From the Director - British School at Athens
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BRITISH SCHOOL at ATHENS June
at an institute for advanced research
2022
From the Director
I begin by wishing everyone a Farewells! The Director delivering his final
productive and/or relaxing summer Report on the Work of the BSA in February
with this edition of our newsletter, 2022 at the Annual Meeting held in Athens
my last as Director. In this issue (below) and after the AGM in London (left)
we customarily look back on the
full academic year, summarising
the activities and achievements of
the people of the BSA collectively
and individually. There is much to
celebrate, reflected in a longer-than-
usual edition, as we, like the rest of the
world, emerge from the pandemic.
Delays caused by the pandemic the network, and we just appointed a
meant that we enjoyed the Digital Asset Manager. Our events —
company of two Early Career virtual over most of the year — have
Fellows, in addition to a Visiting seen significant engagement and we Treaty of Lausanne. I am pleased to
Fellow. We inaugurated three new look forward to continuing to deliver note that the BSA, in collaboration
awards designed to bring academics these in hybrid format. One welcome with the BIAA and Newcastle
and artists to Greece (and the BSA). side-effect has been an increase in University, will hold a conference
We appointed a new A.G. Leventis followers, engaging with our broad — Greece, Turkey and the past and
Fellow and, for the first time, a range of activities and generous with present of forced migrations — in early
Fellow in Modern Greek Studies, their support at a crucial time. That September to explore that event,
while three ‘Students’ shared 24 support will be critical as we make its repercussions at the time, and its
months of research support, and the final push to realise our ambitious reflections in our contemporary world.
several researchers worked in the Knossos 2025 Project. This is a time of change: not only
Fitch, in addition to the early-stage Last year Greece celebrated the am I handing over to my successor in
researcher joining the Fitch for three 200th anniversary of the start of the September, but in February Roderick
years, a benefit of the laboratory’s Revolution that ultimately brought Beaton formally took over from Carol
participation in one (of two) it into being as an independent Bell as Chair of Council. Before the end
major EU-funded international nation-state. This year brings another of the calendar year, we will also have
networks. And we hosted an Arts anniversary, more a cause for reflection a new Assistant Director. Change is
Bursary holder! than celebration; 1922 saw the failure good, however: organisations like
Our digitisation initiative has of the Asia Minor expedition — the ours constantly need new ideas, new
progressed significantly: more katastrofi — culminating in significant energy and new vision.
material is now available, we loss of life and the destruction of the What to say in a final message?
are collaborating with our BIRI multi-cultural, polyglot city of Smyrna. That I wish my successor Rebecca
colleagues on a major drive to make The following year brought the well? That goes without saying! That
archives digitally accessible across exchange of populations under the Debi and I will both be sorry to leave
our Athens home and Greece? Ditto!
What I must say is an enormous thank
you to everyone who has supported
the BSA over the past seven years;
your support — practical, in kind
and in cash — has made my job as
Director that much easier. I also
thank all the BSA staff — in Athens,
Knossos and London — for all their
hard work during my Directorship,
particularly in the darker moments
of the pandemic! I am confident
that the BSA will continue to thrive
and develop under Roddy’s and
Rebecca’s leadership.
Dr Carol Bell receiving a gift from the BSA following her final Council meeting as Chair, and her
As always, please feed reactions
successor as Chair of Council, Prof. Roderick Beaton, introducing the BSA’s Annual Meeting in back to newsletter@bsa.ac.uk.
Athens, both in February 2022 John Bennet
at The British School at Athens 2022 – June
Rebecca Sweetman (Director 2022–)
“Having grown up in a family of and in Knossos with Sara Paton, both
archaeologists, archaeology has always of whom have been wonderful friends
been part of my life. However, my interest and mentors to me and countless other
in Greece was piqued with my first visit students. In the final years of my PhD
to Knossos as a 12-year-old on a family (1998–99) I served as Acting Curator
vacation in Crete. It was consolidated by in Knossos and Acting AD and Acting
an inspiring teacher in secondary school, Archivist in Athens, thus expanding
Mr O’Leary, who gave up his lunchtimes my experience and love of the BSA.
to teach Classical Studies as an ‘extra The role of Assistant Director was one
subject’. As an undergraduate in Dublin, I of the highlights of my time in Athens Rebecca with her family: Conor, Brad and Aidan
worked with Alan Peatfield and Christine and working with colleagues across the
Morris on the Atsipadhes material in the School was inspiring. Everyone who dog are true Scottish animals and flake out
Rethymnon museum, as well as being in works for the BSA is motivated by the in 12-degree heat … we will see how well
the field on the Praisos Survey with James potential of what the institution can they fare!
Whitley and Kieran O’Conor. Since then, I do for students and researchers at all “I cannot wait to move back to Athens
have spent time working in Greece every stages, and this is what makes it such a and to immerse myself once again in the
single summer and I feel hugely grateful great community. It was during this time rich community of researchers there. As I
for these opportunities. that I began work on the Late Antique write, I have just come back from a brief
“Having already been a regular at Church on the Acropolis of Sparta visit where colleagues with whom I worked
Knossos and always welcomed by Colin with Evi Katsara of (what was then) the in 2003, like Vicki, Maria, Tania and Amalia,
Macdonald, I first went to Athens thanks Byzantine Ephoreia. It was a wonderful continue to help run the BSA and ensure it
to a Cary Studentship in 1995. My PhD collaboration and I really look forward to flourishes. It feels like the last 20 years have
was on the Roman and Late Antique rekindling the research connections with flown by and I look forward to working
mosaics of Crete under the supervision colleagues across Greece. with old and new (to me) colleagues in the
of Roger Wilson and Andrew Poulter at “I left the BSA for a job in St Andrews in Library, Fitch and at Knossos.
