. His research seeks to understand how changes in rural settlement over time were connected to broader political and social developments that affected the whole polis. It also investigates questions related to the production and exchange of pottery in the chora.

Thanks to the Neda and Franz Leipen Fellowship, Eric hopes to complete the writing of his dissertation and do supplementary research on Greek Hellenistic pottery. During his nine-month stay in Greece, he will not only have access to a wide array of publications at the Canadian Institute in Greece and other foreign institutes, but he will also be able to study ceramic artifacts in the storerooms of the Athenian Agora and other major collections.

Aiko Byrne has recently completed her BA in Honours Classics: Ancient History and Archaeology at Concordia University in Montreal. She is especially interested in Late Bronze Age urbanism, household archaeology, and the use of digital methods in archaeological research.

Through her internship, Aiko hopes to deepen her understanding of cultural heritage work abroad while supporting meaningful partnerships between Canadian and Greek researchers and institutions.

Jonathan Tomlinson
Assistant Director

À la découverte d’Argilos : la saison de fouilles 2025 / Unearthing Argilos: 2025 Excavation Recap

Plus de soixante étudiants universitaires et d’étudiants de CEGEP venus de partout dans le monde se sont réunis à Asprovalta, dans le nord de la Grèce, du 2 juin au 14 juillet 2025. Les participants ont pris part à des fouilles archéologiques sur le site d’Argilos, tout en réalisant des analyses approfondies des artefacts au musée d’Amphipolis, sous la supervision d’experts chevronnés.

Nos travaux sur le terrain ont été répartis entre deux secteurs dynamiques du site : le plateau Angelopoulos et le secteur commercial Koutloudis.

Over sixty university and CEGEP students from around the globe convened in Asprovalta, Northern Greece, between June 2 and July 14, 2025. Participants engaged in both onsite excavation at Argilos and detailed artifact analysis at the Amphipolis Museum under the guidance of seasoned experts.

We split our fieldwork between two vibrant sectors of the site: the Angelopoulos plateau and the Koutloudis commercial sector.

Plateau Angelopoulos / The Angelopoulos plateau

Découvert en 2022, le plateau Angelopoulos en est à sa troisième saison d’exploration. Après avoir cartographié une rue orientée nord-sud croisant une grande avenue est-ouest, notre objectif sur quatre semaines était de déterminer la fonction d’une vaste structure située au sud de cette avenue. Les fouilles ont confirmé qu’il s’agissait d’une grande maison munie d’une cour intérieure, révélant de nouvelles perspectives sur l’organisation domestique à Argilos. Un immense merci à Maria Clermont-Mignault et Ariane Poulin pour leurs efforts dans ce secteur. 

Discovered in 2022, the Angelopoulos plateau entered its third season of exploration. After mapping a north–south street intersecting a grand east–west avenue, our four-week goal was to unlock the purpose of a large structure just south of that avenue. Excavations confirmed the building served as a large house with an interior courtyard, offering new insights into domestic organization in ancient Argilos. A huge shout-out to Maria Clermont-Mignault and Ariane Poulin for taking charge of this sector with expertise and enthusiasm.

Secteur Koutloudis / Koutloudis sector

Dans le quartier commercial, les efforts se sont concentrés sur la zone est, avec l’ouverture de cinq tranchées dans le bâtiment P et la mobilisation de quatre équipes dans le bâtiment Q. Le but principal était de mettre au jour la dernière couche d’occupation et d’évaluer si elle correspondait à la conquête de la ville par Philippe II de Macédoine en 357 av. J.-C. Chaque salle a révélé divers artefacts et éléments architecturaux intéressants, qui ont tous contribué à reconstituer les morceaux du « casse-tête » Argilos 

In the commercial quarter, efforts concentrated on the eastern zone, with five trenches opened in Building P and four teams operating in Building Q. The primary aim was to expose the final occupation layer and assess whether it corresponded to Philip II of Macedon’s conquest in 357 BCE. Each room produced various interesting artifacts and architectural features, all of which aid in uncovering the pieces of the puzzle called Argilos.

Secteur Koutloudis, deux équipes situées dans P9 et P10 supervisées par Lola Baillet / Koutloudis sector, Rooms P9 and P10 supervised by Lola Baillet

Keven Ouellet et Sophie Crawford présentent leur palmette / Keven Ouellet and Sophie Crawford Presenting their Palmette

Deux projets spéciaux ont également été réalisés dans cette zone. Le premier consistait à dégager la porte est de la ville, que nous croyons être l’entrée principale en raison de sa proximité avec l’agora et la grande avenue menant au cœur de la cité. Le second portait sur l’exploration de deux immenses canaux de drainage qui dirigeaient les eaux vers la mer Égée. Merci à Keven Ouellet, Shelby Vieira, Lola Baillet, Samuel Chaput, Ian House, François Gignac et Niko Vasilikoudis pour leur encadrement des participants et l’organisation du travail dans ce secteur. 

