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

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

Monuments have no voice - They must have yours, Book Sale Deadline Approaching, Free Offprints, Re-Constructing Ancient Landscapes

On Wednesday, the Association of Greek Archaeologists which represents the 950 Greek archaeologists who work for the Hellenic Archaeological Service of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism held a press conference (see: http://www.sea.org.gr/press/pages/viewpress.aspx?PressID=107) to publicize the launch of their campaign, “Monuments have no voice, They must have yours”. This is an attempt to rally widespread support to oppose the proposed reduction in their numbers in the Service and in the Ministry as a whole by 30-50%. This is more “house cleaning” of the Greek government that is required by the recently signed Second Memorandum with the infamous Troika/IMF. The threat to the government’s sacrosanct obligation to protect and to preserve the country’s cultural heritage for posterity is very real if these cuts indeed go through. The crisis in the Service and in Greek archaeology, in general, is more collateral damage from the hyper-austerity that has been imposed on the country over the past two years. Last week there was a conference organized by another independent group here, the Union of Archaeologists of Greece. My paper at “Archaeological Research and the Management of Archaeological Materials” discussed the implications and the opportunities of such a “new reality” for the Hellenic Archaeological Service and for Greek archaeology.

The Association of Greek Archaeologists is seeking the active support of individuals and organizations throughout the world to demand that this rich and varied cultural heritage is not sacrificed on the altar of expediency. You can find out more about their campaign from their Facebook page with attractive posters that you can download and share. Don’t be silent!! Speak up immediately for Greece’s monuments!!! http://www.facebook.com/AssociationOfGreekArchaeologistsAgainstImfCuts

The end of the CIG Book Sale is approaching
Don’t be the last one at the archaeological site to have made a bid for a book or three that are missing from your archaeological library and available now from CIG! The books that are for sale can be scrutinized at: http://www.cig-icg.gr/?cat=2&item=4&lang=en. The instructions for making your bid are simple and time is running out. You have until Saturday, March 31st!

Free Offprints Available
In the process of cataloguing and organizing our Library’s ‘Offprint Collection” we have identified over 150 duplicates. These are available now, without charge, on a first come, first take basis. Come and give these treasures of scholarship a new home in your library.

Book of the Blog
The use of digital technologies to visualize aspects of the past has been the subject, directly or indirectly, of many of the volumes reviewed for this feature of the Blog (see, for example, http://cig-icg.blogspot.com/2011/11/another-donation-of-books-to-library.html). Even the case studies focusing on the construction and interpretation of ancient landscapes have only summarized how this is done and what types of data sets are required to start this arduous process. Often a clear conceptual/theoretical framework for this research is either inadequately articulated or is missing altogether.

The pioneering work of Sofia Pescarin and her mentor/supervisor Maurizio Forte, first at the Supercomputer Centre at the University of Bologna, then at the Virtual Heritage Lab at CNR-ITABC in Rome, and now at the University of California – Merced, have resulted in a holistic approach to such efforts in Virtual Archaeology. In Pescarin’s Reconstructing Ancient Landscapes (Archaeolingua, Series Minor 28, Budapest, 2009) she details how one can “reconstruct” virtual ecosystems that are reproductions of past realities based on five conceptualizations of the “landscape”. They are, “archaeological landscapes” or the present landscape with the distribution of data sets relating to past settlement and exploitation; “mapscape” or the interpretive landscape which we imagine exists; “pastscape” or what could have been there at some point in the past; “mindscape” or how we think that past populations perceived the landscape; and “webscape” or the networks and relations in the “digital pipeline” for sharing the results of this research. With this as the foundation she describes systematically how one can proceed. At each stage there are ample references to similar efforts in GIS-oriented and virtual reality-oriented projects focusing on the past. The latter is mostly driven by computer scientists, architects interested in landscapes and the computer-game industry. The former is the realm of archaeologists, geographers, ecologists and historians.

In Chapters 3 (“Archaeological Landscape Reconstruction: Mapping the Space’) and 4 (“Potential Landscape Reconstruction”) she takes the reader through the numerous steps required, from Data Acquisition to Data Post-processing to landscape reconstruction and visualization. The technical details are explained and the means to do this are outlined with both equivalent commercial and open source tools indicated. There are numerous color illustrations and ample tables and charts. The illustrative examples are mostly drawn from research in the Roman and Medieval worlds of the Italian peninsula. The means available to disseminate the results via the internet are explored in Chapter 7. The links that she provides here are a treasure-trove of what is out there. Appendix A features five case studies with differing approaches to the construction of the past landscapes, archaeological sites, building complexes and cities.