Nottingham, and it was funded thanks 2003, but I have always had an invisible “I will be returning to the BSA in a very
to two BSA studentships and a Greek thread pulling me back. Research in the different context to the one I left. We
government scholarship — not to mention Peloponnese, and more recently the are now in a post-Brexit and (hopefully)
cataloguing work in the BSA Library! Cyclades, has ensured that I have been able post-Covid world and with this come
Penny, Sandra and Amalia as the Library/ to spend research leave in Athens in 2008, new challenges, but we have also learned
Archive team then did everything they 2012 and 2018. The latter two periods were new ways to keep in touch and John
could to support the academic — and with my children, Conor and Aidan. My and Michael have impressively increased
indeed feline — community and even husband, Brad, loves Greece and is hugely the BSA’s reach. I look forward to growing
though Penny and Sandra have retired, supportive of my work … not even being our networks and collaborations,
it’s wonderful that this is still strongly bitten by a viper in Andros has put him harnessing digital to amplify the School’s
embedded in this part of the School! off. The children have a deep affinity with work and opportunities, expanding
“The liveliness of the academic Greece, and love the archaeology and our traditional foci into cognate areas,
community at the BSA and Athens more mythology … however, as burgeoning and I cannot wait to get stuck into the
widely was the perfect motivation to teenagers, it is their job to be anti-parent community again and, after two very
think more innovatively about my PhD and so they attempt to disguise this in challenging years, continuing the work
research. I was lucky enough to work on everyday conversation. They are all looking of reinvigorating the BSA as we enter the
excavations in Corinth with Guy Sanders forward to moving to Athens. The cat and post-pandemic world!”
BSA People
Michael Loy
(Assistant Director 2019–22) “ Well over a thousand
students have come through
the BSA over the past five
“Having now passed the mid-point of my decades to explore Greek
”
term as Assistant Director, I have spent
the start of 2022 looking both forward
Antiquity ‘on the ground’
and back.
“The year began with the submission of fresh material, specifically to try out some
my monograph Connecting Communities: new ideas on Archaic-period labour rates
Economic and Political Networks in Archaic and ‘heavy freight’ transport at seminars
Greece. I’m really delighted that this work organised by Cardiff University and by our
is destined for the BSA’s Cambridge Early Iron Age Research Network. Many
University Press series ‘Studies in Greek thanks to James Whitley for an invitation
Antiquity’, and that the project I have to the former, and to Richard Phillips for
worked on since arriving in Athens has Michael speaking at the reunion celebrating 50 co-organising the latter.
now come to a close. Finishing it has years of the BSA’s Undergraduate Course ‘The “February was a time to look back,
Archaeology and Topography of Greece’
provided good headspace to work on celebrating in London fifty years since
2 www.bsa.ac.uk
The British School at Athens 2022 – June at
the first outing of our Undergraduate digitisation is being generously funded
Course ‘The Archaeology and Topography by the BSA Friends.
of Greece’. Well over a thousand students “As I write this, I am just about to depart
have come through the BSA over the past for Samos for a full season of the WASAP
five decades to explore Greek Antiquity project (see December 2021). After a
‘on the ground’, to be inspired and to mini-season in 2021, we are continuing
build lifelong friendships. Students from work between the modern settlements of
some of the first BSA courses taught Kampos and Marathokampos, exploring
by Robin Barber in the 1970s through the coastal hinterland of the island’s lesser-
to our most recent course alumni from known West. As we look back through the
2021 joined us for a special celebration at centuries at the history of occupation
Senate House in London, all celebrating on this mysterious and beautiful island,
the special role the BSA has played in their please look forward to a full field report in
Fieldwork in western Samos 2021: ‘analogue’
lives. As trailed in our previous newsletter, the next BSA newsletter!”
mapping
fond memories and photographs from
those who attended and taught the BSA
Undergraduate Course over the past Thessaly. Although distributed across Kenneth Arthur (St Andrews)
five decades have been collated into a three separate archives in Cambridge Hector and Elizabeth Catling
specially commissioned book: copies are and Athens, this material, important for Doctoral Award
“
still available through our London Office. the history of archaeology in Northern
“And a recently completed digital Greece, has now been reunited virtually The BSA library was the
humanities project has made us look and its contents can be read side-by- most fascinating thing to see,
back at the past in a forward-thinking side for the first time in nearly a century. coupled with the BSA’s serene
”
way. Undertaken in collaboration with The first set of five notebooks digitised
environment
the Archives of the Cambridge Faculty (funded by Cambridge Digital Humanities
of Classics and Pembroke College, our and launched on 23 May) includes three “After a 10-month wait due to Covid-19
project ‘Digital Thessaly’ is reuniting on volumes titled by Wace ‘The Romance of restrictions and visa delays, I finally
the BSA Digital Collections portal the Excavation’, covering work at the Neolithic arrived in Greece. The urge to visit
tell sites Rachmani, Tsangli and Zerelia; Greece for the first time since I began
research notebooks kept by Alan Wace
studying Classics in 2010 made my long
that formed the basis of his and Maurice a further set of notebooks will become
wait in the UK an even more uneasy one.
Thompson’s 1912 publication Prehistoric available in the new academic year. Their
I became impatient, and somewhere
in my mind, I wished I could teleport to
The BSA was delighted to offer for the first time in 2020–21 three new travel awards: Greece without needing a visa — but
the Hector and Elizabeth Catling Doctoral Award, the Vronwy Hankey Memorial that was impossible. I just had to hope
Travel Award for Pre-Doctoral Students and the Travel Award for Artists. The first restrictions were eased both in the UK
recipients share their experiences below: and Greece, and also to bide my time
waiting for a visa appointment from the
consulate of Greece in the UK.
“I finally arrived at the BSA in Spring
João Pedro Hallett 2022. I was warmly welcomed by
Cravinho (Edinburgh) Michael Loy (and some residents), who
Vronwy Hankey Memorial Travel then gave me a tour of the BSA. The
Award for Pre-Doctoral Students BSA library was the most fascinating
thing to see, coupled with the BSA’s
serene environment. Since an aspect
“In June 2021 I came to the BSA to
of my research has to do with finding
study Mycenaean burial practices and
inscriptions that proved the existence
travel widely in Greece: Attica, Boeotia,
and viability of regime change in classical
Phocis and the Peloponnese. The
The Temple of Poseidon at Sounion Greece, I spent considerable time in the
BSA welcomed me warmly and I was
overlooking the island Patroklos Library buried in epigraphic sources; and
delighted to be a part of this community
(J. P. Cravinho) I must say I was not disappointed.”
for a few weeks, exchanging ideas and
receiving all kinds of recommendations anthropology. Some of my guiding
for my travels. I fell in love with the BSA questions were: how does cultural
Library, spending many wonderful hours context condition the expression of grief?
there reading and studying the relation How are social relationships expressed
between Mycenaean and Near Eastern in the spatial organisation of the tholoi?
monumental architecture, diachronic What can expensive burial artefacts tell
and regional records of funerary remains, us about Mycenaean religious beliefs,
the interpretation of Mycenaean material social stratification and economies of
culture and the tentative elucidation of mourning? It was wonderful to take
mourning rituals in Bronze Age Greece these research questions with me as
through the approaches of modern I travelled to places I had previously
“
only read about. All these experiences
The BSA welcomed me constituted the best possible introduction
warmly and I was delighted to
”
to Greece and I am excited to return to Kenneth poses with Herodotos (?) in the Stoa
be a part of this community the BSA as soon as possible!” of Attalos in the Athenian Agora (K. Arthur)
www.bsa.ac.uk 3
at The British School at Athens 2022 – June
collections for Dionysiac theatrical
Zofia Guertin (St Andrews) performances, mythical narratives and
Travel Award for Artists ritual practice, to incorporate these
images within my comic.
