Vol 1. Prytaneis: A Study of the Inscriptions Honoring the Athenian Councillors by Sterling Dow

Prytaneis were the executive officers in charge of the Athenian council (or boule) after its reorganization by Cleisthenes in the 6th century B.C. This study presents all documents recovered from the Athenian Agora relating to the prytaneis, beginning in 327/6 B.C. and ending in the reign of Augustus. 121 of the inscriptions are previously unpublished. Each inscription is presented with detailed epigraphic apparatus, and most are illustrated.

Vol 2. Late Geometric Graves and a Seventh Century Well in the Agora by Rodney S. Young, with an Appendix on the Skeletal Remains

The entire contents of a small Geometric period (900-700 B.C.) cemetery of twenty graves, found just south of the Tholos in the Athenian Agora, are catalogued in this book. Three additional graves, a well, and selection of isolated finds provide the author with a mass of Geometric and proto-Attic pottery from which to develop important typological observations about Attic ceramics at this formative period.

Vol 3. The Setting of the Periclean Parthenon by Gorham Phillips Stevens

Famous classical buildings, such as the Parthenon, are preserved in such monumental isolation that it is hard to reconstruct the effect that they might have had on the ancient visitor. Their setting relative to other buildings, to statues, and surrounding vegetation is lost to us. This book presents a forensic examination of the archaeological remains on the Acropolis to reconstruct the immediate surroundings of one of the most striking monuments of antiquity.

Vol 4. The Tholos of Athens and Its Predecessors by Homer A. Thompson

This detailed account of excavations centered on the Tholos reveal this important building to have been the headquarters of the prytaneis, leading Athenian councillors. The book surveys the earlier buildings on the site, dating from the 6th century B.C., before focusing on the round building itself—a remarkably stable structure that was used for almost one thousand years. The Tholos itself was a surprisingly unpretentious structure with an inner diameter of less than 17 meters. Its walls were of crude brick resting on three or more courses of poros blocks. There was a main door on the east and a small door leading to a kitchen to the north.

Vol 5. Observations on the Hephaisteion by William B. Dinsmoor

The well-preserved Temple of Hephaistos, standing on a low hill to the west of the Athenian Agora, was one of the only monuments visible when American excavations began on the site in 1931. Known throughout its early modern history as the “Theseum,” it is still the Agora’s most conspicuous landmark. This book presents an extremely detailed architectural study of the temple and a reconstruction of its history. Inaugurated in 449 B.C. (on October 17, claims the author), the temple was one of a group of building projects that celebrated the defeat of the Persians and the growth of Athenian power. In the 5th century A.D. the temple was converted to a Christian church and was used as such until the 19th century.

Vol 6. The Sacred Gerusia by James H. Oliver

The Gerusia was an association of Athenian citizens founded in the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus and concerned with the conduct of religious festivals, the management of certain estates, and other financial interests. It was modeled on similar associations attested around the Mediterranean. While using some material from the Agora, this book surveys a wide range of evidence from other sites. The volume is divided into three parts: Part I is devoted to a full treatment of all the available material on this institution. Part II presents the 63 relevant epigraphical texts with translations and commentaries. Part III contains detailed indices.

Vol 7. Small Objects from the Pnyx I by Gladys R. Davidson and Dorothy Burr Thompson

The range of material discarded by citizens attending the Athenian assembly on the Pnyx hill is hardly notable for its art historical interest. However, this catalogue of different sorts of objects found during excavations between 1931 and 1937 provides interesting insights into the social history of the city, especially ca. 425-325 B.C. when use of the Pnyx was at its height. The catalogue of each class of object is preceded by a short introductory essay. The book includes discussion of inscriptions, Dikasts’ name-plates, coins, weights, graffiti and dipinti, sculpture, lamps, loomweights, spindle whorls, implements, fittings and molds, jewelry, seal impressions, votive objects, glass, and figurines.