The volume demonstrates clearly that the construction of ancient landscapes is not for the technically-challenged or the impatient archaeologist. It is not, however, beyond the scope and expertise of a well-organized cadre of researchers with a long-term vision for their collaborative investigations. In doing these constructions one is surely stimulated constantly to ask perceptive and complex questions that could drive future research. Our Library has a solid collection of books and volumes that can serve as the foundation for the formulation of such ancient landscape construction research.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Curved Blades, the Archives of the ASCSA and Surface Area Excavation

Time appears to be moving quickly this year as it is already well into March! That means the next lecture in the Institute’s Winter/Spring Program is this coming Wednesday, March 14th at 7:30 pm. Our speaker, Catherine Parnell, is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Archaeology at University College Dublin. The title of her lecture is, “Barbarian Cleavers or Greek Swords? Portrayals and Perceptions of Curved Swords in Ancient Greece.”

Parnell’s lecture is concerned with curved blades in the ancient Greek world. In modern studies these are commonly known as kopis or machaira. The curved sword was frequently portrayed as an effective instrument of war, and the curved knife as a popular household tool. Despite the frequent representations of this morphological shape, however, these blades have not been the subject of much in-depth analysis and the archaeological evidence has not been linked with the literary or iconographic evidence. This lack of in-depth examination has resulted in mistaken ideas, such as, for example, the idea that these curved swords were Persian in origin. Using the available iconographical and literary evidence she will provide our audience with a cutting edge analysis of this neglected aspect of ancient Greece. Please join us and sharpen your knowledge of cleavers and curved swords!

Lecture of the Association of Friends of the Historical Archive of the Hellenic Archaeological Service
The next lecture sponsored by Association of Friends of the Historical Archive of the Hellenic Archaeological Service is on Monday, March 12th at 6:30 pm at the Historical Archive building on Psaromilingou 22 on the edge of Kerameikos and Psyrri. Dr. Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, the Doreen Canaday Spitzer Archivist at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, will give a lecture in Greek entitled, «Η Αμερικάνικη Σχολή Κλασικών Σπουδών στην περίοδο 1945-1953. Η αρχή μιας νέας εποχής». She will explore what hidden and unexpected treasures can reside in archaeological archives.

Book of the Blog
For those of us who normally excavate in central and southern Greece or in Cyprus we are accustomed to doing this at sites with a limited range of sediment characteristics. As this generally happens in the warmer months of the year these sediments typically are desiccated and hard. Further, the excavation strategies and methodologies used are relatively uniform, following a grid system of trenches with baulks left for stratigraphic references. The baulks are removed only when one seeks to reveal complete architectural components. The generally different climatic and sediment conditions in northern Greece, combined with the different architectural traditions of earlier cultures that utilize more wood, mean that archaeologists often use different approaches for data recovery.

Unless an archaeologist works in different parts of the world excavating the remains of cultures at different stages of sociopolitical development she tends to forget that a “one size fits all” approach to fieldwork doesn’t work. One must always be ready and able to adopt, adapt and improvise in order to deal successfully with the challenges that a site or a region may present. The conditions under which one has to work also influence what can be done and how.

The time constraints and budgetary demands of the “directed archaeological research” of cultural resource management (CRM) in dealing with large development projects in the moist, sandy loams and glacial alluvia of northern Europe are many. The nature of the archaeological remains from a series of cultures that built various types of wooden structures, dug ditches, made berms and excavated wells across a given landscape have propelled CRM work toward certain research designs and recovery methodologies. These revolve around what is called “surface-area” or “large area” excavation where broad expanses of the upper soil horizon or “plough zone” are mechanically stripped off using bulldozers or grade-alls to reveal the upper boundaries of decayed architectural and archaeological features. At the European Archaeological Association Congress held in Zadar in 2007 there was a session focusing on issues and outcomes related to this approach. G. Blancquaert, F. Malrain, H. Stäuble, and J. Vanmoerkerke have edited the nine papers that were given in, Understanding the Past: A Matter of Surface Area (BAR International Series 2194, Oxford, 2011).