“This award gave me the opportunity “I was able to explore the concepts
to dig through the excellent library of space and place to re-imagine the
collection to do the groundwork for ancient Athenian urban environment
creating my first chapter of an open- and how that guided the construction
access, educational webcomic, Ritualia. of ritual practice for the City Dionysia of
To do this, I explored the archaeological 405 BCE.
“
and artistic evidence for Athenian Ritualia, an open-access educational
representations of the cult of Dionysos webcomic (Z. Guertin)
This award enriched my
and its relationship to the Athenian PhD research and enhanced my
landscape. Each chapter of Ritualia will “The award enabled me to visit public engagement and outreach
explore the interplay between ritual archaeological sites and museums in the city
and local environments, so immersing to gather the iconographic materials to play
experience which I can continue
to shape and develop as my
”
myself in the landscape of Athens was with imagery from antiquity in a modern
fundamental for me to later represent it. digital art format. I reviewed vast pottery research interests grow
material for the first time. The BSA Library BSA Upper House seminar, providing a
Jane Rempel (Sheffield) was ideal, as I often had to follow obscure valuable opportunity to reflect on the
Visiting Fellow 2021–22 footnotes and compare descriptions and data collected, to receive useful feedback
images in multiple catalogue volumes. from colleagues and to focus my priorities
“Spending an extended period of time Having all the necessary books physically for the remainder of my visit.
at the BSA, with the luxury of time, close to hand proved invaluable and “As most of my research was library-
convenience of the Hostel flat and the there aren’t many libraries in the world based, I took the opportunity to clear
boon of unrestricted access to such that would have supported this kind of my head by exploring Athens, mostly on
excellent library facilities would be a research so effortlessly. foot. I arrived to a snowstorm and left in
“
pleasure in any circumstances but it was glorious sunshine; seeing the city erupt
particularly so from mid-January through Stimulating and free- in early spring greenery made my walks
early April this year. Stimulating and free- flowing conversations with all the more enjoyable. I found creating
flowing conversations with colleagues colleagues…, reconnecting new connections to people and places
at all career-stages, reconnecting with energising and it was a privilege to feel
the BSA and Athens, and diving into my
with the BSA and Athens, as though I had even a small place in the
research all felt particularly luxurious and diving into my city. Covid was still a concern, with masks
after the restrictions and difficulties of research all felt particularly mandatory indoors and out and proof of
”
the pandemic. luxurious vaccination needed to enter most public
“While at the BSA I started a new spaces, but that did not stop things;
project to contextualise the Athenian “The stelai date primarily to the protocols were well established at the
evidence for Black Sea trade during the 4th century BCE, with a few from the BSA and all but the coldest days were
late Classical/early Hellenistic period, 5th, and were found in, or have been warm enough to sit outside at restaurants
with a particular focus on the Black Sea associated with, the necropoleis of Greek (sometimes with many layers and cold
contexts of Athenian prestige goods settlements on all Black Sea coasts. The feet!). The Hostel was quiet for most
exported to the region, that will form part corpus is notable in several ways: it follows of my stay, but quantity was definitely
of a monograph on Black Sea networks in prevailing iconographic trends in general trumped by the excellent quality of my
the long 4th century BCE. The bulk of my but with notable absences of common company: Anna Judson, Tulsi Parikh,
time was focused on researching Classical Attic types (i.e. children); it suggests Rossana Valente and Mary Ikoniadou, Tom
Attic grave stelai found in the region, there was a particularly local and variable Bull, Ann Brysbaert (core member of the
whose export was limited, particularly engagement with Attic iconography; and BSA garden lunches and dear friend) and
in comparison to Attic pottery of the that multiple mechanisms for the export especially Marcella Giobbe and Dòmhnall
same period. In order to understand of material, (part)finished stelai and the Crystal, who went out of their way to make
consumption patterns of Athenian-style skill/knowledge of carving them were at me feel welcome in the Hostel and with
funerary stelai as a group, I compiled a play. Altogether my research indicates whom I shared many enjoyable evenings,
database of Attic and Atticising stelai that use of Attic and Atticising stelai in the full of stimulating discussions, laughter
from the Black Sea, bringing together this Black Sea was likely ad hoc, but they were and good food.”
consumed with a clear understanding of
the Athenian cultural context at a time
when monumentality in the funerary
realm was one outlet for elite display
and competition in the Black Sea region.
I presented my research as a virtual
Left: Continuing a series of Visiting Fellows’
Library desks (see June 2021), here is Jane’s!
Right: Jane enjoying a bracing outing on the
Pnyx in March
4 www.bsa.ac.uk
The British School at Athens 2022 – June at
“
on visual and material culture as well as
Mary Ikoniadou Above all, I have enjoyed periodical and Cold War studies, which
(Leeds School of Arts) the peaceful yet stimulating have largely omitted the role of printed
Early Career Fellow 2020–21 research environment at the matter in shaping Cold War cultures,
BSA, the excellent Library and while cross-overs and exchanges of
“I am grateful for the opportunity to spend material and knowledge has been absent
three months at the BSA. During this
the intellectual exchanges … from dominant narratives, particularly in
time, I have collected archival material with other researchers alongside relation to Southern Europe.
and conducted interviews with Greek the friendships I will cherish in “While at the BSA, I also co-organised
the future
”
magazine researchers and collectors with a colleague from Marburg University
as well as established international a two-day online workshop on the theme
contacts on the role of illustrated purpose of my research in Athens was to of ‘Politics of the Page: Visuality and
periodicals during the Cold War. The collect, photograph and study specific Materiality in Illustrated Periodicals Across
publications while identifying their role in Cold War Borders’ (politicsofthepage.com).
