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"","","","","Webpage","http://agathe.gr/overview/the_excavations.html","","The Excavations Excavations in the Athenian Agora by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens commenced in 1931 under the supervision of T. Leslie Shear. The systematic excavation of this important site was entrusted by the Greek State to the American School of Classical Studies, founded in Athens in 1881. Negotiations began in 1925, soon after the Greek parliament voted not to undertake the project itself, largely because of the huge costs of expropriation. The area in question covered some 24 acres and was occupied by 365 modern houses, all of which had to be purchased and demolished. View of the west side of the Agora at the start of excavations in Section A, June 19, 1931. View from the north toward the hill of Kolonos Agoraios and the Hephaisteion. ""After proper ceremony of sprinkling of holy water by priest of neighboring church [Panagia Vlassarou] Agora Excavations began about 7:30 a.m. Digging confined to area occupied by House 22 until it shall be levelled off. 28 men / 135 wagons"" (Notebook [Nb.] E I, p. 74; May 25, 1931). Edward Capps, chairman of the Managing Committee of the American School, was the guiding spirit behind the project, and T. L. Shear was appointed the first field director. Shear assembled a staff that includes some of the best-known names in Greek archaeology: Homer A. Thompson, Eugene Vanderpool, Benjamin Meritt, Dorothy Burr (Thompson), Virginia Grace, Lucy Talcott, Alison Frantz, Piet de Jong, and John Travlos, among others. Agora Excavations staff, 1933. Third row (left to right): Charles Spector, Piet de Jong, Arthur Parsons, Eugene Vanderpool, Mary Zelia Pease [Philippides], James Oliver. Second row: Joan Bush [Vanderpool], Elizabeth Dow, Virginia Grace, Gladys Baker, Homer Thompson. Sitting: Lucy Talcott, Benjamin Meritt, Josephine Shear, T. Leslie Shear, Dorothy Burr [Thompson]. Actual work of excavation began in May of 1931, funded largely by John D. Rockefeller. Since then, several dozen more houses have been cleared, bringing the total to more than 400. The enterprise has been a huge one, both in terms of money and time. As is often the case with American cultural projects, the funding has been provided almost exclusively from private foundations and individuals: the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Kress Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities have all participated. In recent years the work has been sustained by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Packard Humanities Institute. A drawing of the house lots in the area to be excavated: (a) Section ΟΕ, excavated by the German Archaeological Institute; (b) Athens/Piraeus railroad; (c) Giants and Tritons; (d) Section ΣΑ, Stoa of Attalos; (e) Section Ε, demolition of houses begun April 20, 1931, excavations begun May 25, 1931; (f ) Section Α, demolition of houses begun May 28, 1931; (g) Section ΣΤ, demolition of houses begun August 17, 1931; (h) Church of the Holy Apostles. Since 1931 hundreds of scholars, workers, specialists, and students have participated in the excavation, conservation, research, and publication of the site and its related finds. Collectively, they are responsible for one of the most productive archaeological projects in the Mediterranean basin. Over forty volumes and hundreds of scholarly articles have been published, adding much to our understanding of all aspects of ancient Greek history and society. View of the Agora and Acropolis from the northwest. Areas currently being excavated are visible in the lower half of the image. Current excavations, July 2008.","Overview: The Excavations","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:bff2d947b8e42c1f50f638ad6d414600"
"","","","","Webpage","http://agathe.gr/overview/the_staff.html","","The Archaeologists The First Generation The Agora Excavations staff and work force, 1933. Archaeologists, staff, foremen, and workmen gathered under the Hephaisteion for a group photograph. The staff of the Agora Excavations, 1934. Front row (left to right): Gladys Baker, Joan Bush [Vanderpool], Lucy Talcott, T. Leslie Shear, Josephine Shear, Dorothy Burr [Thompson]. Standing: Sophokles Lekkas, Piet de Jong, Catherine Bunnell, Alison Frantz, Dorothy Traquair, Rodney Young, Eugene Vanderpool, James Oliver, Arthur Parsons, Sterling Dow, Charles Spector, Homer Thompson. “Professor Shear had numerous qualities which contributed greatly to the School over many years, generosity, vision, vigorous action, but the one for which he will be best remembered and for which the School is most in his debt was his remarkable ability to select a staff of excavation workers of unusual capabilities, to forge them into a harmonious team and to keep them together in their hard-working activities of field work, study and publication, inspired by his own energy and scholarly care for meticulous observation and recording and prompt sharing of results with the scholarly world” (L. S. Meritt, History of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1939–1980 [1984], p. 176). T. Leslie Shear, director of the Agora Excavations, 1931–1945. Homer A. Thompson, director of the Agora Excavations, 1946–1967. Dorothy Burr