Vol 8. Commemorative Studies in Honor of Theodore Leslie Shear by various authors

Among many other accomplishments, T. Leslie Shear was Director of the American School excavations at the Athenian Agora when they began in 1931. He was also closely involved with excavations at ancient Corinth, excavated by the School since 1896. It is fitting, therefore, that the majority of the 45 contributors to this memorial volume focus on materials from these two excavations.

Vol 9. Horoi: Studies in Mortgage, Real Security, and Land Tenure in Ancient Athens by John V. A. Fine

Horos markers were used to indicate when a property was mortgaged and who the creditors were. This study publishes known examples from ancient Athens and explores how the mortgage system may have worked. The book contains eight chapters: Chapter I presents 35 new horos mortgage inscriptions. Chapter II contains references to, or transcriptions of, all other known horos mortgage stones. Chapter III is devoted to a discussion of the use and physical properties of stone horoi and to the possible use of wooden horoi. Chapters V to VII provide careful analyses of the various kinds of contracts drawn up by the Athenians when the security consisted of real property. Chapter VIII attempts to date the introduction of mortgage contracts at Athens and to explain the lateness of this date—the earliest horos example probably dates to after the Peloponnesian War.

Vol 10. Small Objects from the Pnyx II by Lucy Talcott, Barbara Philippaki, G. Roger Edwards, and Virginia R. Grace

This book continues the publication of small objects found in the region of the Pnyx hill, the great open-air assembly place of Athens, during excavations by Homer A. Thompson between 1931 and 1937. It contains essays on “Figured Pottery” (Talcott and “Philippaki), “Hellenistic Pottery” (Edwards), and “Stamped Wine Jar Fragments” (Grace). The material published is fragmentary but provides an interesting sample of some coarser varieties of Attic vase-painting in the first half of the 4th century B.C.

Vol 11. Fortified Military Camps in Attica by James R. McCredie

This is an examination of the information available about a number of fortified sites in Attica with a focus on 1960 excavations at the site of Koroni on the east coast of the Attic peninsula near Porto Raphti. The corpus of all known sites includes original site maps and plans, as well as much previously unpublished information collected during topographic investigations by the author. Many of the sites surveyed were established around 325-250 B.C. in the uncertain times following Alexander the Great’s death, especially during the Chremonidean War when Ptolemaic forces were active in the region. The author traces their later history, extending his description of military encampments around Athens up to the present day.

Vol 12. The Athenian Constitution after Sulla by Daniel J. Geagan

This book aims to examine the text of every known Athenian inscription datable to the period after the new constitution of Sulla (ca. 68 B.C.) and to reconstruct information about the civic offices and institutions established in this period. The author therefore presents all the evidence he has found for the duties of major officials, councillors, and minor magistrates. He compares this information with the earlier picture painted by Aristotle in his study of the Constitution of the Athenians, and shows that many changes took place in the Roman period.

Vol 13. Marcus Aurelius: Aspects of Civic and Cultural Policy in the East by James H. Oliver

An important inscription, found in the Roman market place in Athens, is here published for the first time. Although fragmentary, it preserves the text of a formal letter from Marcus Aurelius directed to the Athenians in the year A.D. 174/5. The Roman emperor’s decisions in cases concerning office holding, membership of the council, and the appointment of the Athenian members of the Panhellenion (the council of cities established by Hadrian) are recorded. Elicited by a complaint to the emperor from prominent citizens, the letter also sheds light on the brutal political quarrels that swirled around the Athenian administrator, Herodes Atticus, builder of some of Athens’s best-known monuments.

Vol 14. The Political Organization of Attica: A Study of the Demes, Trittyes, and Phylai, and Their Representation in the Athenian Council by John S. Traill

Using inscriptions recording council membership recovered by excavations in the Athenian Agora, the author presents a detailed reconstruction of the political geography of Attica. The reforms of the 6thcentury B.C. politician Cleisthenes organized Athenian citizens into ten tribes (phylai), divided into thirty “thirds” (trittyes) and 139 local units (demes). The author shows how this visionary arrangement was maintained almost unchanged until at least 200 B.C. and provided the basis for the whole representative system at the center of ancient democracy. Charts and tables document the evidence in great detail, but the whole arrangement is made easier to understand by the inclusion of a color map, the basis for almost all scholarship on Athenian politics since this book was first published.

