The Blog has Moved!

Significant progress was made in the past year to improve and to extend the Institute’s electronic footprint. The next step is to consolidate all of our communications on one platform. Thus, as of this blog all future blogs will be found at the CIG website (www.cig-icg.gr) under the heading “Blog”, no less!

We will retain the address cig-icg.blogspot.gr as the Archive of the CIG Blog which started in January, 2011 through today’s “final” blog. The link on this blog will take you to the CIG website.

In the new location I look forward to continue sharing with our readers and supporters news relating to the Institute, announcements of lectures/events at CIG and in Athens, comments on archaeological topics relating to Greece, guest blogs from our fieldwork projects and images from the Frederick Winter B/W Negative Collection.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Yeia Sou Maria! Revamped CIG Website Live

With visions of Eurovision’s past dancing in our heads, we say “Yeia sou Maria!” to our new undergraduate intern from York University. Maria Tsiopelas arrived two weeks ago and she already has catalogued a large stack of new monographs and books as well as helped out with two events and receptions (the Friends Association art exhibit opening and the Annual Open Meeting). With two and a half months to go in her internship she will turn her attention now to scanning the documents in Greek from our Archives relating to past CIG archaeological projects.

Maria is a third-year undergraduate student currently pursuing a specialized honours degree in English. Her studies have influenced her interest in literary works, specifically the Classics. Her language skills in English, Greek and French give her a range of study materials. Maria’s study of classical literary works include drama, Epic, and Lyric poetry of Ancient Greece. This has led to her research on Ancient Greek Mythology, early Helladic Eras, and literature of the Heroic Age. Maria’s Greek heritage has placed a special interest in Minoan and Spartan history amongst her literary studies. This interest not only lies in the literary form and its representation of Greek culture and history, but also how it is portrayed through visual arts, and dance. Maria is very excited about this internship opportunity with the Canadian Institute in Greece. Upon the completion of her honours degree, Maria intends to continue her university studies to obtain her M.A. in Education.

When you come to the opening of Chris Stewart’s art exhibition on Wednesday, June 4th you will have another chance to meet her. Of course, you can always stop by the Institute before then and say hello to her.

The CIG website has been revamped!
The addition of the CIG Portal to the Past to the Institute’s electronic presence has permitted us to re-design and re-focus the Institute’s website. With the diligent work of our Neda and Franz Leipen Fellow, Myles Chykerda, and the sage advice of our ICT volunteer Chris Stewart, the revamped CIG website (www.cig-icg.gr) is now available for your use. By the end of September all of the slated improvements will have been made.

We believe that it will be easier to navigate the website, which will contain more useful information concerning the Institute and its activities. You can keep track of our upcoming Institute events and see those that you missed. The Events Calendar will also list those related to CIG in Canada and to archaeological/historical-themed events organized by the other foreign archaeological schools and institutes as well as by the Ministry of Culture and by the University of Athens. The updated catalogue of our Library can be searched from the website as well. Please take advantage of our extended Library hours through the end of July to use the books and monographs that you’ve found in the Catalogue.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Γειά σας, Αθήνα καλή

Tanner and his Waterloo roommate, Matt, in front of the Propylaia

I would not call myself an archaeologist by any stretch of the imagination. I can’t even say that I’ve taken a class dedicated to archaeology back home – my interest in the ancient world has always been rooted in stories rather than objects, which has translated to a focus on language and literature rather than art and archaeology. I am admittedly a library historian, more engrossed by books and words than by landscapes and digs. Before my arrival in Athens, my concept of archaeology was primitive to say the least. You just dig things out of the ground and catalogue and analyze them, right?

