Antonis Kotsonas
I am Associate Professor of Mediterranean History and Archaeology at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. I hold a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a B.A. from the University of Crete.
My research focuses on the material culture and socio-economic history of Greece and the Mediterranean in the Early Iron Age and the Archaic and Classical periods, while his broader research interests extend from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman period. I have conducted fieldwork and finds research on Crete, and in the Cyclades, Euboea, Macedonia and Latium; and comparative studies across the Aegean, and from Italy to Cyprus. I co-direct the excavation of the ancient Greek and Roman city Lyktos in Crete, Greece
Much of my published work focuses on pottery, combining traditional and novel approaches. I have, however, also written on other classes of material from different periods (down to Roman). Furthermore, I have a strong interest in the history of Greek archaeology (particularly in the late 19th and early 20th century), which I pursue through archival research.
My publications engage problems in the production and consumption of pottery and sculpture, state formation, trade and interaction, identity and commensality, memory, the materiality of writing, the history of Greek and Mediterranean archaeology, and the relevance of antiquity to contemporary discourses. I am the author of The Archaeology of Tomb A1K1 of Orthi Petra in Eleutherna (Athens 2008), and The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery (Athens and New York 2024); and co-author of Methone Pierias I: Inscriptions, Graffiti and Trademarks on Geometric and Archaic Pottery from the ‘Ypogeio’ of Methone Pierias in Macedonia (Thessaloniki 2012). Additionally, I have edited: Understanding Standardization and Variation in Mediterranean Ceramics: Mid 2nd to Late 1st Millennium BC (Leuven 2014); and co-edited the Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean (2020), and Crises, “Dark Ages,” and Problems of Archaeological Visibility in the Mediterranean of the Mid-1st Millennium BCE (Forthcoming). Also, I am Area Editor for the Wiley Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Articles of mine appear in a range of major journals, including American Journal of Archaeology, Hesperia, Journal of Hellenic Studies, Annual of the British School at Athens, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, and more.
Prior to joining NYU, I was Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati, and Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Crete, and King’s College London. I also served as Curator at the Allard Pierson Museum Amsterdam. I held Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowships (2017-2018, 2022), I received the Rising Star Award from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Cincinnati (2018), and I was the Visiting Professor of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, which involved lecturing across Australia in the summer of 2018.
Address: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
New York University
15 East 84th St.
New York, NY 10028
212-992-7800
My research focuses on the material culture and socio-economic history of Greece and the Mediterranean in the Early Iron Age and the Archaic and Classical periods, while his broader research interests extend from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman period. I have conducted fieldwork and finds research on Crete, and in the Cyclades, Euboea, Macedonia and Latium; and comparative studies across the Aegean, and from Italy to Cyprus. I co-direct the excavation of the ancient Greek and Roman city Lyktos in Crete, Greece
Much of my published work focuses on pottery, combining traditional and novel approaches. I have, however, also written on other classes of material from different periods (down to Roman). Furthermore, I have a strong interest in the history of Greek archaeology (particularly in the late 19th and early 20th century), which I pursue through archival research.
My publications engage problems in the production and consumption of pottery and sculpture, state formation, trade and interaction, identity and commensality, memory, the materiality of writing, the history of Greek and Mediterranean archaeology, and the relevance of antiquity to contemporary discourses. I am the author of The Archaeology of Tomb A1K1 of Orthi Petra in Eleutherna (Athens 2008), and The Sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite at Syme Viannou VII: The Greek and Roman Pottery (Athens and New York 2024); and co-author of Methone Pierias I: Inscriptions, Graffiti and Trademarks on Geometric and Archaic Pottery from the ‘Ypogeio’ of Methone Pierias in Macedonia (Thessaloniki 2012). Additionally, I have edited: Understanding Standardization and Variation in Mediterranean Ceramics: Mid 2nd to Late 1st Millennium BC (Leuven 2014); and co-edited the Wiley Blackwell Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean (2020), and Crises, “Dark Ages,” and Problems of Archaeological Visibility in the Mediterranean of the Mid-1st Millennium BCE (Forthcoming). Also, I am Area Editor for the Wiley Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Articles of mine appear in a range of major journals, including American Journal of Archaeology, Hesperia, Journal of Hellenic Studies, Annual of the British School at Athens, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, and more.