Vol 15. The Lettering of an Athenian Mason by Steven V. Tracy

This book combines two functions, as a technical handbook for training epigraphists to recognize an individual mason’s hands, and a social study of a skilled artisan in Hellenistic Athens (referred to as “B”), a native of Salamis who worked in Athens and at Delphi. The methodology developed by the author to isolate 28 out of hundreds of inscriptions as the work of “B” represents a major step forward in the assigning of fragments to individual masons, previously a very impressionistic exercise.

Vol 16. A Sanctuary of Zeus on Mount Hymettos by Merle K. Langdon

This is the final publication of a small open-air sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Hymettos above Athens, excavated between the World Wars by Carl Blegen and Rodney Young. The finds reflect two periods of activity: from 950 to 575 B.C. (many domestic cups and jugs, burnt animal bones), and the decades on either side of A.D. 400 (some 120 Late Roman lamps). The most significant find, however, was of 170 graffiti indicating a surprisingly high level of literacy in Attica in the 7th century B.C.

Vol 17. Kallias of Sphettos and the Revolt of Athens in 286 B.C. by T. Leslie Shear Jr.

The long honorary decree for Kallias of Sphettos, found in the excavations of the Athenian Agora in 1971, is here published for the first time, illustrated with general and detailed photographs, with a translation and line-by-line commentary. The author has further explored the wealth of information to be gathered from the inscription, which adds greatly to our understanding of Athenian history between the battle of Ipsos in 301 and the battle of Kouroupedion in 286 B.C., the ensuing peace with Demetrios, and the acquisition of foreign aid for the nationalist regime. These discussions are followed by an appendix giving the Greek texts of the literary and epigraphic testimonia, and a chronological table, which provides a historical summary at a glance for this troubled period.

Vol 18. Lasithi: A History of Settlement on a Highland Plain in Crete by L. Vance Watrous

This publication is the outcome of a project begun in 1973 with an intensive survey of the Lasithi plain in Crete; it documents and discusses the history of ancient settlement in this rich valley high up in the Diktaian mountain range. The core of the book is a survey of archaeological evidence for settlement in the Neolithic to Late Roman periods, but the author also extends his work to later periods. The area was exploited by the Venetians in the 15th and 16th centuries as a source of grain, and the author draws on documentary evidence to describe their agricultural practices—many of which have extended into the modern period.

Vol 19. Studies in Attic Epigraphy, History, and Topography Presented to Eugene Vanderpool by various authors

Twenty-six papers on the epigraphy, history, and topography of ancient Greece presented to the famous scholar by his eminent students and friends.

Vol 20. Studies in Athenian Architecture, Sculpture, and Topography Presented to Homer A. Thompson

Twenty-one papers on various aspects of Athenian art and society by the students and friends of Homer A. Thompson, a noted classical archaeologist and excavator of the Athenian Agora. The volume includes many papers on sculpture (including Nancy Bookidis on Attic terracotta sculpture and Brunhilde Ridgway on the features of kouroi and korai in Archaic Athens), some on architecture (including William B. Dinsmoor Jr. on the Pinakotheke), and a few on topography (including Sara Immerwahr on “the earliest known grave in Athens” and Evelyn Smithson on evidence for a prehistoric Klepsydra).

Vol 21. Excavations at Pylos in Elis by John E. Coleman

When the site of Elean Pylos was threatened by the construction of a dam in 1968, a team from the University of Colorado moved in to salvage as much information as possible about the ancient town before it was submerged. This report is divided chronologically: Middle Helladic, Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Roman, Byzantine, and Frankish. Each chapter consists of a brief description of the remains in the field, followed by a catalogue of the finds. While earlier finds are mainly of wells, the Classical settlement was the size of a large village providing everyday finds of bronze, lead, iron, and pottery. Some fragments of terracotta figurines and amber suggest a certain amount of wealth, but the primary character of the whole site is agricultural. Roman and Frankish remains are primarily funerary.