Hardly. It didn’t take very long for me to realize the depth and breadth of the field of archaeology. While scanning and producing PDF versions of some articles written by the Canadian Institute’s Director, Dr. David Rupp, I was exposed to the gritty details of archaeological analysis as described by a career archaeologist. I quickly learned that there was so much more to it than systematic digging. Like many areas of Classical study, archaeology is a hugely interdisciplinary field which not only draws on knowledge of ancient history, but also relies heavily on modern scientific advances to produce some truly remarkable results. I have been hugely impressed by the critical, multi-faceted approach to the remains of the ancient world which I have seen here in Athens, and I have discovered that my idea of archaeology was still weighed down by thoughts of figures like Schliemann.

These rules were not enforced... welcome to Greece!

My time here has also given me a sense of how much the library historians of the world owe to those who pursue archaeology. This is certainly exemplified by the lecture given by the Canadian Institute’s Fellow, Myles Chykerda, in which he presented his attempts at reconstructing the structure of the Thessalian political landscape on the basis of the physical landscape’s archaeological record. My personal interest in Greek (and Latin) inscriptions brought me to the Epigraphic Museum, where I was blown away by the incredible volume of preserved inscriptions and by the massive size of some like the 5th-century Athenian tribute lists. Epigraphists may be responsible for studying and deciphering the characters which are sometimes nearly illegible (and other times entirely so), but they would have nothing to study at all if it were not for the dedicated efforts of archaeologists who are even today still discovering artifacts from antiquity.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus in all its colossal glory

Besides the value of such artifacts for historians, the remains of ancient Athens which survive in the modern city obviously have an immense cultural impact as well. There is no experience which quite compares to standing at the Temple of Olympian Zeus and craning your neck to see the full height of the columns, imagining the building in its colossal ancient glory; or to standing atop the Acropolis and looking down at the Agora where millions of people have walked over thousands of years. For a North American, that kind of feeling simply can’t be found at home. For a historian, reading about ancient events is one thing – but going to the places where those events occurred and being able to physically contextualize the space which is described allows you to connect with the history in a way which can’t be duplicated. I know that the next time I’m reading about the history of the ancient city of Athens, it will be that much more vivid, even if it is about something as mundane as the length of the long wall between Athens and Piraeus during the Peloponnesian War. I had read about that space in Thucydides, and thanks to the sweeping (albeit windy) view from our Assistant Director’s rooftop balcony, I was able to actually see where that wall would have been and how far it would have stretched. Polybius was adamant that any true historian must be able to physically engage with the environments being described, and although the task of the modern historian is not really the same as the task which Polybius undertook, his words still hold true.

The cramped hustle and bustle of Athens

Of course, my time here in Athens was not entirely about connecting with its history. Having been raised in the suburbs with swimming pools and well-maintained lawns, cities have always seemed special to me. I enjoy the lived-in feeling of a large city, where dirt and noise are simply facts of life, and Athens certainly has its fair share of those. It is truly a fascinating city, where your environment can completely change with a short walk in any direction. Monastiraki and the area around the Acropolis provide a vacation-y, tourist feeling; Syntagma is all class with the beautiful Parliament building, polished stone and night fountain (and of course McDonald’s, a by-word for class around the world); yet leaving the city centre and experiencing the more Greek neighbourhoods like Ilissia (home of the Canadian Institute) provides a unique, if sometimes overwhelming, experience as well. Happily I only found myself lost twice in my three months here, although I owe thanks to my arsenal of city maps for that good fortune. Even when lost, however, I drank in the cultural gap between Greece and North America: whereas North America is the land of chain restaurants and super-stores, so many shops and businesses have a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ feel to them which somehow makes the experience more personal, despite a language barrier. And thankfully, that language barrier began to fall as I spent more time here – I still find that most Greeks speak impossibly fast and I struggle to even discern one word from another, but after a little study I have at least been able to go to a store or taverna and communicate in Greek, however crudely… and I like to think that I’ve given lots of Greeks an opportunity to practice their English, as well.