shaping (inter)national cultural identities Lastly, the luxury of space and time, away
and imaginings that transcended bipolar from academic pressures, has enabled
conceptions of the period. Magazines are me to write a journal article and a British
multi-layered visual and material objects Academy-Humboldt Foundation research
as well as containers and performers of grant application.
cultures, aesthetics and politics. They “Above all, I have enjoyed the peaceful
are held and passed around and, in their yet stimulating research environment
ephemerality, are able to reach locations at the BSA, the excellent Library and the
Mary in that often their readers cannot; hence they intellectual exchanges I had with other
the BSA are also material spaces of imagining. My researchers alongside the friendships I
garden
project seeks to contribute to scholarship will cherish in the future.”
century travellers described, for example, with scholars working on Athens and
Matthew Walker (QMUL) brick and ashlar vaulting on what they Greece in the Ottoman period, as well
Early Career Fellow 2021–22 thought were ancient Greek temples, they as architectural historians of the ancient
were actually looking at Roman gymnasia world. On a personal level, it was also a
“Being at the BSA was an enormous or baths. I was also able to make numerous huge privilege to re-introduce scholarship
privilege and gave me the opportunity visits to sites and continue this process on early modern British architecture into
to immerse myself in the world of early- of decoding early modern accounts the BSA. The BSA’s first Director, Francis
modern architecturally minded travellers of ancient buildings. I spent a hugely Cranmer Penrose, was a major figure in
to Athens and the Eastern Mediterranean. rewarding day on Delos, following Spon, Wren studies (as Surveyor to the Fabric of
Although my interest in the earliest Western Wheler, and Tournefort’s route through St Paul’s), and I often felt his presence on
European accounts of Greek buildings the island, found the late Hellenistic days spent in the Penrose Library.
dates back over a decade, the three gymnasium that they, of course, thought “I am now writing the book and seeking
months I spent in Kolonaki laid substantial was a 5th-century BCE temple. I also a contract. When finished, it will, I hope,
foundations for my second book visited Naxos, Paros, Aegina, and Corinth. fundamentally re-align our understanding
completely devoted to early British and “It was at Corinth that I began to of Western European architectural
French engagement with ancient Greek formulate what is likely to be the crucial engagement with the ancient world prior
buildings prior to the Greek Revival proper. argument of my book: that in spite of all to the 19th century. It will also significantly
Doing this in situ shaped the direction of my the mistakes that these travellers made in impact our knowledge of British and
thinking on what I am beginning to term their accounts they began to ask the same French buildings from the period. None
‘the Prehistory of the Revival’. questions that later travellers such as Leroy, of this would have been possible without
“
Stuart and Revett would answer and, in the generosity of the BSA.”
My time in Athens was … the process, created the conditions for
of enormous use in making the Greek Revival to commence. Spon, for
scholarly connections
”
example, wondered whether the Temple
of Apollo at Corinth might have been older
“In the BSA I was able to use the fabulous than the great temples of Athens, due to
George Finlay collection, particularly its strange proportions. Historians have
its immaculately preserved copies of traditionally assigned the stylistic dating
texts crucial to my research. I was able of buildings to the 1760s and beyond.
to consult George Wheler’s Journey into Likewise I returned to Thomas Vernon and
Greece (1682), Jacob Spon’s Voyage d’Italie, his unpublished travel journal, and was
de Dalmatie, de Grèce… (1679), Joseph able to read it in situ on the Acropolis (as
Pitton de Tournefort’s Relation d’un Voyage he had once read Vitruvius in the same
du Levant (1717) and cross-reference spot). I contend in the book that he began
their accounts with the BSA’s extensive to disentangle Greek architecture from the
collection of archaeological site reports to Roman norm nearly a hundred years before
build up a thorough picture of just what Leroy supposedly began that process.
they were actually describing when they “My time in Athens was also of
visited sites across the Greek world. So enormous use in making scholarly Matthew in front of the Temple of Aphaia on
Aegina
I was able to establish that when 17th- connections. I am now in regular contact
www.bsa.ac.uk 5
at The British School at Athens 2022 – June
“I am also working on an article
Anna P. Judson presenting the results of my investigation
(Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow of the methods by which Linear B tablets
2020–22) were made, combining autopsy of the
“My Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, Pylos tablets in the National Archaeological
funded under the European Union’s Museum Athens with experimental
Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation work creating my own tablets in the
Programme ends soon. As part of Fitch Laboratory. These experimental
my project Writing at Pylos (WRAP): recreations have enabled me to explore
palaeography, tablet production, and the the possible reasons why tablet-makers
work of the Mycenaean scribes, I have (who might or might not have been the
researched various aspects of writing same person as the tablet’s writer) chose
practices in the Linear B administrative different methods to make tablets; in my
texts from Late Bronze Age Pylos. This article I use these results to reflect on the Anna on a
recent visit
included completing an analysis of relationship between the ‘writing’ stage of to Mycenae
spelling variation in the Pylian texts, the process of creating a Linear B text and
begun during my previous postdoctoral the less-studied but equally crucial ‘making’ Classical Committee’s Wikipedia editing
position at Gonville & Caius College stage. I recently presented this work (in project (#WCCWiki) to improve the public
Cambridge. In a recently-published article person!) at the UK Classical Association representation of women and non-binary
“
in the Cambridge Classical Journal, I show people in Classics and Archaeology. I’ve
I hope I’ll be back in Athens
”
that in certain circumstances spelling been focusing in particular on Greek
variation is entirely normal, even within for plenty of future visits! archaeologists, who are often less well-
the work of a single writer or in the represented in Anglophone scholarship
same word. Rather than being due to Conference in Swansea as part of the panel as well as on English-language Wikipedia,
the existence of different orthographic ‘Experimenting with the past’, which I with the result that two of the first Greek
traditions, taught to separate groups organised to showcase the range of uses of women to work as archaeologists — Anna
of writers (as has previously been experimental archaeology to shed light on Apostolaki and Semni Karouzou — now
argued), this variation implies a single the prehistoric and classical Mediterranean have official ‘Good Articles’ and have been
set of orthographic training practices in world. I’m also creating outreach resources featured on the Wikipedia homepage.