Vol 22. Attic Grave Reliefs That Represent Women in the Dress of Isis by Elizabeth J. Walters

The author investigates the appearance of a fashion in clothing, involving a knotted mantle worn across the chest, on many Attic stelae of the Roman period. She suggests that this style can be traced to Egyptian roots, and might have been particularly associated with a cult of Isis, popular among wealthy Athenians. The book presents a catalogue of the 106 known Isis reliefs from Attica and a review of all forms of evidence for the cult.

Vol 23. Hellenistic Relief Molds from the Athenian Agora by Clair?ve Grandjouan

Over 100 clay molds found between 1931 and 1977 in the fills within the three great Hellenistic stoas that once lined the Agora (the Middle Stoa, the Stoa of Attalos, and the South Stoa) are published in this book. While the repertory of images that could have been cast using them, comprising 25 subjects, is relatively conventional, the large size (up to 30 x 60 cm) makes their function a puzzle. The author concludes that they must have been for the casting of cheap funerary substitutes at a time when a decree of Demetrios of Phaleron prohibited the building of costly burial monuments in Athens. After the author’s death in 1982, this volume was edited by Eileen Markson and Susan I. Rotroff.

Vol 24. The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete by Jeffrey S. Soles

This book is a study of the house tombs of Crete based on a reexamination of the extant remains at the cemeteries of Gournia and Mochlos. Excavated in the beginning of the century by Harriet Boyd Hawes (Gournia) and Richard B. Seager (Mochlos), the cemeteries underwent cleaning operations in 1971, 1972, and 1976. These later investigations resulted in a more thorough understanding of the sites; actual-state plans and sections of the tombs and over-all maps of the cemeteries were produced. Chapters I and II present the excavations of the cemeteries of Gournia and Mochlos. A description of the cemetery as a whole unit is followed by a discussion of each tomb that includes bibliography, a description of location and excavation, a description of architecture, information about burials and chronology, and a catalogue of new and reexamined finds. Chapter III is a catalogue of all known tombs of this type in Crete. These two sections are tied together by the architectural discussion in Chapter IV. Chapter V, Offerings and Shrines, and Chapter VI, Burials and Social Ranking, explore the uses of house tombs and their significance in the religious and political life of early Greece. The volume has a comprehensive index, map and plans of the sites, line drawings of many of the catalogued objects, and photographs of the tombs and found objects.

Vol 25. Debris from a Public Dining Place in the Athenian Agora by Susan I. Rotroff and John H. Oakley

In 1972 a large deposit of pottery and other finds from the mid-5th century B.C. were found in a pit just west of the Royal Stoa in the Athenian Agora. It contained many fragments of figured pottery, more than half of which were large drinking vessels. 21 fragments were inscribed with a graffito known to be a mark of public ownership. The authors conclude that the pottery is refuse from one of the public dining facilities that served the magistrates of Classical Athens. The volume examines the archaeological context and chronology of the deposit and gives a detailed analysis of all the finds. A complete catalogue arranges the finds by type and in chronological order.

Vol 26. The Sanctuary of Athena Nike in Athens: Architectural Stages and Chronology by Ira S. Mark

Based on records from Nikolaos Balanos’ dismantling and reerection of the temple of Athena Nike on the Athenian Acropolis (between 1935 and 1939), this volume presents a detailed architectural study of the building’s chronology and history.

Vol 27. Proceedings of the International Conference on Greek Architectural Terracottas of the Classical and Hellenistic Periods, December 12-15, 1991 edited by Nancy A. Winter

A presentation of the papers from the International Conference on Classical and Hellenistic Architectural Terracottas, held at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, December, 1991. While the majority of the papers concentrate on architectural terracottas from the Greek mainland, examples from sites on the Aegean islands, Asia Minor, present-day Albania, Sicily, and Italy are covered as well. The papers add significantly to an understanding of the stylistic development of and regional differences among Greek architectural terracottas, and, in many instances, provide clearer reconstructions of otherwise ill-preserved Greek buildings.

