Events Calendar – British School at Athens

Fitch Lecture

Myrto Georgakopoulou Award Holders: Dr. Ariadne Marketou and Dr. Laura Alvarez

The Myrto Georgakopoulou Award is an international research award established by the BSA to honour Myrto Georgakopoulou (1976-2022) and ensure that her legacy inspires future work in Aegean archaeology and beyond. The award is supported by the Myrto Georgakopoulou Memorial Fund, established by gifts of her family, friends and colleagues, in her memory.

Dr. Ariadne Marketou “Colour at the Early Cycladic II Settlement of Skarkos, Ios (CEC)”

Abstract: Evidence of pigment application on Early Cycladic figures is central to understanding their use, value and symbolism for Early Bronze Age (EBA) societies. At the settlement of Skarkos, situated close to the natural harbour of the Island of Ios, excavations brought to light the Building of the Figurines: a workshop where tools, unfinished marble artefacts and red pigment lumps were found together.

This talk presents results from CEC, an ongoing project generously funded by the MGRA, which approaches the materiality of colour in the EBA II through portable micro-XRF analysis of applied paint layers, tools, and raw materials. The red paint layers applied on the schematic figurines from this context suggests that pigment application was integral to figurine production. Moreover, lumps and tools with traces of red pigments were found in other locations across the settlement, indicating their importance for the inhabitants of Skarkos during the EBA II period (Syros-Keros culture). Preliminary results distinguish two compositional categories of red ochre and reveal an unexpected finding: a bone tube bearing traces of painted decoration. Together, this evidence points to a complex use of colour at Skarkos, opening new questions about the sourcing, processing and social meaning of colourants in the EBA II.

Bio: Ariadne Marketou holds a PhD in Archaeology from the University of Oslo (2021), awarded for her thesis on pigment production and the material evidence of a 1^st century BCE colour workshop on late Hellenistic Kos, an MSc in Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art (2016), and a BSc in Chemistry (2014), both from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Her research interests revolve around colour(s) in the past, whether it is the black of inks or the vivid palette of ancient polychromy, and includes questions on technology, the organisation of colourant procurement, manufacture, and trade. Ariadne is currently wrapping up her postdoctoral research on the materiality of early codices within the framework of the project ‘The Early History of the Codex: A New Methodology and Ethics for Manuscript Studies (EthiCodex)’ (PI: Brent Nongbri, funded by the Norwegian Research Council-NRC), at the Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society. She was recently granted funding by NRC as a Principal Investigator for the project ‘Hunting paint ghosts: Revisiting the evidence of pigment use on Early Cycladic figurines (PaintGhosts)’, set to investigate whether surface alterations on marble figurines reliably evidence lost painted decoration through experimental archaeology, artificial ageing and multi-analytical documentation techniques.

Dr Laura Alvarez “Understanding early optical technologies in Mainland Greece: metallography and iterative experimentation”

Abstract: Among the earliest technologies to have ever transformed human perception, mirrors hold a particular place in the history of optical instruments, although the technical processes and material choices that allowed their emergence are still not well understood. We will present the first results of this ongoing research project on the manufacture and optical properties of bronze mirrors in Late Bronze Age mainland Greece (c. 1400–1300 BC), with the objective of reconstructing how these objects were made and the quality of the reflections they produced, in terms of stability, clarity and colour. In collaboration with colleagues at NCSR-Demokritos, we combined compositional and metallographic analyses, which provided some metallurgical and technical ‘guidelines’ for a first series of experiments conducted with two metallurgists in France, during which we investigated the complex relationship between alloy composition, manufacturing techniques, polishing sequences and resulting optical qualities. These initial experiments yielded unexpected observations and raised new questions, prompting a second experimental phase exploring alternative techniques and raw materials. These are steps forward in our understanding of the techniques and knowledge involved in the emergence of some of the earliest mirrors in the Mediterranean, that may once have held such an intimate bond with the people who owned them and their perception of themselves.

Hybrid lecture

Registration links coming soon.