CCS Research Seminar 3

Our understanding of the past is always predicated on previous interpretations of evidence. This talk presents two case studies that demonstrate the importance of evaluating where our interpretations come from. These are the 8th century BC so-called ‘Sacred house’ of the Academy of Plato in Attica, and the alleged late 8th to early 5th C settlement and sanctuary at the hill of Lathouriza in Vari. Reconsideration of past understandings of both sites has led to drastic reappraisals of the data and new interpretations, which together deconstruct to a certain degree the established opinions concerning the social and religious organization of Early Iron Age Attica. The ‘Sacred house’ of the Academy is now understood to be a domestic unit, highlighting the organization of communities around the Athenian Acropolis, while the Vari settlement remains are today recognized as dating to the Late Medieval period. These two examples demonstrate that the perspectives that shape our views about ancient societies may sometimes be based on inaccurate interpretations, leading to long-lasting erroneous understandings that falsify our perception of the past.

Speaker:
Alexander Mazarakis Ainian was born in Athens in 1959. After studying at the Free University of Brussels and completing his PhD at the University of London, he taught at several universities in Greece and elsewhere. He is now Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Thessaly, based in Volos. He has worked on a range of Greek archaeological sites, including Skala Oropos, Marathon, Nea Makri and Vari (all in Attika), Kythnos (in the Cyclades), Soros (Magnesia), and Kefala (on Skiathos). His extensive publications include 30 excavation reports, four books plus a number of edited collections, and 90 articles. He has organized numerous conferences and symposia, including a series on archaeological work in Thessaly and central Greece. 

This seminar is kindly supported by the Friends of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens.