Thursday, January 5, 2017

CIG at the AIA Meeting in Toronto; Stelida-Naxos in the Canadian News

The 2017 meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is being held in Toronto this year at the Sheraton Hotel from January 5th through 8th. This is THE annual gathering of Canadian and American archaeologists, art historians, cultural anthropologists and related specialists who do research on the ancient cultures that once occupied the Mediterranean region, the Near East and Europe. Every so often the meetings are held in a Canadian city.

This year in honor of the meetings being held in Toronto and the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Institute there is a complete session devoted to the current fieldwork of Canadian projects in Greece with permits from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport under the aegis of the Institute. This session, 7B, on Sunday, January 8th from 08:00 – 11:00 in the Civic South of the Sheraton Centre Hotel, is entitled, “Regional Approaches to Identity and Meaning in Greek Landscapes: Current Work of the Canadian Institute in Greece”. In this Colloquium there is a paper on recent discoveries at ancient Argilos in Macedonia (J.Y. Perreault and Z. Bonias); on regional identity and ethnos of Achaia Phthiotis (M. Haagsma, M. Chykerda, S. Karapanou and L. Surtees); on the intensive survey in the western Argolid by WARP (D. Nakassis, S. Gallimore, W. Caraher and S. James); on reconstruction of early prehistoric activities and land/seascapes around Stelida on Naxos (T. Carter, D. Athanasoulis, D. Contreras, J. Holcomb, D. Mihailovic, K. Campeau, and J. Feathers); the Bronze Age and Archaic/Classical finds from ancient Eleon in eastern Boiotia (B. Burke, B. Burns and A. Charami). Of course, these excavations and surveys are each well documented in the CIG Portal to the Past.

Many other members of CIG are also giving papers at the AIA meeting. Former Fellows at CIG are very well represented: Martin Perron (Session 4A); Lana Radloff (Session 1G); Mark Hammond (Session 1I); Myles Chykerda (Session 7B); Laura Surtees (Session 7B); and Mathew Maher (with A. Mowat; Session 7C). Ancient Eleon is the focus of two more papers: B. Burke, B. Burns, A. Charami, O. Kyriaki, and N. Herrmann (Session 3J) and K. Jazwa (Session 7J). The excavations of SEEP on the Paximadi Peninsula are examined by E. Langridge-Noti, R. DeGraaf and P. Klingborg (Session 2I). Board members M. Papaioannou (with P. Dare and Y.-W. Ahn; Session 4I), J. Francis (Session 2A) and M.A. Sears (with C.J. Butera; Session 6H) are giving papers as well. Finally, loyal members M.H. Walbank (Session 5J) and T. van Damme (Session 4A) are also presenting. If I missed anyone on the program please let me know!

So if you are in Toronto or in the Golden Horseshoe this weekend and are members or friends of CIG, here’s an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about our diverse activities in Greece and the research of our members who are spread across Canada and even in the United States!

Stelida – Naxos in the Canadian Press

The media coverage in Canada of the research of archaeological field projects working in Greece under the aegis of the Institute is not as frequent or as widespread as it should be. A recent exception to this pattern is a lengthy article on the continuing Canadian Institute excavations at Stelida – Naxos in the Cycladic Islands of Greece in the Toronto Star from December 27th by Kate Allen, the Science and Technology reporter. (https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/12/27/neanderthals-in-a-boat-not-such-a-far-fetched-notion-after-all.html).

Professor Tristan Carter (Co-Director; Department of Anthropology, McMaster University) and Dr. Demetrios Athanasoulis (Director; Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport) in the past two summers have made significant discoveries relating to the quarrying of chert and the production of chipped stone tools on this prominent hill dating from the Lower Palaeolithic through Upper Palaeolithic periods and into the following Mesolithic period. These revelations are challenging long-held ideas concerning the intellectual and the technological capacities of Archaic hominins and early humans. So check out the link and go to the CIG Portal to the Past for more information.

Kali Xronia!
David Rupp
Director

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