It’s hard to believe how quickly these three months went by. I’ve met a lot of extremely warm and welcoming people from the international community here; I’ve thrown a lot of darts at the Red Lion, though I can’t say that I was any more accurate in my final week than I was in my first; and I’ve been able to cross a few things off my bucket list. Despite the fact that I start my MA program in September and am committed to many long hours in the library and in front of a computer, I would love to be able to return to Athens sometime in the not-too-distant future. I have to thank everyone at the Canadian Institute – Jonathan, David, Myles, and Chris – for making my stay here so enjoyable, and I hope to see you all again soon!

Tanner Rudnick,
University of Waterloo

Pascha Recess; Updated Catalogue of the Books and Monographs in the CIG Library; Origins of the modern conservation of ancient bronzes

Greek Orthodox Pascha is fast approaching! For this major Christian holiday in this country we will take our annual Pascha Recess for two weeks. Thus, from today, Friday, the 11th, at 13:00, until Monday, April 28th, at 09:00, the Institute will be closed.

For those rabid blog junkies among you, next Friday, Megali Paraskevi, you can read Tanner’s guest blog on what he did here in Athens while he was our undergraduate intern for three months.

Some new acquisitions in the CIG library

What’s happening in the Library of the Institute
The Library is one of the key components that define the Institute. Its purpose is to serve the research needs of our members while in Athens and of other scholars, especially our Greek colleagues. As the Institute is only in its fourth decade the holdings of the Library cannot rival those of the older foreign schools and institutes of archaeology in Athens. The donation over the years of the personal libraries of Canadian scholars has enabled us to fill some of the gaps that we have. Exchanges with other institutions and donations by authors help to give us abreast of current publications over a broad range of subjects. Rather than attempt to duplicate the other libraries across the board, however, we have adopted a strategy to concentrate on purchasing materials in selected areas that we believe are unrepresented in the holdings of other libraries, such as archaeological theory and method, landscape archaeology, computer applications in archaeology, biological anthropology, ceramic analysis, faunal analysis, stone tool studies, and GIS. In addition, there are topics that our members have traditionally conducted research in, such as Boeotian and Euboean studies as well as Byzantine art and archaeology.

An opportunity presented itself recently to purchase volumes that we did not have in the Acta Instituti Atheniensis Regni Sueciae series , the Acta Instituti Athenisis Regni Sueciae series, the Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and the Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology Pocket books. These volumes have added depth especially to our Aegean Bronze Age holdings. Further, a gift of a number of volumes on a wide variety of topics, including reference works, was made by an American friend of the Institute who was returning to the States. These are the ways that a library’s holdings grow over time.

All of these acquisitions over the past year have been added to the updated Catalogue of Books and Monographs that is accessible from our website under “Facilities: Library”. Please check our holdings and then come to visit the Library to use what interests you!

Othon A. Rousopoulos

The origins of the conservation of ancient bronzes in Greece
Archaeometry or the use of various chemical and/or physical analysis techniques of archaeological remains or contexts is considered by many to be a relatively recent development in archaeological research. This is not the case, however. In the later 19th century a few scientists were interested in determining the chemical composition of ancient objects as well the processes for cleaning and preserving them. One such pioneer was a Greek professor of chemistry at the University of Athens, Dr. Othon Rousopoulos (1856-1922). In 1892 he invented the electrolysis method for cleaning bronzes. Among other activities he worked on cleaning the bronze objects recovered from the Antikythera shipwreck which are in the National Archaeological Museum.

Bbronze ephebe from the Antikythera shipwreck, National Museum, Athens

Georgiana Moraitou, department head of conservation for the 2nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the Hellenic Archaeological Service, will discuss Dr. Rousopoulos’ life and work in her lecture in Greek entitled, “Ο Όθων Α. Ρουσόπουλος και η συντήρηση των χάλκινων αρχαιοτήτων στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Αθήνας στις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα. Φως μέσα από τα τεκμήρια του Ιστορικού Αρχείου της Αρχαιολογικής Υπηρεσίας”. It is based on her research in the archival material held by the Historical Archive.

