The Areopagus Oval Building and the Cult of the Dead?

Description

In 2014, Michael H. Laughy (Washington and Lee) and myself, embarked on a project to provide a fresh analysis of the Areopagus Oval Building, based on a close reading of the pottery and the original notebooks. In this paper, I summarize some of the main conclusions of our collaborative effort in order to provide a better understanding of the building in its chronological and topographical context. In particular, I will argue that a solid treatment of the graves, wells and associated structures, is essential to understand the building’s history and the people who used it. While most of the remains have been published and have been widely integrated in various studies on burials or religious sites, a comprehensive narrative of the Geometric remains on the Areopagus north slope is still lacking. Placing this narrative in the context of similar early buildings throughout Attica reinforces the notion that a black and white distinction between ritual and domestic use is unwarranted and that the two functions were, in fact, closely related.

Period	19 Jun 2015
Event title	REGIONAL STORIES TOWARDS A NEW PERCEPTION OF THE EARLY GREEK WORLD
Event type	Conference
Location	VOLOS, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International