Vol 28. Studies in Archaic Corinthian Vase Painting by D. A. Amyx and Patricia Lawrence

Two important contributions to Greek pottery studies. Aftermath, by D. A. Amyx, is a catalogue of material supplementing his work in Corinth VII.2 but found after the cutoff of 1969 or omitted for some other reason. This article and Corinth VII.2 together stand as a full compilation of painters at present represented in the collection of the Corinth Excavations. The Chimaera Group at Corinth and Dodwellians in the Potters' Quarter are both by Patricia Lawrence. The first is a thoughtful analysis of this group of painters, based on a close examination of material found in the excavations at Corinth but including attributed pieces from other sites. The second studies 15 new fragments and reexamines material previously published in Corinth XV.3, demonstrating that the Geladakis Painter, as well as several Dodwellians, are represented there.

Vol 29. The Athenian Grain-Tax Law of 374/3 B.C. by Ronald S. Stroud

The first publication of a complex and well-preserved Athenian law of great interest to historians. Discovered in the Agora Excavations in 1986, this hitherto unknown law rivals in importance that of the law on silver coinage of 375/4 B.C., which was published by the author some twenty years ago. In addition to the complete text, translation, and notes on readings, the author, a superb epigrapher, provides commentary on the many parts of this document, which contributes significant new information on the history, law, economy, topography, and public finance of Athens in the Classical period. The first section of the volume includes an expert analysis of the layout of the inscription and useful notes, while the major portion of the text is devoted to detailed commentary on the law, its purpose, and implementation. The historical setting of the law is well-illuminated in the final section. The authors analyses of this important inscription provide a solid foundation for new avenues of research.

Vol 30. A LM IA Ceramic Kiln in South-Central Crete: Function and Pottery Production by Joseph W. Shaw, Aleydis Van de Moortel, Peter M. Day, and Vassilis Kilikoglou

An in-depth study of the Late Minoan IA cross-draft kiln found in excavations at Kommos, Crete. The kiln is of a type popular during the Neopalatial period, and its good state of preservation has allowed the authors to speculate about its original internal layout and use, as well as about the roof that covered it. Much of the large quantity of pottery found associated with the kiln is analyzed in detail, allowing for the first time the study of the shapes, decoration, and technical characteristics of vases known to have been fired in a specific LM IA kiln. The book presents an integrated program of analytical techniques used to illustrate the range of firing temperatures, the compositional similarities and differences in the clays used, and aspects of the firing process and the upper kiln structure. Offered here is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the technology and organization of ceramic production at the beginning of the Late Minoan period, which will form a basis for studies of pottery provenience and exchange.

Vol 31. Ceramicus Redivivus: The Early Iron Age Potters' Field in the Area of the Classical Athenian Agora by John K. Papadopoulos

This volume presents selected material associated with potters' workshops and pottery production from some 14 Early Iron Age contexts northwest of the Athenian Acropolis that range in date from the Protogeometric through Archaic periods. Located in the area that was to become the Agora of Classical Athens, these deposits establish that the place was used for industrial activity until it was formally transformed into the civic and commercial center of the city in the early 5th century B.C. The Early Iron Age potters' debris published in this volume sheds light on many aspects of pottery production, in prehistory as well as in the Classical and later periods. The material includes testpieces, wasters and other production discards. There is also a reassessment of the evidence associated with the kiln underlying the later Tholos.