which writers learned multiple spelling to share the results of my research more I’m also very much looking forward to
options, and an attitude that use of any widely — watch this space for materials for teaching on the BSA’s postgraduate course
or all of these was acceptable. I recently school activities on making and writing on Linear B in July as a fitting way to round
presented this work, along with my Linear B tablets, coming soon! off my time at the BSA, before I move on to
ongoing analysis of handwriting variation “Being at the BSA has also enabled me to a position as Assistant Professor (Teaching)
in the Pylos texts and its possible similar take part in a wide range of other activities, in Classics at the University of Durham —
implications for scribal training there, in from visiting sites (including Mycenae!) to but I hope I’ll be back in Athens for plenty
the BSA’s Upper House Seminar. continuing my work with the UK Women’s of future visits!”
to observe and understand the continuity
Timothée Ogawa or discontinuity of these phenomena in the
(PlaCe ITN Early-Stage Researcher) light of cultural mobility and interactions.
“Following in the footsteps of my
“As a first-year PhD candidate at the supervisor, Evangelia Kiriatzi, I have begun
University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne to study the ceramic assemblage from
and as ESR12 of the PlaCe Project hosted the Toumba Thessalonikis excavations of
by the BSA, I arrived in September to begin the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
my research on ‘Culinary traces of the Although challenged, I am enthusiastic and
past in late 2nd and early 1st millennium thrilled to be back in the field.
BC in Central Macedonia’ which uses an “Thanks to the PlaCe-ITN fellowship I will
interdisciplinary approach to examine the be based at the Fitch Laboratory for the
culinary practices of ancient Macedonian next three years. After many lockdowns
communities based on their material Timothée in the storeroom of the Toumba and curfews, being here for a fresh start
culture. I aim to establish a definition of the excavations (Thessaloniki) has been a pure joy and personal and
cooking ware repertoire and its evolution academic enrichment. The facilities here,
through time and across space; a category “Northern Greece, unlike the rest of in the heart of Athens, offer a wonderful
of ceramic — like other domestic wares — Greece, has received less interest from environment for research on Prehistoric
too often disregarded in previous studies, archaeologists and has been perceived Greece and ceramic studies.
“
while being the most deeply embedded as a periphery of the Mycenaean world,
in the household sphere. In order to not as an autonomous region. We hope I couldn’t have hoped for a
identify the batterie de cuisine, technology, our ongoing research will help define a better place to begin this long
function(s) and cultural interactions related clearer picture of past daily life and cooking journey than to be in such an
to this material, I am studying ceramic practices by determining: the ceramic
assemblages, primarily from the settlement traditions and manufacturing techniques,
immersive environment and
surrounded by such a vivid
”
of Toumba Thessalonikis, chemically, their provenance, the food they contained
macro- and microscopically. and how they functioned. Finally, we aspire and hearty community
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The British School at Athens 2022 – June at
including movement through that space.
Tulsi Parikh Emphasis on the materiality of space and
(A.G. Leventis Fellow in Hellenic movement highlights the dynamic and
Studies 2021–24) changeable aspects of Greek religion.
“I have so far divided my time between
“I returned to the BSA in October, having researching in the BSA Library, studying
previously been a Student in 2018–19. sanctuary site plans and maps, and
My broad research aim is to bring a more attending seminars at other foreign
materially aware approach to the study schools, and visiting sanctuary sites
of ancient Greek religion (with a focus elsewhere, such as Olympia and the
on the Archaic to Hellenistic periods) Amphiareion at Oropos. The BSA’s
by examining the variations of religious rich resources have allowed me to hit
thought and experience reflected in the the ground running, while the wider
archaeological record. More specifically, community of scholars in Athens has
I examine the interactions between given me the opportunity for many Tulsi visiting Olympia
worshippers and the sacred environment, enjoyable and fruitful conversations. I
including the built sanctuary and wider have also been able to carry out essential “I have also been working towards
religious landscape, to understand better ‘on the ground’ research — always a preparing my doctoral research for
how religious experience was subject particular highlight of being based in publication in the form of three chapters
to the when? where? and how? of ritual Athens. I am excited to go to Samos later in edited volumes, the first of which will
activity. Crucial to the project is not only this summer, where I will map the route appear this year (‘Polytheism and the
a focus on the definition of the sanctuary to and around the Heraion, considering, Distribution of Votives in the Corinthia’ in
as a place where humans encountered for example, lines of sight and exploring H. Beck and J. Kindt (eds), Local Horizons
the divine, but also an investigation of other landscape analyses. of Ancient Greek Religion [Cambridge
human interaction with sacred space, “In this way, I am hoping to combine University Press]), as well as a monograph
“
different forms of data — architectural, on patterns of votive dedication across
The rich resources at the spatial, survey, but also experiential Archaic Greece.
BSA have allowed me to and embodied — to gain a more “I am also more broadly interested
holistic picture of sacred space, which in the development of accessibility
hit the ground running, brings proximal religious knowledge within classical archaeology, in relation
while the wider community more clearly into the picture. How did both to museum collections and the
of scholars in Athens has worshippers move towards and through diversity of voices within the field. With
given me the opportunity for the sanctuary? How did they cognitively Dr Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis (St Andrews)
and physically experience the space, I am planning a workshop on this theme
many enjoyable and fruitful
”
and to what extent did this experience of material culture and inclusivity for
conversations change spatially and temporally? Summer 2023.”
“ from my first day I have
creation of a digital archive that will
Michalis Sotiropoulos go fully live in 2024 and will include
(1821 Fellow in Modern Greek original items from the unpublished
been welcomed by friendliness,
Studies 2021–24) archives of Captain Frank Abney Hastings good humour, intellectual
(1794–1828) and Scottish volunteer and openness and a collaborative
spirit
”
“My appointment at the BSA could not historian George Finlay (1799–1875) with
have been more timely for me, as I had commentary that will be fully searchable;
just completed a research project on an international conference Philhellenism conference to be published in the BSA’s
Greek Liberalism after the Revolution: The and the Greek Revolution of 1821: Towards Modern Greek & Byzantine Studies series.