We also undertook two special projects in this area. The first was the uncovering of the Eastern gate of the city, which we believe may be the main entrance of the city, judging by its proximity to the Agora and the large avenue that leads into the city. The second was the exploration of two massive drainage channels that directed water toward the Aegean. Thank you to Keven Ouellet, Shelby Vieira, Lola Baillet, Samuel Chaput, Ian House, François Gignac, and Niko Vasilikoudis for leading and mentoring these trenches.

Sofia Aragones travaille dans le drain près du bâtiment P / Sofia Aragones Working in the Drain near building P

Cette année, nous avons également modernisé notre système de géolocalisation en temps réel, avec l’acquisition d’un nouveau récepteur GNSS avancé, afin de nous aider à préciser les coordonnées précises et les données d’élévation pour chaque artefact et élément architectural d’importance. L’intégration de ces données à notre plateforme SIG nous aide à comprendre la stratigraphie et les relations spatiales du site. Nous remercions tout particulièrement Frédéric Lemyre-Corbeil pour son importante contribution à cet aspect de notre travail. 

This year we also revamped our real-time geolocation system, with the acquisition of a new advanced GNSS receiver to assist us in capturing precise coordinates and elevation data for every artifact and architectural feature. Integrating this data into our GIS platform helps us in understanding the site’s stratigraphy and spatial relationships. Special thanks to Frédéric Lemyre-Corbeil for his important contribution to this aspect of our work.

Frédéric Lemyre-Corbeil : À la recherche des satellites / Frédéric Lemyre-Corbeil: Harnessing the Power of Satellites

Le musée d’Amphipolis a joué un rôle central dans le travail post-fouille. Les étudiants y ont lavé, identifié, catalogué et interprété les artefacts, contribuant directement à la reconstitution du récit d’Argilos. Saskia Deluy et Laure Sarah Ethier Boutet ont dirigé ce volet, formant les étudiants à toutes les étapes du traitement des objets, complétant ainsi le cycle de fouille pour les recherches futures. Nous avons également reçu la visite de notre zooarchéologue, Angelos Gkotsinas, qui a, encore cette année, captivé l’auditoire avec un cours de zooarchéologie portant sur l’économie pastorale et l’exploitation animale à Argilos. 

The Amphipolis facility served as a critical center for post-excavation work. Students undertook the washing, identification, cataloguing, and preliminary interpretation of artifacts, thereby contributing directly to the narrative of Ancient Argilos. Saskia Deluy and Laure Sarah Ethier Boutet led this project, teaching students how to handle, identify and catalogue these artifacts, completing the excavation process for future studies. On top of this, as a special guest, Angelos Gkotsinas engrossed the students with a zooarchaeology course on pastoral economies and animal exploitation at Argilos.

Nettoyage de poterie au musée par des étudiants engagés / Students Engaged in Pottery Washing at the Museum

Pierre-Alexandre Audet présente fièrement un os / Pierre-Alexandre Audet showing off a Bone

À l’arrière du musée, deux professionnels ont soutenu nos travaux par leur savoir-faire. Christos Kountouras, notre dessinateur technique, a produit une documentation visuelle précise et détaillée de chaque objet. De son côté, la conservatrice Dimitra Kampouri a pris en charge les artefacts spécialisés, veillant à leur stabilisation, leur restauration et leur préservation pour les générations à venir. Nos remerciements les plus chaleureux à la directrice de l’Éphorie, Dimitra Malamidou, et au gardien-chef Giorgos Galios, ainsi qu’à toute l’équipe du musée pour leur accueil et leur soutien indéfectible. 

At the back of the museum, two professionals were supporting us through their expertise. Christos Kountouras, our draftsman, produced precise and detailed visual documentation of each object in the form of technical drawings. On the other side was conservator Dimitra Kampouri, who collected all specialized artifacts and ensured that they were stabilized, reassembled, and preserved for centuries to come. Heartfelt thanks to director Dimitra Malamidou, head guard Giorgos Galios, and the entire museum staff for their warmth and support.