Much of the interest in the surface area excavation strategy is the result of large scale development and infrastructure projects such as gas pipelines, limited access highway right of ways, high speed railroad right of ways, coal mining, harbor expansion and large scale building projects. To conduct archaeological research on such a scale with tight time and financial parameters have led to experimental approaches to the mechanization of the plough zone stripping, the mechanization of the sieving of the archaeological sediments for artifactual and ecofactual materials and digital recording and measurement techniques.

What has been discovered by using these innovations in surface area excavations in a number of regions of France, Flanders in Belgium, Moravia in the Czech Republic and Saxony in Germany in the context of preventative archaeology is truly amazing! Although CRM interventions typically have a sharp and limited geographical focus, they are, nevertheless, like transects that dissect the landscape revealing often unexpected finds in non-intuitive locations.

Jan Vanmoerkerke’s historical overview of the development of this strategy over the past century is most informative as it demonstrates that the location and preservation of a country’s cultural patrimony that are threatened by various kinds of developments is not a recent phenomenon. Many of the other contributions provide insights into the origins, the underlying philosophy and goals as well as manner of organization of cultural heritage management in their particular country. Greece needs to reflect seriously at this moment on its cultural heritage management policies in light of the ongoing and ever deepening economic crisis. The austerity measures that the Greek state is adopting under duress are aimed at reducing the size and cost of the government. The Hellenic Archaeological Service is a prime example of what this means in real terms.

While this volume is not for every Greek archaeologist out there, it nonetheless provides a number of stimulating ideas on how one might conduct fieldwork differently with positive results. It indicates clearly that the cultural heritage management practices of other European countries can inform the decision making in Greece on ways to better protect and preserve its rich cultural patrimony.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Classical Athenian Magic, the Origins of the Agora Excavations and Cyber-Archaeology

Medea

This coming Wednesday, the last day of this leap-year February, at 7:30 PM the members of our Athens Association of Friends of CIG will have the pleasure of hearing an illustrated lecture by Mark Walley, our Graduate Intern this winter and spring. Mark, with an undergraduate degree in Classical Studies from Bishop’s University, is now a M.A. candidate in the Department of Classics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is finishing his M.A. thesis on magic in 5th-Century BC Athens.

This lecture will explore the Classical Athenian concept of magic by focusing on the texts of authors during the Classical period. Writers such as Aristophanes, Euripides, and Plato each contribute important information regarding the topic of magic. Mark will analyze in particular how magic-related vocabulary is applied within its contexts in order to develop an accurate image of magic. This analysis will demonstrate not only Athenian sentiments regarding magic, but will also establish parameters through which magic was thought to take place. Given our contemporary general conception of what constitutes a magic act we will undoubted learn that this is not the same as it was in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Another myth busted! 

The Areopagus

Lecture on the Origins of the American Excavations in the Athenian Agora
I wish to bring to the attention of our readers a lecture of interest that will take place on Tuesday, the 28th at 7 PM at the Historical Archive of the Hellenic Archaeological Service at Psaromilingou 22, near Odos Peiraeus, just on the edge of Kerameikos and Psyrri. Dr. Yiannis Hamilakis (School of Humanities, University of Southampton) will discuss what the various archival records reveal concerning the nature of the negotiations between 1924 and 1931 related to granting the American School of Classical Studies at Athens the permit to excavate the Athenian Agora and the public reaction in Greece to this. The lecture will be in Greek.

Book of the Blog
Digital archaeology, cultural heritage management and archaeological theory have cropped up a number of times in these mini-reviews. Today I have a volume that links these three together. Cyber-Archaeology (BAR International Series 2177, Oxford, 2010), edited by Maurizio Forte, is a mashup of 11 contributions from two different workshops organized in 2009 (Cyber-Archaeology at the “Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference” at Stanford) and 2010 (Virtual Collaborative Environments at the “Cultural Heritage at the Diversifying Participation. Digital Media and Learning Conference” at San Diego). There seems to be some dispute as to label this development as “cyber-archaeology”, “cyberarchaeology” or even “I-archaeology”. Further, is this simply “…a change in methodology, a change in paradigm, or a reflection of a broader change?” (p. 1) Erza B.W. Zubrow (SUNY Buffalo) wonders. His stimulating and provocative essay begins the volume. He postulates that the most useful aspects of the intellectual threads called cultural history, “scientific”/processual archaeology and post-processual/”interpretational”/”post-modern” archaeology will merge and be integrated into cyberarchaeology. This is because cyberarchaeology can bridge the gaps between them “…for it provides testable in the sense of adequacy material representations of either ‘interpretations’ or ‘scientific hypotheses or discoveries’”(p. 2). He believes that we will see in the course of the 21st century the impact of mobile smartphones and other mirco movable technologies. These will turn the present cyberarchaeology into I-archaeology.

