Field-work
Kephalonia. A survey in the western part of the Ionian island, directed by Professor Klavs Randsborg from the
University of Copenhagen, was begun under the sponsorship of the
Swedish Institute in 1992, and continued by the Danish Institute with campaigns in 1993 and 1994. The project included measurings of the ancient town of Same.
Kattavia in Southern Rhodes. In June 1994, a survey was conducted by the Danish Institute in co-operation with the
National Museum of Copenhagen and the Ephorate of the Dodekanese (represented by Dr. Effy Karantzaly) in the valley around the village of Kattavia in Southern Rhodes. In the area of 5 km2, which was investigated under the direction of dr.phil. Soeren Dietz with mag.art. Mette Korsholm as field director, the ancient polis was located, as was an important workshop of amphorae. The material documented that the valley had been inhabited from the Neolithic period until early Christian times, as well as later. Assistant curator John Lund works on the ceramics. The investigation was financed by Goesta
Enboms Foundation.
Kato Vasiliki, the ancient Chalkis of Aitolia. In co-operation with the ephorate of Patras, the Danish Institute conducts surveys and excavations near the village of Kato Vassiliki on the northern coast of the Corinthian golf and facing
Patras. The investigations are directed by the former director of the Institute,
Director, dr. phil. Soeren Dietz, and the former ephor of Patras, Keeper of National Antiquities Dr.
Lazaros Kolonas, with Dr. Iannis Moschos,
the Ephorate of Patras, and Curator, Dr. Sanne Houby-Nielsen, Medelhavsmuseet,
Stockholm, as field directors. The efforts have been concentrated partly on the locality of Pangali on the eastern slope of Mount Vassova, and partly on the hill of Aghia Triadha, named after its large early Byzantine Basilica. In 1995, the two already known classical fortification walls in Pangali were cleaned and measured, and an intensive survey revealed that the area between the walls had never been inhabited for a longer period except for a late Neolithic settlement, the excavations of which was initiated in 1996. In 1996-1998, the Byzantine and Classical fortification walls surrounding the hill of AghiaTriadha were cleaned and measured, and foundations
of Classical and Hellenistic houses, primarily situated outside these walls, were excavated and measured. A trial trench made in 1998 on the east side of the hill revealed both rich pre-historic layers (Late Neolithic to Late Bronze), in a depth of c. 4 m, and layers from the Geometric
till the Hellenistic period and from Byzantine times. Geological investigations made in 1997-1998 in the Bay of Kato Vassiliki indicate that the ancient harbour was situated just west of the hill of Aghia Triadha.
In 2000 a rich Hellenistic tomb was excavated. In addition, what is believed to
be an altar was discovered. Therefore it was decided to carry on with the
project in 2001, and it is expected to continue in 2002.
The project is financed by Goesta Enboms Foundation and the Carlsberg
Foundation.
Calydon. In 2001 the Institute embarked
upon a new survey and excavation project in ancient Calydon in Aitolia, where
the well-known Danish archaeologist and art historian Frederik Poulsen took part
in excavations years ago. The investigations are directed by the former director of the Institute,
Director, dr. phil. Soeren Dietz, in collaboration with the
Keeper of National Antiquities Dr. Lazaros Kolonas. Field Director is, among
others, Curator, Dr. Sanne Houby-Nielsen, Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm.
The project is financed by Goesta Enboms Foundation and the Carlsberg Foundation.
Piraeus, the Zea Harbour Project (www.zeaharbourproject.dk).
Classical archaeologist Bjørn Lovén directs the combined terrestrial and
marine archaelogical investigations of the ancient Zea Harbour in Piraeus. The
project is carried out with kind permission and assistance of The Ephorate of
Underwater Antiquities under the supervision of Dr. Kourkoumelis. The land
excavation is carried out in cooperation with Dr. Steinhauer, Ephor of The
Second Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. Columns drums from the
Zea ship-sheds have been investigated with kind permission and assistance of The
Hellenic Maritime Museum. RPM Nautical Foundation is the principal sponsor of
the project. In addition the project has received funds from The Eleni Nakou
Foundation and The Velux Foundation. Mr. Richard Anderson and The Agora
Excavations have kindly assisted the project with their survey expertise
and equipment.
The construction of the Kantharos, Zea and Mounychia harbours in Piraeus were
begun under the archonship of Themistokles in 493/492 B.C. In the late classical
period the Zea Harbour had capacity of 196 warships, and it was Athens most
important naval harbour. Zea housed a large part of the Athenian fleet, the
basis of power for the Athenian democracy.
The primary aim of the project is to investigate the architecture and function
of the Zea ship-shed complex, which represents one of the largest and most
demanding building programs in the classical period. The Zea ship-sheds are
vital for understanding the dimentions of the Athenian trireme, since no wrecks
of ancient warships have been found. The trireme is the most important ancient
warship and it saw action in the Mediterranean for more than a thousand years.
The trireme was the key element in the Greek naval victory over the Persians at
Salamis in 480 BC - in all probability the most important sea battle in the
history of the western civilization.
In addition the underwater investigations of the ship-sheds and other ancient
harbour structures will add considerably to the understanding of the topography
of the ancient Zea Harbour.
Pilion Cave Project.
In 2005, The Pilion Cave Project was established as a collaborative initiative
between The Danish Institute at Athens and The Ephorate Palaeoanthropology &
Speleology at Northern Greece under the Greek Ministry of Culture. From the
Danish part the project is directed by Ph.d. Niels H. Andreasen. The aim of the
project is to explore the economic, functional, historical, and spiritual use
and meaning of caves from mainly the Byzantine and Ottoman periods until the
present. Pastoral activities in caves and aspects of local or even regional
history, knowledge, and folklore are seldom recorded systematically. Although
traces and first-hand knowledge of cave uses are rapidly disappearing with the
economic transformation of Greek society, caves are still potentially valuable
indicators of changes in local and regional economies and pastoral organisation.
A specific goal of the project is to investigate the archaeological consequences
of activities in and around caves. This provides a possibility to evaluate
archaeologically how to interpret and explain pastoral and other activities and
their archaeological signatures.
The applied methodology includes archaeological survey, systematic collection of
artefacts from the cave floors, local history research, and interviews with
local informers. The investigations on the Pilion Mountain in 2006 and 2007
located 115 caves and rockshelters and gathered a rich ethnographic material.
Based on the data from the last two field seasons a model is being constructed
to show how changes in rural economy and increasing industrialisation in
combination with social changes and significant historic events trigger
particular responses in cave use.
The survey project is funded by The Institute of
Aegean Prehistory, The Costopoulos Foundation,
Queen Margrethe II Archaeological Foundation,
and The Augustinus Foundation.
©1999-2001 Steamship
Company Denmark. Alle rettigheder forbeholdes.
Det Danske Institut i Athen / The Danish Institute At Athens
Herefondos 14, Platia Aghias Aikaterinis, Plaka, GR-105 58 Athen / Athens
Grækenland / Greece
Telefon: (0030) 210 32 44 644, Fax: (0030) 210 32 47 230, E-mail: info@diathens.com
Sidst opdateret:
17/03/08