Archaeology Lecture with Trevor Van Damme

Trevor Van Damme (University of Warwick, UK) will speak on "The Mycenaean Settlement North of the Acropolis: New Data from the Athenian Agora Excavations". Refreshments will be available.

Lecture abstract:

The Athenian Agora Excavations have revealed dozens of Mycenaean or Late Bronze Age (ca. 1700–1050 BCE) chamber tombs since their inception in 1931. This paper presents a further unpublished tomb and a Mycenaean house built on the south bank of the Eridanos River. The house is the earliest building excavated to date within the area of the Classical Agora. After discussing their excavation in the 1970s and presenting a selection of associated finds to establish their date and significance, I conclude with a broader discussion of the growth of the Mycenaean settlement north of the Acropolis in the 13th century BCE and its sudden decline in the 12th century BCE.