Forte’s introduction to Cyber-Archaeology should give the big picture and explain how the individual contributions fit in. Unfortunately, its creative English and dense, jargonistic exposition and definitions make it something to be avoided. The papers cover a wide swathe. J.A. Barcelό explores the possibilities of harnessing artificial intelligence/expert systems to automate archaeological knowledge production. Using virtual reality collaborative environments a group of researchers are investigation the role of cosmic impact on the development of human history in Argentina. S. Kenederine describes the use of two immersive interactive installations for the interpretation of tangible and intangible aspects of a UNESCO World Heritage site in south India. J.T. Clark argues (correctly I believe) that we can’t “reconstruct” past culture history let alone something in the new domain of virtual archaeology. All we can do is offer possible “constructions” which are simply tentative models. The usability of geospatial technologies for the cross-cultural understanding of the oral histories of indigenous peoples is the focus of J. van der Elst’s paper. The issues of interactive 2D and 3D maps and navigation involved in constructing complex and “authentic” virtual cultural heritage environments along the lines of those seen in the best computer/play-station games are tackled by E. Champion. In this case a group of researchers have created a 3D virtual reconstruction of tomb chambers from the Western Han Dynasty in China. The use of virtual-cyber mind maps opens new horizons for simultaneous interpretation of the decorative programs on the vaults and walls. Another group used a set of stereo cameras to capture 3D video of a user in real-time in order to creates his/her avatar. This allow for remote real-time interaction with 3D archaeological models through a shared virtual environment. D. Kirsh experiments with the challenges of material engagement with digital versions of artifacts in virtual 3D environments to stimulate the processes of archaeological inquiry beyond perception. The virtual reconstruction (using open source technologies) of the 13th-century urban landscape of Bologna in Italy from multiple sources as a new method of interpretation and the visualization of historical data is presented by N. Lercari.

Probably the most relevant to the majority of the blog’s readership is the contribution by Thomas E. Levy (University of California, San Diego) and his co-researchers at an Iron Age site in Jordan. They use an amazing cyberarchaeology field recording system that feeds directly into a cyberinfrastructure delivered over the Mediterranean Archaeology Network (MedArchNet) and a Google Earth platform. They call it “On-Site Digital Archaeology 3.0” (OSDA 3.0). What are now relatively commonplace data collection methodologies (differential GPS, Total Stations, vertical and oblique imagery from a low-level balloon or kite supported platform) were merged with with new ones such as GigaPan high resolution panoramic views and terrestrial LiDAR scanning of the architectural remains and of the stratification. This avalanche of data is geo-referenced and stored in ArcGIS databases. They also use 3D artifact scanning in the field as well as in the laboratory. Using digitized pottery profile drawings and 3D scans the have created a Pottery Infomatics Queryable Database (PIQD) with a fully queryable spatial environment. Finally, to assist in the digestion and comprehension of these truly massive databases they have developed high-resolution scalable visualization portals for a broad set of 2D and 3D formats. This Visual Analytics Cyber-Colloboratory in the form of a tiled wall with 72 30” screens is called HIPerSpace. They also created in a pentagon-shaped space a 3D 360º total immersive Virtual Reality environment called StarCAVE with additional imagery on the floor. Not satisfied with this, NexCAVE employs a 3 to 21 panels (in 1 to 7 columns), 3D visualization display using synchronized 3D HDTVs. When used with polarized stereoscopic glasses and the associated software it is possible for a viewer to visualize massive datasets in high-resolution 3D with well-saturated color and quick speed of reaction as she moves her head. Just reading and pondering this article is worth the price of admission, which at the Institute is free!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Archaeological Survey in South/Central Crete and Agora Dedicatory Inscriptions

The coming Wednesday, the 15th is the Institute’s first lecture in its 2012 Winter/Spring Lecture Program. Matthew Buell (American School of Classical Studies/SUNY Buffalo), one of the key researchers associated with the Galatas Survey Project will present the results of this intensive survey. The fieldwork in the Central Pediada of south/central Crete was conducted between 2004 and 2006 under the co-direction of Vance Watrous (SUNY Buffalo) and Georgos Rethemiotakis (Herakleion Archaeological Museum). The investigations in the hinterland of the Minoan palace at Galatas are the focus of the lecture entitled, “Survey in the Heart of the Central Pediada: The Galatas Survey Project 2004-2006”. The evolving settlement patterns and the resource exploitation strategies over the millennia will be revealed to all!