Shelby Vieira présente à Pella / Shelby Vieira Presenting at Pella

Pour équilibrer le travail rigoureux avec des moments de détente, nous avons organisé des excursions vers divers sites et musées à Pella, Vergina, Thessalonique, Stagire, Thasos et Philippes. Chaque visite a enrichi la compréhension historique des étudiants et leur a permis de faire des liens concrets avec leurs découvertes sur le terrain. 

To balance hard work with inspiration, we organized weekly field trips to various sites and museums at Pella, Vergina, Thessaloniki, Stagira, Thasos, and Philippi. Each visit deepened our students’ appreciation for the region’s layered history and helped them identify their findings and look forward to what they may find in the future.

Keven Ouellet présente la Maison hellénistique à Argilos / Keven Ouellet presenting the Hellenistic Mansion at Argilos

La 33e saison de fouilles à Argilos a permis des découvertes majeures, a affiné nos méthodes de travail et a suscité de nouvelles questions de recherche. Merci encore à tous les étudiants, membres du corps professoral et du personnel pour leur dévouement. Grâce à leurs efforts collectifs, les prochaines campagnes s’annoncent prometteuses et Argilos continuera de révéler les secrets du monde antique. 

The 33rd season of excavation at Argilos yielded significant discoveries, refined our methodological approaches, and generated new research questions. Thank you once again to all students, faculty, and staff for their dedication, as their collective efforts lay the groundwork for forthcoming campaigns, ensuring that Argilos will continue to yield insights into the ancient world.

L’équipe Argilos 2025 / The Argilos 2025 Team

2025 Study Season at Ancient Eleon in Eastern Boeotia

In 2025, the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project worked for five weeks (May 18 to June 21), focused on studying the excavated remains from ancient Eleon and survey material from the surrounding region. We have been working in the modern town of Arma since 2007, as a synergasia of the Canadian Institute in Greece and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia.

While it is very exciting to excavate and uncover new material, it is also extremely important to have time to go back to study the results of our field work and to bring our research toward publication. This is what is normally done in an archaeological study season, and this was our work in 2025.

Not only did we make progress toward the publication of our excavated and survey research, but we also used the study season as an opportunity for focused training as part of the University of Victoria’s Archaeological Field Work practicum. Ten students enrolled in the course (GRS 495) for academic credit and participated in all aspects of the research project.  One aspect of the project that was the focus of our study this summer were the tombs excavated in the Blue Stone Structure. This burial complex dates to the Early Mycenaean period (ca. 1700-1600) and contains multiple burials at least 50 individuals. The goals of our study season were to examine each tomb individually, to assess aspects that might be unique to specific tombs, and what elements had shared characteristics. To accomplish this, we assigned small groups of students specific tombs and they were tasked with going through the excavation records (notebooks, photographs, databases, drawings, etc.) to write short reports on each tomb. They also presented their work to each other in an afternoon session which provided an opportunity for the students to hear from each other and what they each had found. It was a very good learning process and also resulted in summary material that is very useful to the project and our goals of publishing the tomb assemblages.

In addition, students assisted graduate students and post-doctoral team members on their research. One project was focused on the many Archaic figurines that we have excavated. The formal analysis of the figurines was directed by Dr. Haley Bertram who has worked with the EBAP team since 2011. This work was coordinated with petrographic research directed by Dr. Janelle Sadarananda (Skidmore College) to look at the various types of clays that were used for ceramics and figurines.

Professor and project co-director Trevor Van Damme (University of Warwick) directed ceramic studies in our apothiki (storage and research area). Trevor oversaw research focused on the Archaic levels at Eleon and on the earlier Mycenaean material. Students were engaged in the research by cleaning, sorting, weighing and describing the ceramic remains. They would look for joins and if enough were found from different sherd pieces, this material could be sent to our conservator, Nefeli Theocharous for mending. Once a significant amount of a pot was restored, the vessel could be drawn and photographed.

This painstaking work was very rewarding for the students who were able to see the many different aspects of an archaeological project that go beyond excavation.

In addition, the analysis of the human remains excavated from the Blue Stone Structure was directed by Professor Nicholas Herrmann of Texas State University. Most tombs contained multiple interments, so there is typically one articulated individual while the remaining individuals have been moved to the periphery of the tomb or redeposited in subfloor pits. These remains are commingled and fragmented and the analysis is very meticulous. The goals are to document, inventory, and photograph (when necessary) the skeletal material as well as resolve commingled deposits. A long-time EBAP team member, Krysten Cruz, is nearing completion of her dissertation research focused on understanding biological relationships among those buried within the BSS tombs. Her work includes information from select studies of ancient DNA, proteomics, and isotopes, that amplify the results of her study of patterns of biological relatedness evident through direct measurement of physical features in the skeletal remains. . For example, Krysten looks at detailed measurements of many hundreds of teeth from the BSS complex and can make suggestions about their relatedness as well as aspects of individuals’ health and lived experience based on their dentition.

