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
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