 

Book of the Blog
The Institute and its Library has had many loyal and generous supporters over the years. One such individual, the late Professor Daniel J. Geagan (Department of Classics, McMaster University), was a constant benefactor of both. Dan died just over three years ago this month, after years of ill-health. The volume that he had been working on for most of his scholarly career has just been published with the dedicated efforts of Professor John S. Traill (Department of Classics, University of Toronto), the assistance of Dan’s wife, Helen, and contributions by others. Inscriptions: The Dedicatory Monuments. The Athenian Agora XVIII (Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2011) is a tribute to Dan’s meticulous scholarship and his tenacity. It includes the inscriptions discovered during the directorships of T.L. Shear Sr. and H.A. Thompson (1931-1968) of the Agora excavations. In other words, from I 1 through I 7047. This is the final of five volumes encompassing these inscriptions: Agora XV and XVII in 1974, XIX in 1991 and XVI in 1997.

The contents of Agora XVIII and the format of presentation are what one expects for epigraphical publications and Agora blue volumes. As the title indicates, the monuments included in it commemorate events or victories (Section II), honor individuals with statues or other representations (Section III), or belong to divinities either as votive offerings or as possessions (Section IV). Archaic and 5th century B.C. monuments are treated separately in Section I. Possible dedicatory monuments (“ambiguous fragments”) are presented in Section V, along with some fragments from funerary monuments as an addendum to Agora XVII. The inscriptions range in date from the end of the 6th century B.C. to the earlier 5th century A.D. with most falling in the period from the 4th century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D. The breadth and the detail of Dan’s study are most impressive.

Geagan’s volume proudly joins the Agora blues in our library, along with the Corinth reds and the other standard color series that are the indicia of the final publications of the other “big digs” conducted by the major foreign archaeological schools and institutes in Greece. In the last two decades archaeological research projects have become more focused in their goals and the length of their fieldwork much shorter in duration. These developments, combined with the demand for faster publication, have worked to change the characteristics and formats of archaeological publications. A research library’s holdings reflect the cultural milieu in which they are amassed. There is an inevitable time lag in the change, however, due to the persistence of long-lived research traditions and publication preferences. Nevertheless, the evolving digital technologies are fast re-shaping libraries.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Director Gets the Flouri, One Year in the Blogosphere, and Is Archaeological Theory Really Dead?

The Director cuts the Vasilopitta

On Wednesday evening a brave and hardy group came for our annual Canadian film night and the CIG pita cutting ceremony. They were amply rewarded for their tenaciousness! Even though the Director’s piece produced the coveted flouri (and the gouri!), the pita was to die for, as they say! The movie, The Trotsky was hilarious, clever and very well-acted!!! For those who missed it, if you ever have a chance to see it, don’t hesitate! It pokes fun at many sacred cows: past and present, youth and adults, high school life, radicalism and conservatism and, especially, Canadian culture as seen through the lens of west Montreal reality.

The Assistant Director uploads the Blog

Friday, the 20th of January passed without a single comment, let alone congratulations, from the blogosphere that our blog had been up and running for a year! Since January 20th, 2011 we’ve posted 62 (including last week’s) blogs with a range of bloggers providing the content and imagery. At the next party you can impress those standing by the bar with the following fascinating facts from our first year. Over all we’ve had 7,925 pageviews. Last month’s traffic was 1,028 pageviews. The most popular five blogs of all time (so far, at least) were as follows:

February 25, 2011 (533 Pageviews): Canadian Graduate Programs in Hellenic Studies and Paleoethnobotanical Research
April 15, 2011 (208 pageviews): Revised Permits Guide and Remote Sensing in Archaeology
February 3, 2011 (178 pageviews): Lecture by Michael MacKinnon
November 25, 2011 (175 pageviews): More Collateral Damage in Greece from the Economic Crisis and Religion and Society in Roman Corinth
March 25, 2011 (135 pageviews): CIG Fieldwork and Prostitution in Ancient Greece

The top seven countries for our readers are: 1. Canada (1,934 pageviews); 2. US (1,709 pageviews); 3. Greece (1,675 pageviews); 4. UK (264 pageviews); 4. Germany (244 pageviews); 6. Netherlands (143 pageviews); 7. France (135 pageviews).