Prior to joining NYU, I was Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati, and Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Crete, and King’s College London. I also served as Curator at the Allard Pierson Museum Amsterdam. I held Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowships (2017-2018, 2022), I received the Rising Star Award from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Cincinnati (2018), and I was the Visiting Professor of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, which involved lecturing across Australia in the summer of 2018.
Address: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
New York University
15 East 84th St.
New York, NY 10028
212-992-7800
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Books by Antonis Kotsonas
attracted much attention. Yet, final publications on these sites frequently focus on architecture, sculpture, metal finds, inscriptions and figurines, and show considerably less interest in the much more copious finds of pottery. Indeed, the pottery from most major and many minor Greek sanctuaries remains largely unknown, partly because it was once discarded in bulk, and partly because it is not studied systematically given the challenges involved in the treatment of large bodies of material. The present monograph addresses this problem by studying and publishing a large body of Greek and Roman pottery from the sanctuary of Syme Viannou in Crete.
The sanctuary of Syme Viannou is renowned as one of the most long-lived cult sites
of ancient Crete and the Greek world. Located on the southeast part of central Crete, the site occupies a magnificent karstic theater facing the Libyan Sea and is located by a spring which remains abundant to the present day. Because of this exquisite geomorphological setting, Syme Viannou has been called the Cretan Delphi. The sanctuary was used continuously from the beginning of the second millennium BCE until after the mid-first millennium CE. During the Greek and Roman period, the sanctuary was dedicated to Hermes and Aphrodite, with the early types of Proto-Hermes and Proto-Aphrodite attested in the early first millennium BCE. In certain phases, the site attracted visitors from much of the eastern half of Crete.
The two volumes study a body of 865 pieces of Greek and Roman pottery from
Syme Viannou, which dates from the beginning of the first millennium BCE to the mid-first
millennium CE and covers a wide range of shapes and types, the representation of which
fluctuated markedly over time. The approach to the material integrates traditional typological and chronological inquiries (Chapters 2 and 4), contextual considerations (Chapters 2 and 5), macroscopic and petrographic analyses of ceramic fabrics (Chapters 3 and 6), and quantitative studies (Chapters 3 and 4). The contribution of my work is threefold. First, it provides detailed documentation of the pottery from Syme Viannou and explores its ritual and other roles within the diachronic panorama of cultic and other activities at the site. Second, it promotes a broader understanding of the role of ceramics in sanctuary contexts by introducing systematically comparative perspectives on pottery from other Cretan and Greek sanctuaries. Third, it makes important methodological contributions to the study and publication of pottery from sanctuaries.
A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers an original and inclusive review of two key periods of Greek archaeology, which are typically treated separately—the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. It presents an in-depth exploration of the society and material culture of Greece and the Mediterranean, from the 14th to the early 7th centuries BC. The two-volume companion sets Aegean developments within their broader geographic and cultural context, and presents the wide-ranging interactions with the Mediterranean.
The companion bridges the gap that typically exists between Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology and examines material culture and social practice across Greece and the Mediterranean. A number of specialists examine the environment and demography, and analyze a range of textual and archaeological evidence to shed light on socio-political and cultural developments. The companion also emphasizes regionalism in the archaeology of early Greece and examines the responses of different regions to major phenomena such as state formation, literacy, migration and colonization. Comprehensive in scope, this important companion:
Outlines major developments in the two key phases of early Greece, the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age
Includes studies of the geography, chronology and demography of early Greece
Explores the development of early Greek state and society and examines economy, religion, art and material culture
Sets Aegean developments within their Mediterranean context
Written for students, and scholars interested in the material culture of the era, A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide that bridges the gap between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age.
Some of the most enduring questions archaeologists raise are explicitly or implicitly formulated around the concepts of standardization and variation. Yet, the significance of these concepts has rarely been acknowledged in archaeological literature and their full potential for the study of ancient culture remains under-explored. To demonstrate the significance of these concepts for the study of material culture, we adopt here a cross-cultural and diachronic perspective. The individual chapters cover a variety of case studies, ranging from Spanish handmade pottery to John Beazley’s Greek vase painters. The range of approaches pursued is equally broad and involves traditional stylistic analyses, applications of archaeological science, statistical methodologies, and post-processual considerations. The result will hopefully stimulate pottery experts and specialists in other categories of artifact to revisit their material from different and fresh angles.