Vol 32. Landscape Archaeology in Southern Epirus, Greece 1 by James Wiseman and Konstantinos Zachos

The first in an anticipated two-volume set presents the results of the Nikopolis Project that was conducted between 1991 and 1996; the first large-scale, systematic survey in this region of Greece. The project employed intensive archaeological survey and geological investigations to determine patterns of human activity and changes to the landscape, from earliest times through the medieval period. The volume contains an overview of the project, a discussion of the survey methodology employed, the results of a separate Palaeolithic survey and a spatial analysis of the finds at a remarkable Upper Palaeolithic site, and geomorphological studies of both the Ambracian Gulf and the lower Acheron River Valley. The results add to the growing body of survey data from Greece and show the utility of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the past.

Vol 33. CHARIS: Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr edited by Anne P. Chapin

This tribute to Sara A. Immerwahr comprises a short biography, her full bibliography, and 20 articles written by fellow scholars celebrating her contributions to the field, as well as her encouragement and generous support of students and colleagues over many years. Thirteen scholars of Bronze Age archaeology present papers that address aspects of social, political, religious, and ritual significance in wall paintings, matters of chronology, regional trade and interaction, and Cretan architecture. Seven scholars of the Archaic, Classical, and Roman periods explore issues of sculpture, architecture, pottery, and dedications.

Vol 34. A Historical and Economic Geography of Ottoman Greece by Fariba Zarinebaf, John Bennet, and Jack L. Davis

This innovative study of the southwestern Peloponnese or Morea combines the study of unpublished Ottoman documents, other historical sources, and the results of archaeological fieldwork to explore the historical and economic geography of a particular region of Greece in the early 18th century, the period immediately following the Ottoman reconquest of this region from Venice. Central to the book is a translation of the section of an Ottoman cadastral survey (defter) listing in great detail properties in the district (kaza) of Anavarin (Navarino, modern Pylos). An introductory chapter outlines the history and methodology of the research project, while the translation is followed by chapters that provide a broader context, drawing on other sources for the information contained in the document and the principles behind its composition. A final chapter summarizes the conclusions drawn from the research, and a series of appendixes offer additional detail, including concordances of the personaland place-names, an index of properties described, narrative histories of the two fortresses in the region, and a new English translation of the Anavarin section of the 17th-century Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi’s Travel Book (Seyahatname). A CD-ROM with a facsimile of the document itself and color versions of all illustrations is also included.

Vol 35. The Greek Tile Works at Corinth: The Site and the Finds by Gloria S. Merker

A series of kilns at ancient Corinth known as the Tile Works are given final publication in this longawaited book, based on excavations conducted in 1939 and 1940 (as war was closing in) by Carl Roebuck and Arthur Parsons, and renewed briefly in 1950 by Gladys Weinberg. The artisans at the Tile Works produced not only roof tiles but a whole range of terracotta articles from the 6th to 4th centuries B.C., with one break in production in the late 5th to early 4th century. These products included, at different periods, architectural sculpture and decorated revetments; heavy household pottery such as mortars and lekanai; loomweights; votive furniture such as altars and plaques; and even some fine and semi-fine pottery. The standard of craftsmanship was very high and the artifacts produced found enthusiastic markets in other parts of Greece; as the revetments of roofs at Delphi, for example, and as mortars in the markets of Athens. The Tile Works, therefore, along with the Potters’ Quarter, was one of the major and most prolific industrial establishments in ancient Corinth. In this study, the principal features and deposits are first discussed, in order to establish the chronology of the three successive kilns on the site, and to try to relate them to known events in Corinth. The manufactures are then considered, beginning with a discussion of fabrics and techniques of manufacture, then moving on to typology and dating. The study concludes with a presentation of the Corinthian pottery and other artifacts found at the Tile Works but not made there, and a catalogue of terracottas by Charles Williams.

Vol 41. Constructions of Childhood in Ancient Greece and Italy edited by Ada Cohen and Jeremy B. Rutter

These 20 papers explore ancient notions and experiences of childhood around the Mediterranean, from prehistory to late antiquity. They are grouped into sections on Families; Socialization and Enculturation; Rituals and Life Transitions; Gender and Representation; Burial; Commemoration; and Childhood and the Classical Tradition. The contributors come from a range of different disciplines, including art history, archaeology, classical philology, and physical anthropology.