Our study season was not confined to the apothiki. The final aspect of the work worth noting was the field study we conducted focused on the excavated remains of the fortification system around the lower town of Eleon. In 2024, we uncovered a substantial segment of walls connected by towers to the west and south of the Eleon acropolis. This was the area that faced the major Boeotian city of Thebes. The walls we uncovered date to the late Archaic period and seem to have only been in use for a short period of time (perhaps a few decades). Additional elements of the wall are extant at surface level in the fields around the acropolis and we were able to record their alignment with the parts we previously excavated.

Overall, it was a very good season for us at Eleon, resulting in progress toward the final publication of our previously excavated finds, and revealing interesting material for future research projects at the site. We continue to be grateful to the CIG and Jonathan Tomlinson for the helpful advice they have provided us with for nearly 20 years.

Brendan Burke, co-director, EBAP

First Season of the Southern Mani Archaeological Project!

In May 2025, under the auspices of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia, with a permit through the Canadian Institute in Greece, the Southern Mani Archaeological Project (SMAP) initiated pedestrian field survey in the area of Porto Kagio on the southwestern coast of the Mani peninsula. SMAP is directed by Drs. Chelsea Gardner (Acadia University), William Parkinson (Field Museum / University of Illinois at Chicago), and Rebecca Seifried (University of Massachusetts-Amherst), and during this initial pilot season we recorded material dating from the prehistoric period through the time of Turkish occupation, and mapped the Achilleio fortification. The following is a blog post written by undergraduate student research assistants Cameron Barnard, Bella MacQuarrie, and Christos Zigoumis.
– Chelsea Gardner and Bill Parkinson

Introduction

In May, a team of 15 gathered in Mani, Lakonia – in the southern Peloponnese – for the first season of the Southern Mani Archaeological Project. With funding from SSHRC, the goal of SMAP is to better understand the southern Mani peninsula’s history, landscape use, and resource exploitation as well as the relationship between southern Lakonia and the wider eastern Mediterranean region from a diachronic perspective. The team was made up of the three project directors; Dr. Mo Snyder as geological field supervisor and their student, Bella MacQuarrie; a lab supervisor; two photogrammetrists; four ethnographers led by Dr. Manos Spyridakis from the National and Kapadostrian University in Athens; and three student assistants. The students engaged in pedestrian survey and collection of a 0.5 km² area of interest (see Figure 1), discovering pottery sherds from the Neolithic up to the early modern period. At the same time, Dr. Snyder and Bella conducted daily fieldwork as part of an ongoing project to map the geology of the Mani Peninsula.

Figure 1. Image of study area of interest.

Fieldwork

The day began at 8:15AM, when everyone would jump in the cars to drive to site. Once there, a quick briefing would occur and we would go over the location(s) being surveyed and conduct a daily safety check. With pedestrian survey, every day was different! One day, it would be easy walking across rocky beaches or overgrown terraces, and others it would be breaking through thorn bushes and large spiderwebs down the side of the mountain (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Dr. Gardner in the field.

At times, the visibility was so poor we could not see the ground at all. Each unit surveyed was unlike the one before it. When ceramics or tile were found, they were counted, weighed, and bagged (see Figure 3). Backpacks would grow heavier throughout the day as ceramic samples were collected. When the fieldwork was over, the team would return to the hotel / base of operations, where the collected ceramics were washed and left to dry. Then the lab manager, Dr. Shannon Dunn (Bryn Mawr College), would sort and group the ceramics in each unit (based on time period, material, shape, etc.) and they would be entered into the database. The students would then photograph each group and upload the details on the database as well. Other skills the students learned during the season in Greece include georeferencing, ceramic analysis, and artifact cataloguing.

Figure 3. Team members (including Dr. Gardner and Cameron Barnard) counting sherds for the unit.