Most of the traffic to our blog comes from our Facebook group, followed by the CIG/ICG website and various Google searches. We are accessed by PCs mostly and fewer Macs, using Internet Explorer, Foxfire and Chrome in that order.

The political map of Canada that we used was THE most popular search term by far (although the searchers might not have been looking for us primarily)!! The Book of the Blog spotlighted 31 books in our Library related to our areas of specialization and donations by Canadian scholars. Much to my disappointment, I must say, we have had only 8 comments posted!!! );-[

Your suggestions for improvement and for topics that could be covered in the future are most welcome!

Book of the Blog
The phrase “archaeological theory” or simply “theory” has been mentioned frequently in the previous 31 mini-reviews that I have written over the past year. To a certain portion of our readership I am sure that this concept is dismissed immediately for a variety of reasons. Is it, in fact, necessary? Is it but a decorative embellishment to the real business of archaeology, the crafting of a plausible, well-supported culture-history narrative from archaeological data? Is it an end itself, separate from the praxis of fieldwork and analysis? Or is it a dead phenomenon from the past that was always changing with no apparent reason, like women’s fashion? Depending on the educational path that led you to the archaeology, art and/or history of the Aegean basin you either had or did not have formal inculcation in archaeological theory. Few North American graduate programs in Classics/Classical Archaeology or ancient Art History included any form of theory as an essential component of instruction. In the UK, with its departments of Archaeology, mostly separate from those of Classics, this would not have been the case. For a holder of an North American advanced degree, theory was then something you acquired on your own (especially if you had anthropological proclivities) or not at all.

For a number of our European colleagues, however, the state of “Archaeological Theory” is a contentious and dissatisfying topic that needs immediate addressing. This frustration resulted in a provocative and well-attended session at the Twelfth Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists held in Krakow in 2006. The organizers, John Bintliff and Mark Pearce, have just published, as the editors, many of the papers that were given and a few invited papers to provide a broader perspective. This thin volume, The Death of Archaeological Theory? (Oxford/Oakville: Oxbow Books, 2011) is, I must say, an archaeological bodice ripper! I couldn’t put it down! The six papers and an Introduction succinctly, in a mostly very accessible style, put the whole spectrum of archaeological theory in plain view. They ruminate on what is and what isn’t archaeological theory; the history of its development, especially in the past 50 years; the differences in thinking among North American, English, French and Eastern European archaeologists and self-proclaimed theorists; what is the present landscape looks and where it might go in the future.

After a series of “fads” since the early 1960s that lasted more or less 20-25 years, often related to T.S. Kuhn’s “paradigm shifts”, there does not appear at present a clearly dominant theoretical paradigm in archaeology with its attendant gurus. Each of the major ones, that is culture history, processualism and post-processualism all have their advocates today as does ecological-(neo)Darwinism. Essentially, each “generation” lives within and reacts to its social, economic, political and intellectual traditions. Thus, theory does not die it merely changes direction with the passage of time. The rough consensus of the authors is that most practitioners of archaeology combine theories and methods taken from all past and current traditions of the discipline to find what best fits the particular project or problem they are working on. Bintliff has argued before for such a “Wittgensteinian toolbox methodology” to probe the complexities of the past using material culture residues. They agree that an “Eclectic Archaeological Theory” is a viable, reflexive and nuanced alternative to the dogmatism of following a single theory of an “Ideopraxist”, to the exclusion of everything else. A given archaeological data set should be subjected to complementary analyses they argue to see which approach works better at elucidating understanding and meaning. Following Braudel’s model of history a number of archaeologists have embraced the Annaliste approach of French historians for the reason of holistic inclusiveness.

If archaeological theory was never your bag and the mention of competing theories makes you look for a copy of Archaeological Theory for Dummies then this compact volume is for you. Most likely you do have a personal conception of the theory or theories that underlie your archaeological research. There should be neither archaeology without theory nor theory without archaeology.

