Vicky Vlachou (Chargée de Recherches F.R.S.-FNRS, ULB – CReA-Patrimoine) will address the topic “Exploring the Archaeology of Marathon from the 10th to the 7th c. BCE”.
“Although the area of Marathon has been largely treated in studies, either general works or more specialized monographs and collective volumes, the period that we largely refer to as the Early Iron Age (11th to late 8th and early 7th century BC) is almost entirely missing,” explains Vicky Vlachou in the abstract of her paper. “More than anything, Marathon is the glorious battlefield of the Athenians with their Plataian allies against the Persians, a campaign described at length by Herodotus (6.96-120).”
In her presentation Vicky Vlachou will discuss “some preliminary conclusions of a three-year postdoctoral research project focusing on the archaeology of the Marathonian plain during the Early Iron Age, before it becomes the symbol of the Athenian Democracy and its connections with the rest of Attica and Athens. The archaeological evidence is mainly restricted to burials, either organised burial grounds or single tombs dispersed in areas of the Marathonian plain. Pottery represents the single largest category of finds from this period and is thus considered as an important factor affected by several variables, social, political and economic. Based on the topography and density of the early burial grounds and the poor evidence for habitation units and cult areas, an important concern is to trace, the beginnings of the political and religious organisation of Marathon, known as the Marathonian Tetrapolis in later years.”
The lecture is organized by The Swedish Institute at Athens and Aegeus – Society for Aegean Prehistory.