Intellectual Foundations of the Greek state, a Global History in Athens in March “Although I expected the rigour and
ca 1830–1880 (published by Cambridge 2023; and a volume of essays from the the thoroughness with which the project
University Press later this year) and was team has been working, what I did not
looking to devote myself completely to expect was the familial atmosphere I
my ‘other’ research passion: the study of found. Indeed, from my first day I have
the Greek Revolution of 1821. From the been welcomed by friendliness, good
moment I saw the job advert, I thought: humour, intellectual openness and a
what better place to pursue my research collaborative spirit. ‘Gay science at its
passion than the BSA, in a project so well best’, as some old German philosopher
designed from its very conception? would have put it. To be sure, the building
“The project Unpublished Archives of and its surroundings do make such an
British Philhellenism During the Greek atmosphere possible; but it would have
Revolution of 1821 aims to shed new light been utterly impossible actually to make
on the relationship between Philhellenism it a reality if it wasn’t for the BSA people
and the Greek Revolution of 1821, in — John, Roddy, Amalia and in particular
collaboration with the National Library the Library and administrative staff (Evi,
of Greece and with generous support Evgenia, Tom, Maria, Tania, Vicki, Nathan)
Michalis at work in the Map Room examining with whom I have been working closely.
from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
archival materials
Upcoming highlights include: the The good thing is that I have only started!”
www.bsa.ac.uk 7
at The British School at Athens 2022 – June
Left: The three BSA
Students in 2021–22:
(L–R) Marcella Giobbe,
Dòmhnall Crystal and
Rossana Valente
Right: Marcella at work in
the Fitch Laboratory
assemblages resulted in the selection of
Marcella Giobbe 420 samples for further laboratory analysis
(Macmillan-Rodewald student to address questions of provenance and
2021–22) technology. This integrated approach uses
petrography alongside elemental analysis
“I arrived in October to complete my (WD-XRF), as well as targeted Scanning the possibility to be part of a stimulating
doctoral thesis Understanding Greek Electron Microscopy. A programme of intellectual and social environment. I had
Colonisation through material culture: geological sampling and analysis has been the chance to discuss with colleagues
pottery production and consumption undertaken to use the same analytical and specialists based here, who provided
in Campania during the 8th and the techniques to record and characterise the feedback and enriched my research
7th c. BC, which aims to understand locally available raw materials, providing horizons and academic networks beyond
how material culture was employed a basis for comparison with the samples. my expectations. I am grateful to the BSA
“
to promote new social and economic community for providing a welcoming,
relations during the formative stages of The most thrilling aspect of supportive and conducive environment.
the Greek ‘colonisation’ in the Campania my experience at the BSA … has Special thanks go to the office staff, the
region (Italy), and how the process librarians and the Fitch secretary and
of ‘colonisation’ was materialised been the possibility to be part of technicians, who have been eager to
a stimulating intellectual and
”
in the ontologies of the ‘colonisers’ help, demonstrating their professional
and the ‘colonised’. By revisiting the social environment commitment throughout, always in a
pottery assemblages of the 12th to friendly and positive atmosphere.
the 7th centuries BCE from key sites “My stay here has been crucial for the “Athens is a never-ending source
associated with the ‘Greek colonisation’ completion of my research. At the Fitch, of cultural enrichment. Astonishing
(Pithekoussai and Cumae), I offer a I carried out a significant part of the museum collections and archaeological
material-based assessment of the ‘Pre- integrated analytical programme. The remains coexist with one of the most
Hellenic’ to ‘Early Colonial’ archaeology use of its equipment and protocols active and vibrant artistic and music
of Campania through an innovative and allowed me to produce results scenes in Europe. I have been actively
multidisciplinary approach focused on comparable with its reference collections, involved in the Athenian intellectual and
the study of technological transfer with a including archaeological pottery and raw social community, attending lectures,
diachronic perspective. materials from Greek sites traditionally exhibitions and improving my knowledge
“A science-based analytical programme associated with the ‘Greek colonisation’ of modern Greek. Also, despite Covid-19,
has been designed to reconstruct and of Campania. The Library also provided the presence of other archaeological
understand reproduction of local pottery a unique source of relevant publications schools provided plentiful occasions
traditions, the dynamics of interaction on theory/methods and material/ for social and academic gatherings
and ‘hybridisation’ in the ‘colonial’ archaeology. In addition, I have had the and events, always in a multicultural
environment, as well as mobility of chance to visit relevant archaeological stimulating environment. There has been
products and transfer of technologies sites and museums. no better place to work on my doctorate
between Campania and mainland Greece. “The most thrilling aspect of my and I hope that my future life will always
The in-depth macroscopic analysis of the experience at the BSA, however, has been bring me back to the BSA and to Athens.”
develop our understanding of the unique
Dòmhnall Crystal types of material identities created as
(Richard Bradford McConnell Student a result of cohabitation between local
2021–22) populations and Greek-speakers. The
study compares tomb architecture,
“As a postdoctoral researcher from Cardiff, domestic assemblages and inscriptions
I came to explore a topic that formed part from several well-published sites
of my doctoral research, specifically an (Maroneia, Mesemvria-Zone, Gazoros
examination of the material relationships and Samothrace) to appreciate the
between local populations and Greek-
speaking settlements on the north
Aegean coast from the 8th to the 4th Dòmhnall examining inscriptions in the
centuries BCE. This research is essential to Athenian Agora (M. Giobbe)
8 www.bsa.ac.uk
The British School at Athens 2022 – June at
extent of both local material variabilities accommodate the incoming Asia Minor to converse with colleagues who shared
and cultural symbiosis which may have refugees. Deliberations concerning Ali experience of working on similar topics.
amounted to a unique ‘Greek-Thracian’ were long and protracted, lasting many As a long-term resident, it also presented
cultural identity. years after the initial exchange. Luckily, an excellent opportunity to meet a broad
“Another portion of my time was spent however, he was spared extradition, spectrum of fascinating people. The
in the Archive researching a different but at considerable cost. Through new hybrid seminars and conferences the
type of complex identity: the Muslim archival research my work explored BSA ran were also great opportunities
workmen at Knossos, in particular, Ali both the overlooked voices of Muslim to hear more about exciting current
Basitaki. As a Muslim myself living in the workmen at Knossos before 1923 and, research being conducted across modern
BSA, I was eager to discover similar and importantly, how institutions like the History, Classics and Archaeology.
