BSA Friends' Lecture Stephen Duckworth, “Nineteenth century travellers in Crete - Edward Lear, Pashley and Spratt” Abstract: Whilst Western travellers to the newly independent Greece in the 19th century after independence were often critical of the performance and effectiveness of the new government, travel in Crete was very different. It was still under Ottoman rule after the […]

BSA Friends Greece lecture Christine Willis, "50 years a Potter" Event description: My Story: In the past year, I have been working with a group of Archaeologist and PhD students researching the different clays in the Anthemounta River Valley on the outskirts of Thessaloniki. Most of these archaeologist have been working on the site of […]

BSA Friends' Lecture Dr Conor Trainor (University of Warwick), “What Happened Under Roman Rule? A View From Two Greek Cities” Abstract: Traditionally, the Roman period of Greek history has been interpreted as a period of economic decline, or stagnation. In recent years, new research, especially from survey projects, has begun to challenge this picture. This […]

BSA Friends' Lecture Dr Flora Michelaki (BSA), “The tholos cemeteries in south-central Crete and their social implications during Pre- and Protopalatial periods” Abstract: This lecture presents a synopsis of my doctoral thesis that aimed to examine the architectural and depositional complexity of the best documented tholos cemeteries in south-central Crete during the Prepalatial and Protopalatial […]

BSA Supporter Exclusive Lecture Dr Sevi Triantaphyllou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), “Investigating the use of fire on human remains in the prehistoric Aegean” Abstract: Exposure of the body to fire causes various physical and chemical alterations which involve shrinkage, breakage, warping, complete deformation as well as removal of the organic component and the modification of […]

Lilian Chandler, Winifred Lamb, and Mary Herford, 1921, at the BSA (BSA Archive) Friends of the BSA in Greece lecture series Professor Rebecca Sweetman (BSA), "Women and archaeology at the BSA: the early years" A short history of women at the BSA in the early 20th century: challenges and successes. In-person only, 6pm (Greece) BSA […]

Image: composite of the Throne Room at Knossos (wikipedia) and the speaker's photo of a Knossos tablet (KN Lc(1) 525) BSA Friends' Lecture Prof John Bennet (University of Sheffield), "Never the twain shall meet: reflections on text and image in Minoan Crete" Abstract: The world of Neopalatial Crete was visually rich; it was also a literate […]

View towards Dispilio, Lake Orestias (photo: Amy Bogaard) Friends' Hybrid Lecture Prof. Amy Bogaard (University of Oxford), "Archaeology and ‘eco-cultural’ heritage: case studies from Greece and beyond" Abstract: The climate and biodiversity crises are prompting new conversations about the archive of human experience we can draw upon to address them. Archaeology in Greece offers a […]

  Axonometric drawing showing the construction of a Hellenistic stoa (drawing by Samuel Holzman) Friends of the BSA in Greece lecture series. Dr Samuel Holzman (Princeton University), "Archaeological drawing in (and out of) perspective" Archaeologists draw not just to show their discoveries to others. Archaeological drawing is a visual language, one for recording evidence and […]

  Photo: Giorgos Anastasakis / © Region of Crete Friends of the BSA in Greece lecture series Isabella Zampetaki, "How Far Would You Go for Real Food?"   Isabella has traveled Crete’s mountains and plains in search of unique culinary experiences. She's visited ancient Tsounati olive groves where the world’s first high phenolic olive oil to […]

Friends' Lecture series Dr Kostis Christakis (BSA Knossos Curator), "A land called Crete: European cartographers and the perception of the Cretan landscape, 16th – 17th c. AD"   This is an exclusive event for BSA Supporters only. If you would like to join us, please consider signing up as a Supporter for as little as £50 (£20 […]

BSA Friends' Hybrid lecture Dr Matthew Haysom, "Men, Women and Others in Minoan Iconography" Abstract: Throughout the history of Minoan studies scholars have felt that there was something distinctive about the way that Minoans depicted people. Arthur Evans and the first generation of scholars were struck by what seemed to them the dominant position of women […]

BSA Friends' Lecture (online only) Professor Paul Cartledge (University of Cambridge), "Sparta: how odd?” Abstract: For most non-Spartan ancient Greeks the community and polity of Sparta seemed decidedly odd: very military, exceptionally if not excessively pious, unusually liberal towards its women citizens, and unique in its compulsory educational cycle that included institutionalised homosexuality/pederasty. Against them […]

Image: Gold cross in San Vitale, Ravenna. Source: Judith Herrin   Abstract: This talk will explore the influence of Greek and Greek culture in Ravenna, where Latin was the language of everyday life in the sixth-eighth centuries, while Gothic and Greek left deep marks. The reconquest of the city by imperial troops in 540 brought […]

Abstract: There are always ‘New Discoveries and New Problems’ in Greek Religion, but the two discoveries to be presented in this lecture are exceptional. In 2013 a large new cache was published of the lead tablets on which enquirers at Zeus’ oracle at Dodona wrote their questions. They extend our knowledge of the very down-to-earth problems […]