This lecture will take place on Monday, April 14th at 18:30 at the Historical Archive at Psaromylingou 22 on the cusp of Kerameikos and Psyrri. It is part of the 2013/13 lecture series of the Syllogos Filon tou Istorikou Archeiou tis Archaiologikis Yperesias.

Kalo Pascha!
David Rupp
Director

My Three-Month Internship at CIG - a Great Step in the Right Direction

When I first stepped off the plane and saw Athens, really saw it, (meaning, being in the city for more than a couple hours as I transferred planes), I felt apprehension, nervousness, but most of all, excitement. Becoming an intern for the Canadian Institute in Greece was a pretty big first step in my life. I had never lived away from my parents, and now the Atlantic Ocean separated me and everyone else I knew. I spoke the language in the sense that I could say “yiasoo” or “kalimera”, and then just smile blankly as I was dragged into a conversation. On top of that, I had a full-time student’s course load along with my actual work for the Institute. It would be a lot to handle, but thanks to my co-workers at the Institute, Dr. Jonathan Tomlinson, Dr. David Rupp, Chris Stewart and Myles Chykerda, I was able to make it through the internship with lessons, friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.

Athens can be an intimidating city, especially to a newcomer. It’s often loud, with various noises like backfiring motorcycles, screeching cats, and weekend partiers’ celebrations lasting long into the night. The twisty and turning streets can lead one who has a bad sense of direction (such as me) hours away from their destination with just one wrong step. Several city maps torn in frustration got used up that way! Finally, the number of people crowding Athens can be overwhelming. The first time I went to Syntagma square, for instance, I was half-tempted to buy some sort of wooden implement from one of those touristy olive wood shops just so I could make myself some room!

But that’s the thing about Athens; there’s really nothing like it in the rest of the world, where the ancient is so well incorporated with the new. The fact that it is a bustling, sprawling city in the tradition of its past is a part of its charm. Ruins peek out of the corner of your eyes whenever you go for a walk. Metro stations feature artefacts in glass cases, compelling you to stop and admire as you wait for the train. The food and music of tavernas serenade your senses, emanating with the knowledge that they have rightly lasted hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Athens is a cosmopolitan city, whose history draws visitors come from all corners of the globe; no wonder so many archaeologists congregate here, to be in a place so well connected to the past. I feel so lucky to have been a part of that community, even if it was just for a few months.

I have learned a lot by being an intern at the Canadian Institute in Greece. Just being here, rooming in the hostel and going to various lectures, I was exposed to so many archaeologists, and the current trends in Mediterranean archaeology. I enjoyed learning about topics like the celebrant reality of the Athenian Dionysia or the settlement patterns of post-146 BCE Corinth. The libraries here in Athens, from the Canadian to the American and British ones, have exposed me to so many books that I want to read when I have the chance. Even some in Greek, as being here has really helped in learning to decipher those “omegas” and “alphas”. I also really enjoyed socializing at the many events that the CIG put on, such as the Portal to the Past Launch or Canadian music recitals.

As for my work at the Canadian Institute, it has really prepared me for the workforce. I have never had a job before coming over to Athens, with the justification that I needed to concentrate on my studies… I found I was really selling myself short! I’m much better at scheduling my days now, when it comes to figuring out a balance between work and school. I spent at least 25 hours a week at the institute, working in my own office, doing various jobs, to help the institute run from day to day.

Some of the things I did were cataloguing, accessioning books for the CIG library, and scanning photographic negatives—skills that I can take with me when I go back home. At the beginning of the year, I accessioned hundreds of book, helped deliver packages and various other office jobs. Later on, I helped with data entry for the CIG’s digital database, the Portal, and also helped create a catalogue for David’s slide collection. Domestic jobs, though no less important, were doing the weekly laundry, welcoming new guests to the hostel, and catering for the events that the CIG put on—hopefully my sandwiches weren’t too bad!