diverse voices from the BSA’s past. One BSA became entangled with the larger Overall, I can say I have been lucky and
such case was Ali Basitaki: a Greek Muslim social upheavals of the Greek state. privileged to have been granted another
in Crete who eventually became foreman “Aside from making my research stint at the BSA, one that I shall not forget
at Knossos, yet whose religious identity possible, the BSA also offered an any time soon.
dragged him into a political impasse excellent environment for further study;
“ As I return to the UK after
during the 1923 population exchange. my projects made extensive use of
On one side, the BSA and legal bodies site reports and literature in the vast
like the British Legation were trying to collections of the Library and Archive.
a tremendous six months, I
retain Ali at Knossos for his invaluable Being here has made it possible for me can only thank the BSA for the
service to the excavations. Meanwhile, to study and engage with key literature generosity and kindness of the
wonderful people I met here
”
the Greek state made every attempt to otherwise unavailable to me in the UK.
deport him and liquidate his property to Living here also provided a fruitful setting
collaborated with Greek Archaeological
Rossana Valente Service archaeologists working in the
(Richard Bradford McConnell Student town, an intellectually fruitful interaction.
2021–22) My second tenure allows me to conduct
a pilot analytical study to complement
“After the previous unconventional the typological analysis and to define
academic year spent in a strangely quiet the ceramic fabrics using petrographic
Athens in full lockdown, this year is one of analysis in collaboration with Fitch
recommencement. A second studentship Director Evangelia Kiriatzi. Working with
year has allowed me to conduct field and her and Zoe Zgouleta in Sparta has been
laboratory work planned for my post- thrilling and it has definitely enriched my
doctoral research, but impossible during approach to Medieval ceramic study.
the previous 12 months. “Among varied human activities
“My project focuses on the documented in the theatre, the 2008
development of the Post-Antique excavation season shed light on a
settlement in the area of the Roman complex sequence behind the theatre,
Theatre in Sparta. Between 1924 and 1928 including a Middle Byzantine multiple
A. M. Woodward directed excavation of burial. Interestingly, the early excavation
the orchestra area and, following the diaries of Woodward, Wilkes, and Waywell
Evangelia Kiriatzi and Zoe Zgouleta sampling
research methodologies of that time, ceramics in Sparta (with Rossana Valente)
also mention multiple burials in the area
sought to uncover the monumental of the orchestra and the stoa. Funerary
structures of the Roman theatre. In the practices and rituals related to the afterlife
1990s Profs Wilkes and Waywell resumed Morgan’s 2008 excavations investigated were further topics I was able to study this
excavations in the orchestra area and the later use of the upper koilon in order year. I have had the opportunity to share
systematically reconstructed the to define the extent of the settlement this topic, among others, interacting with
stratigraphy of two deep sections located in the orchestra area and relate it to that an international group of students, from
at the edges of the 1920s excavation, of the hilltop area in Late Antique and the BSA Undergraduate Summer Course
further documenting the Post-Antique Byzantine times. to postgraduates of German, Greek and
phases of occupation. Finally Prof. Cathy “Set within this long history of British universities.
“
research, my project aims to analyse the “Last but not least, this year has given
All this makes the ceramic evidence in order to investigate me the chance to experience the BSA’s
BSA a unique lifetime the process by which the theatre was international life to the full. With a more
abandoned and how the theatre and the regular lifestyle and seminars and lectures
experience, ideal not only surrounding areas were reused in the run as hybrid events, international scholars
to conduct archaeological Late Antique and Byzantine periods. This and researchers are finally travelling to
research but also to enrich year I was able to complete the chrono- Athens. All this makes the BSA a unique
typological study, full quantification and lifetime experience, ideal not only to
our own life experiences in the identification of fabric groups of the conduct archaeological research but also
a dynamic and thriving
”
ceramic material from the BSA excavations to enrich our own life experiences in a
environment stored in Sparta. I have also met and dynamic and thriving environment.”
www.bsa.ac.uk 9
at The British School at Athens 2022 – June
in the sphinx, satire, centaur, Chimera,
W.K. Lyhne siren, griffin, Scylla, or Melissa is of
(BSA Arts Bursary holder 2021–22) enormous value.
“This spring the garden at the BSA was
“As an unfunded practice-based PhD full of blue-black irises. Their shapes are
candidate at the University of the Arts complex, vulva-like with hidden folds,
London whose life is full of commitments, only revealing themselves on intimate
my stay at the BSA has, for the first looking. Their colour is so dark, their
time in my life, allowed me to work shadows are tinted. The flowers leak blue
uninterrupted. It has been an opportunity black ink, sometimes even freely dripping.
to travel within Greece and meet When expired their intense black curled
individuals connected with my research. petals are placenta-like, still crammed
I was pleased to meet Dimitris Plantzos, full of bleeding ink. I have been painting
these with all the immediacy necessary in
frequent and fleeting oil sketches and this
will emerge fulsomely and importantly
Above: W.K. Lyhne and Ian Collins, lead curator into my PhD chapters on the Virgin Mary.
of John Craxton. A Greek Soul at the Benaki Happily, despite Brexit, the placement
Museum; Left: W.K. Lyhne ‘Iris Study no.4’. Oil on here is long enough to allow for more
Canvas 18 x 24cm than one strand of research to emerge
and develop. Benjamin Britten bought
Professor of Classical Archaeology at the a harp manual and a book of poems
National and Kapodistrian University of in Halifax, Nova Scotia, when his boat
Athens, who guided me in some of my stopped for refuelling, on his way back to
researches and shortcut many dead ends. Europe after some years in America. With
On a recent visit to the Benaki Museum, it, he composed what I think is his best
we saw the work of John Craxton and met work, A Ceremony of Carols.
“
the lead curator of the show, Ian Collins.
“My study here has concerned the This sequestration that my time
animal–human hybridity that flourished here at the BSA has given me allows
so well throughout Classical Greece. As for such cross-media serendipity to
my research concerns the image of an
flourish and I am more grateful for
”
animal (the lamb — the ‘Agnus Dei’), the
development in the hybridity shown it than I can express!