Results

The amount of material discovered far exceeded expectations, with the total count reaching approximately 1,200 individual sherds. Although many ceramic fragments were small and non-diagnostic, other pieces, such as rims, bases, handles, and glazed pieces can be diagnostic of different chronological periods (see Figures 4-6). The majority of these diagnostic pieces were found in concentrated areas, such as around buildings, above the beach, and under over-hanging rocks. This pattern possibly suggests that these ceramics had washed down from higher up the mountain, where buildings or a settlement could have been. This concentration of material is even more impressive since only ~10% of the 0.5 km² area of interest was surveyable; the rest of the landscape was inaccessible due to steep hills, dilapidated terraces, and dense thorny bushes. The team will head back to Greece later this year to review the ceramics with experts who study different time periods.

Figure 4. Diagnostic ceramic pieces, such as rims and bases.

Figure 5. Ceramic handles.

Figure 6. More diagnostic ceramic pieces.

Structures

The survey area proved not only to be rich in artefacts, but also in the number of structures and anomalies we were able to rediscover. One day, we found a rock-cut cistern (Figure 7) – which may be ancient – as Medieval cisterns are usually constructed of stone blocks rather than rock-cut, which was a surprise and further attests to continued human occupation of this area. Our LiDAR map showed this feature, but we had initially assumed it to be a sinkhole, so avoided it. It was only when the geological team approached it (thinking it was a sinkhole) that we made this discovery, showing that it is important to have many specialists on one team for the study of a specific area.

Figure 7. Rock cut cistern with view of the landscape and sea, immediately behind is the rock wall.

Near this cistern we also found graffiti cut into the exposed bedrock which consists of names, symbols, and dates (mostly 1950’s) which was convenient to us who wanted to know how old the graffiti was (Figure 8).

Figure 8. One graffito of a Greek last name.

Further down between two remas (dried riverbeds) appeared to be a large fortification wall with terraced walls inside gradually going down in elevation (Figure 9). The terraced walls were quite ordinary as most of the survey area had them, even if they were overgrown. But the wall was completely out of the ordinary. It was constructed of relatively small stones with no mortar or binding material in between and remained to a height of about four or five feet. It may have stood taller at one point as there was rockfall in most places, which might suggest that the wall may have at one point in history served a defensive purpose. But that doesn’t align with the shoddy construction and lack of evidence found within the walls, but there could be artefacts buried beneath the later terraced walls.

Figure 9. The rock wall.

A few days after this, Dr. Rebecca Seifried and student assistant, Christos Zigoumis, had the opportunity to explore a ruined structure which the locals referred to as “Frankoklisi” (Frankish church). This toponym excited the both of them since the Frankish presence in the Peloponnese lasted a comparatively short amount of time during which the ruling Frankish class constructed characteristically mediaeval western churches in such a foreign land. The Frankish presence in Mani is poorly understood and few remains of them are even known to exist here. As the two came upon “Frankoklisi” and scaled the remains of its walls, they quickly came to the realization that it was certainly not Frankish, or even Byzantine (Figure 10). They were unable to find an apse, which is an integral part in all churches of this period, and the entrance way was about nine feet wide; absurd for the 12×12 feet dimensions of the whole structure. Dr. Seifried suggested that it might have been a mosque or hammam, due to the Achilio fortress lying just up the mountain. This was an Ottoman construction and the easiest way to get from the sea to Achilio might have been to dock a ship at the beach where “Frankoklisi” is situated, where a path to the fortress may have been.

Figure 10. Birds eye view of ”Frankoklisi”.

Geology

The Geological Survey permit covers the archaeological site as well as the rest of the Mani Peninsula, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the area’s geological history.  Daily fieldwork involved traversing the landscape to map bedrock exposures, documenting structural features, collecting rock samples, and interpreting the site’s geological history through both in-field observations and post-survey data analysis (Figure 11, 12).

Lithological samples were taken of each representative mappable unit; these samples will be processed in the Acadia Petrographic lab and analyzed. Lithological samples will either be cut hand-samples or made to thin sections, offering further classification and a more comprehensive guide to understanding the geology of the Mani Peninsula.

The outcome of this work is to create a detailed 1:50,000 bedrock geology map of the Mani Peninsula, as the most recent map of the area is from 1984. Although the previous map is comprehensive, it does not trace key marker metalimestone beds that are of interest for archaeological research on the peninsula.

Figure 11. Bella standing amongst an impressive coastal outcrop.

Figure 12. Dr. Snyder standing on top of a rugged rock face.

Cameron Barnard, Acadia University, BA Honours Classics and Biology (2025); University of Waterloo MA Anthropology (2027 anticipated).
Bella MacQuarrie, Acadia University, BSC Honours Geoscience (2025), MSC Geology (2027 anticipated).
Christos Zigoumis, Carleton University, BA Honours Greek and Roman Studies (2027 anticipated).