When I wasn’t working in the Insitute, I was doing online classes with Wilfrid Laurier’s distance education program. I’m currently in my third year of undergrad, but I felt I could handle the workload, and it seems to be working well so far! Being here has also given me some ides as to where I want to go in my career as an archaeologist—I know for sure, for example, that I want to go to graduate school. Of course, I always made sure to make some time to explore the city as well, after my schoolwork was done. After all, I was taking a Greek history course, and what better way to study than by actually being in Athens itself?

During my stay with the Institute, I visited various archaeological sites and museums across Athens. This included the likes of the Keramikos, the Agora, the National Museum, and of course, the Acropolis. I really enjoyed this, since I got to see places and artefacts I had only seen in my textbooks. Things like the death mask of Agamemnon, the Antikythera device, and the Diplyon Vase. Places like Hadrian’s Arch, and of course, the Parthenon. The Acropolis in particular was a revelation to me, being able to experience what it must have been like to visit all those temples back in the Classical period. I’ve never had so much fun climbing up the side of a mountain before!

All in all, I’m leaving Athens with the sense that this internship really changed me. I no longer feel nervous or apprehensive about new experiences; I’ve lived away from home, made friends within the local population, and have done much more than I thought I could accomplish. From now on, when it comes to new experiences that come my way, I will face them head on, with the hopes that they will be just as enlightening as my time here in Athens at the Canadian Institute in Greece.

Sophie Goldberg,
Wilfrid Laurier University

The Institute is Back! And Welcome to Our New Fellow

As of Tuesday, September 3rd the Institute has been operating at full tilt for the past two weeks after an interesting and restful recess for all involved. I would like to inform you that the Library will resume its extended hours beginning the week of September 23rd. That is, one can use the resources of our Library from 09:00 to 13:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays it will be open until 18:00. We have new books and monographs in our areas of specialization that will start to be shelved shortly. We look forward to assisting you in your research! 

The New Neda and Franz Leipen Fellow
Even before the doors of the Institute reopened for the 2013/14 academic year our new Neda and Franz Leipen Fellow, Myles Chykerda, was waiting, eager to start the year. Myles is not an unknown quantity to the CIG environment. Besides digging for many years at Kastro Kallithea in Thessaly he also gave an excellent paper at last year’s Colloquium in the memory of Prof. Frederick E. Winter.

Myles joins the CIG team fresh from two years of residency as a Ph.D. student at UCLA, where he studies under the supervision of John K. Papadopoulos and Sarah P. Morris at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. A born and raised Albertan, he completed both a BA in Anthropology and Classics (2004) and MA in Humanities Computing and Classical Archaeology (2010) at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Prof. Margriet Haagsma. His field experience includes a summer working on a bison procurement site in Alberta, two seasons working on a Roman villa at Cortona in southern Italy, and eight years on the Greek-Canadian synergasia project at Kastro Kallithea where he has led survey teams, supervised trenches, and managed Total Station/GIS procedures and data collection.

Last year he completed all his required course work at Los Angeles. He will use his time in Greece this year in part to prepare for his upcoming qualifying exams and dissertation prospectus. Myles will assist me and Jonathan in preparing the CIG Portal to the Past for its public launch on October 30th.

While his MA work concerned Hellenistic defenses and the built environment of Achaia Phthiotis (Thessaly), for his PhD he plans to turn to broader questions about the organization and development of Thessalian political structure from the Archaic to the Hellenistic periods. A particular question is whether the relative importance of polis vs. league in Thessaly can be seen through an examination of the archaeological record at a landscape level. Myles anticipates spending quite a bit of time buried in the vaults and archives not only here in Athens but in the museums at Volos and Almyros gathering data. He also writes effectively as you will see in his guest blogs and in the lecture that he will give in the winter.

Welcome Myles!!!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director