The Library
The BSA Library has remained open to entered on EMu will go through quality the library holds around 1,600 map
members and readers following all health control by the Library staff, who will also sheets and was completed also thanks
protocols. Library users often expressed carry out data entry. to the effort of another volunteer, Ian
gratitude that we offered a safe and also Perhaps the most notable project of Knight, who checked some coordinate
flexible study environment, as the Library this year was the map work carried out data and added site names to several
never introduced an appointment system. by Deborah Harlan, who, with much map records. Ian started volunteering
Thomas R. Bull (Oxford) joined the excitement, generously offered her in the Library in September 2021 and,
Library team in October 2021 as the first time to develop the map browsing as well as working with the map
holder of the full-time Library/Archive tool created last year. Debi created full collection, he also catalogued pamphlets
Internship, dividing his time between records for all maps (including the rare from the Clogg collection donated to the
both departments. He helped the Library ones), checked coordinate data, listed BSA in 2018.
with classification, preparing and shelving maps under their series and produced As a member of the Committee for the
material, made recommendations for new an extremely useful finding aid. This Support of Libraries — Synergasia — in
numismatic publications and helped to was an enormous project given that November the BSA Library co-organised
clean up aerial photograph data. Most
importantly, Tom got to know the Library
material and explored George Finlay’s
annotations in his book collection, thus
opening a new research path.
This has been a year of data
stewardship in the BSA and the Library
was no exception. We worked closely
with ARIADNE+ Data Manager Anastasia
Vassiliou and IT Officer Nathan Meyer
who helped us make the most of the data
stored in EMu and find optimal ways for
data extraction for statistics. Since data Left: Tom Bull at Delphi; Above: Deborah Harlan (L)
quality is important it is now agreed and Ian Knight examine a bioclimatic map of the
that all bibliographic and citation data Mediterranean
10 www.bsa.ac.ukThe British School at Athens 2022 – June at
the committee’s second virtual event Commentators on Aristotle in memory
‘Innovation, Tools, and Services for of her late husband Nicholas Egon. Her
Libraries: the COVID-19 Challenge — personal library included a variety of
Part 2’. The event included lectures by books spanning Archaeology to modern
three former IFLA presidents and the Greek history and from shipping to poetry
president of the Association of Greek and art. We selected 140 volumes from the
Librarians and Information Scientists, collection and we are enormously grateful
plus a round table discussion. There were to Matti’s daughter Stamatia Cottakis for
over 350 attendees. her consideration. Stamatia later returned
On 31 May the annual Michael Frede to offer some theses completed by GACUK-
Memorial Lecture took place as a hybrid funded scholars, some of which were not
event. Prof. Lesley Brown (Oxford) gave a available in institutional repositories. We
talk titled ‘Self-sufficiency in Aristotle and much appreciate the donation.
others: what’s so good about Autarkeia?’. Dr John Sellars offered some
Frede Lecture 2022: Katerina Ierodiakonou
The BSA librarians met with ASCSA more recent titles from the Ancient
(L) and Lesley Brown (R) in front of the Upper
librarians (Blegen and Gennadius) in House before the lecture Commentators on Aristotle series,
October 2021 and May 2022 to discuss following his Greek Philosophy seminars
issues concerning the union catalogue, As always, the Library is immensely co-organised with the Centre for Research
Ambrosia, maintained by both institutions. grateful to its donors. This year we were in Greek Philosophy of the Academy of
These meetings are highly beneficial so thrilled to be offered the library of the Athens. Other donations were received
the three participating libraries agree on late BSA Friend and long-time supporter from several individuals including Mary
common standards and ensure that the Matti Xylas-Egon. In the past, Matti had Wallbank, Anna Stellatou, Roderick
data produced are of the highest quality. offered 65 volumes of the series Ancient Beaton and John Bennet.
“
“As the first holder of the post, my day- My time at the BSA this year
Thomas Bull to-day work includes the BSA Archive
(Library/Archive Intern 2021–22) collections in addition to the traditional has proved equally momentous,
making a modernist of the former
”
Library role. I have gained a variety of
“I first came to the BSA on the 2019 experience, as a result: in digital humanities, classicist
Undergraduate Course, and it has been cataloguing, and collections management,
a privilege to return formally as the first for example. But it is also through this cross- à-vis his attitude towards America.
‘new style’ Library and Archive Intern. section of the BSA’s extensive collections Weaving together an intricate web of
With a background in Ancient History and that I have had an intensely rewarding correspondence and book marginalia,
Classical Archaeology, my time in Greece encounter with modern Greek history. I have attempted to unpick his
before taking up my position was defined Two figures have left the most profound interpretation of Early and Antebellum
by its classical past; the year at the BSA impressions: Lord Byron (1788–1824) and America — a perspective that proves
has led to a seismic shift. George Finlay (1799–1875). particularly illuminating regarding his
“My fascination with Byron is no surprise view of Pre- and Post-Revolutionary
to anyone who knows me, but being at the Greece. It is only through the generosity
BSA has allowed me to come face-to-face of the BSA — and the support of its other
with him in a way I hadn’t thought possible. staff members — that this work has
Reading letters written in his own hand been possible, and it is them to whom I
and handling books that accompanied attribute what will (hopefully) become my
him to Missolonghi are inherently intimate first publication.
ways to approach his time in Greece. Byron “I often credit the Undergraduate
is no longer an elusive name, but a tangible Course with my desire to pursue a
figure reaching out from the past — a Master’s, which I completed at Oxford
conduit through which I have delved into last year. My time at the BSA this year
The Byron the history of the early Greek state. has proved equally momentous, making
Monument, “In a similar vein, I have been researching a modernist of the former classicist and
Athens
Finlay using the BSA’s collection outside confirming my desire to pursue doctoral
(T. Bull)
my working hours, particularly vis- study in the USA accordingly.”
Archive
It was really great to welcome researchers Ward for upload to our EMu Collection
and interns back to the BSA Archive after Management System and Digital
the easing of Covid restrictions. We had a Collections platform, with the assistance
very productive and interesting year with of the IT Officer, ARIADNE+ Data Manager
new faces and new projects! and the Archivist. He also undertook a
Thomas Bull was the first Library/ variety of other tasks: he inventoried
Archive Intern (see above). His main new accessions and Corporate Records,
project was to work on digitisation and assisted in the re-storage of new
migration of finding aids for the Personal collections, produced digitisation
Papers of Humfry Payne, Winifred Lamb, workflows for various collections as well
Vincent Desborough, A. H. S Megaw, Ellen as in-house digitisation, and assisted in
MARM interns Tereza Ward (L) and Kate Wilson
Cobden Sickert, and Michael and Avra checking for archival inclusions in the
www.bsa.ac.uk 11You can also read