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director

Athens Association of Friends Winter/Spring Program and Digital Heritage Redux

Save the dates! Our Athens Association of Friends Winter/Spring Program is now available! Once again we have a stimulating mixture of topics for our Friends Association members to enjoy. This coming Wednesday, the 1st, at 7:30 pm is our annual Canadian film night. We have a comedy, “The Trotsky,” that should not only make the audience chuckle but laugh heartily. Set in Montreal, it is about the consequences of a high school student, thinking he is the reincarnation of the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky, who tries to change the world, or at least his high school. Our second annual Friends Association Pita will be cut for our collective health and happiness in 2012 before the film begins. Who will find the flouri???

On February 29th, Mark Walley, our graduate intern from Memorial University of Newfoundland, will attempt to demystify for us the conceptions and the use of magic in Classical Athens. We are in for witches, spells and drugs! So beware! Then for the Pascha observances, on April 4th, Gerasimos Pagoulatos (Hellenic-American Educational Foundation/Hellenic Open University) will discuss the issue of historicism and a-historicism in the Hellenic world by analyzing the iconographic evidence of Christ’s Nativity and Baptism.

For members of our Friends Association in Athens and those who wish to join I wish to remind you that it is time to renew your membership for 2012. Jonathan will be happy to accept your donation on the 1st as well as at any other Friends event or CIG lecture.

Book of the Blog
Let’s continue where I left off last week when I examined the general topic of “digital archaeology” in 2002 by looking at the state of affairs of the closely related field of “digital heritage” in 2008. The Directorate of the National Archive of Monuments of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture has been responsible since 2003 for the electronic cataloguing and digitization of the archive of monuments and the documentation of all listed monuments in Greece, including movable and non-movable monuments for all periods. As part of an European Union grant to support this work the Directorate organized an international conference in the fall of 2008. The aim was to push the edge of the existing envelope on what is and what could be the available cultural content in a Web 2.0 world.

The then Director and lead organizer, Metaxia Tsipopoulou, published at the same time as the conference a stimulating edited volume entitled, Digital Heritage in the New Knowledge Environment. Shared spaces & open paths to cultural content (Athens: Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Directorate of the National Archives, 2008). What is significant here is that of the 46 papers' and 11 posters' abstracts, the majority are by our Greek colleagues relating to excavations, research and museums in Greece.

In order to make this conference on digital applications relating to cultural management different, the organizing committee chose five thematic units that dealt with global issues. By accepting papers from individuals with positions in museums, archaeological units, research institutions and universities, they created a dynamic and stimulating atmosphere to advance the dissemination of cultural heritage in the New Knowledge Environment. The thematic sessions focused on central, pressing concerns for digital heritage. Having attended the conference I found it most informative and thought-provoking. It is amazing what is happening in this field!

In “Redefining the Research Field” the 13 papers plumbed the breadth and depth of what is being done. The approaches ranged from multimedia applications, to the use of ground-based laser scanning for recording, to interrogative digital archives, to visual recognition, to electronic publication. The “Exploring the Potential of Web 2.0” session had 7 papers dealing with topics such as Second Life, Virtual Reality and mash-ups. The 11 papers presented in “Widening the Audience” discussed ways to expand the accessibility of cultural heritage via digital applications. In the “Seeking a Common Language” session the 8 papers grappled with the issues of speaking with one voice and the transportability of data across platforms. The final session, “Theorizing Digital Heritage”, the 7 papers sought to find acceptable theoretical foundations for a digital heritage. They addresses such basic questions as “Why digitize?” and “Should one present reality or realism in Virtual Reality?” It should be said, however, that many of the papers in the other sessions referred to the theoretical background. The 11 posters dealt with more practical applications and approaches relating to digitization of cultural heritage. The CD-ROM that accompanies the volume has the complete texts, references and illustrative materials contained in 30 B/W plates of the papers and the poster abstracts in .pdf format for sharing or printing. If the terms and approaches mentioned here and in last week’s blog are from a foreign country then you should come to the Library immediately and start to travel so you can expand your horizons and enlighten yourself!

What would a conference held this year on the expanding digital universes of archaeology and of cultural heritage management have that was the same or similar and what would be new and edgy? Stay tuned!

Cordially,
David Rupp
Director