Thompson, though diminutive in stature, brought energy and intellectual acumen to her work as an excavator and scholar. Above, she inspects the rock face of the north slope of the Areopagus in 1934. Dorothy married Homer in 1934. E.V. studying the text of the “Law against Tyranny” inscription (I 6524). Affectionately known by students and colleagues by only his initials, Eugene Vanderpool began his career at the Agora in 1932. Later he was appointed Professor of Archaeology of the American School, 1947–1971. John Travlos began working at the Agora excavations in 1935.Architect of the School, 1940–1973. Piet de Jong at work in the Old Excavation House, 1937. Virginia Grace joined the records staff of the Agora in 1932. Miss Grace is best known for her lifelong study of amphoras from the Agora which she used to form the basis of her research concerning transport amphoras in the Mediterranean. Lucy Talcott, one the original members of the 1931 staff, was responsible for developing the card catalogue system for the objects. She also coauthored, with Brian Sparkes, Agora XII. Alison Frantz came to the Agora in 1934 as an assistant to Lucy Talcott. An interest in photography was soon rekindled, and by 1939 she was staff photographer of the excavation, a position she held until 1964. Her talent for shooting archaeological subjects was such that she was asked to photograph throughout the Mediterranean, but Frantz was also a Byzantine scholar and she worked closely with John Travlos to restore the Church of the Holy Apostles. She authored two Agora volumes, Agora XX and Agora XXIV. Margaret Crosby studying architectural fragments in the basement of the Agora museum, 1956. “Her primary responsibility at the Agora was the supervision of fieldwork, and from 1935 to 1939, and then again from 1946 to 1955, she spent every season in the field” (Agora Picturebook 26 [2006], p. 53). Crosby also coauthored, with Mabel Lang, Agora X, combining her interests in weights and measures and inscriptions. Rodney Young began excavating in the Agora in 1934. The photograph above was taken in 1947 for an article entitled “Pot’s Progress,” published in the first issue of Archaeology Magazine (vol. 1, no. 1, 1948, p. 13). Young was posed sitting amidst stacks of pottery removed from a well (Deposit A 17:2) that were ready for sorting. Mary Zelia Pease [Philippides], shown here flanked by Eugene Vanderpool and Virginia Grace, was a member of the staff in 1933. Together with Gladys Baker, she assisted Josephine Shear in cataloguing the coins that year. She returned to the Agora on fellowships in 1957/8 and 1967/8 to study the Attic black-figured pottery, and later coauthored, with Mary B. Moore, Agora XXIII. Mrs. Philippides was the Librarian of the School from 1958 to 1971, and is the last surviving member of the excavation’s original staff. Spyros Spyropoulos The spirit of Spyros Spyropoulos still lingers in the stoa many years after his death. A “jack of all trades,” he assisted all who came to the Agora Excavations for research and study. Spyros was the individual behind the scenes who worked tirelessly at any task asked of him. Many fondly remember experiencing a symposium hosted by him when he relaxed, often in the nearby Epirus Taverna. Spyros Spyropouolos mending a pot. Caretaker of an injured owl that had found shelter in the Agora, Spyros and Bouphos contemplate each other in the upper colonnade. A symposium held by Spyros at the Epirus Taverna, July 1975: (left to right) John Traill, Hardy Hansen, Spyros, waiter, Dan Geagan and Merle Langdon. A Radical Departure in the Conduct of Excavation In 1980, there was a major change in the way the Agora was excavated. While a professional staff was maintained, including a core group of experienced Greek workmen, the actual digging would be done for the first time by student volunteers. The staff of 1980 and visiting scholars. Standing (left to right): Leslie Mechem, Spyros Spyropoulos, Sally Roberts, Susan Rotroff, Robert Pounder, Lynn Grant, Helen Townsend, Mary Moore, Malcolm Wallace, Steve Koob, Alison Adams, Margie Miles, Robert Vincent, Kyriaki Moustaki. Sitting: John Camp, T. Leslie Shear Jr., Dorothy Thompson, Homer Thompson, Virginia Grace, Bill Dinsmoor Jr. Excavation staff, 1980. From left to right: Kostas Pikoulas and his father, Elias Pikoulas, foreman Nikos Dervos, Yiannis Dedes, Ioannis Paiipetis, Dionysios Soundias Agora staff and student volunteers, 1980. Front row (left to right): Martha Payne, Vasso Petsas, Kathi Donahue, Liz Bartman, Frayna Goodman, Jody Melander, Athena Sax, Chris Renaud, Nadine McGann, Alexandra Shear, Betsy Flood. Second row: Marc Pershan, Lora Johnson, Panetha Nychis, Lisa DeRensis, Judy Weinstein, Mary Lou Ross, Ann Bozorth, Julia Shear, Pam Posey, Bonnie Leah Griffin, Ann Schelpert, Barbara Hamann, Nancy Moore. Third row: Georgia Karagianni-Giorgoulea, Brian McConnell, Dean Politis, Claire Gabriel, Margie Miles, Alison Adams, Helen Townsend, Ione Shear, Peter Zimmerman, Pam Coravos, Charles Hedrick, Kyriaki Moustaki. Fourth row: Andy Sherwood, Frank DeMita, Richard Liebhart, Hans vander Leest, John Camp, Leslie Shear, Bill Dinsmoor, Richard Hamblen, Kevin Donovan, Mark Fullerton, Robert Vincent.","Overview: The Staff","","","Agora","","Agora:Webpage:c93bdbb7e617a64d340e8ee16d2e8df5"