Papers by Antonis Kotsonas
https://www.lifo.gr/guest-editors/o-brahos-i-thalassa-kai-teleferik-sti-monembasia
attracted much attention. Yet, final publications on these sites frequently focus on architecture, sculpture, metal finds, inscriptions and figurines, and show considerably less interest in the much more copious finds of pottery. Indeed, the pottery from most major and many minor Greek sanctuaries remains largely unknown, partly because it was once discarded in bulk, and partly because it is not studied systematically given the challenges involved in the treatment of large bodies of material. The present monograph addresses this problem by studying and publishing a large body of Greek and Roman pottery from the sanctuary of Syme Viannou in Crete.
The sanctuary of Syme Viannou is renowned as one of the most long-lived cult sites
of ancient Crete and the Greek world. Located on the southeast part of central Crete, the site occupies a magnificent karstic theater facing the Libyan Sea and is located by a spring which remains abundant to the present day. Because of this exquisite geomorphological setting, Syme Viannou has been called the Cretan Delphi. The sanctuary was used continuously from the beginning of the second millennium BCE until after the mid-first millennium CE. During the Greek and Roman period, the sanctuary was dedicated to Hermes and Aphrodite, with the early types of Proto-Hermes and Proto-Aphrodite attested in the early first millennium BCE. In certain phases, the site attracted visitors from much of the eastern half of Crete.
The two volumes study a body of 865 pieces of Greek and Roman pottery from
Syme Viannou, which dates from the beginning of the first millennium BCE to the mid-first
millennium CE and covers a wide range of shapes and types, the representation of which
fluctuated markedly over time. The approach to the material integrates traditional typological and chronological inquiries (Chapters 2 and 4), contextual considerations (Chapters 2 and 5), macroscopic and petrographic analyses of ceramic fabrics (Chapters 3 and 6), and quantitative studies (Chapters 3 and 4). The contribution of my work is threefold. First, it provides detailed documentation of the pottery from Syme Viannou and explores its ritual and other roles within the diachronic panorama of cultic and other activities at the site. Second, it promotes a broader understanding of the role of ceramics in sanctuary contexts by introducing systematically comparative perspectives on pottery from other Cretan and Greek sanctuaries. Third, it makes important methodological contributions to the study and publication of pottery from sanctuaries.
A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers an original and inclusive review of two key periods of Greek archaeology, which are typically treated separately—the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. It presents an in-depth exploration of the society and material culture of Greece and the Mediterranean, from the 14th to the early 7th centuries BC. The two-volume companion sets Aegean developments within their broader geographic and cultural context, and presents the wide-ranging interactions with the Mediterranean.
The companion bridges the gap that typically exists between Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology and examines material culture and social practice across Greece and the Mediterranean. A number of specialists examine the environment and demography, and analyze a range of textual and archaeological evidence to shed light on socio-political and cultural developments. The companion also emphasizes regionalism in the archaeology of early Greece and examines the responses of different regions to major phenomena such as state formation, literacy, migration and colonization. Comprehensive in scope, this important companion:
Outlines major developments in the two key phases of early Greece, the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age
Includes studies of the geography, chronology and demography of early Greece
Explores the development of early Greek state and society and examines economy, religion, art and material culture
Sets Aegean developments within their Mediterranean context
Written for students, and scholars interested in the material culture of the era, A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide that bridges the gap between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age.
Some of the most enduring questions archaeologists raise are explicitly or implicitly formulated around the concepts of standardization and variation. Yet, the significance of these concepts has rarely been acknowledged in archaeological literature and their full potential for the study of ancient culture remains under-explored. To demonstrate the significance of these concepts for the study of material culture, we adopt here a cross-cultural and diachronic perspective. The individual chapters cover a variety of case studies, ranging from Spanish handmade pottery to John Beazley’s Greek vase painters. The range of approaches pursued is equally broad and involves traditional stylistic analyses, applications of archaeological science, statistical methodologies, and post-processual considerations. The result will hopefully stimulate pottery experts and specialists in other categories of artifact to revisit their material from different and fresh angles.
https://www.lifo.gr/guest-editors/o-brahos-i-thalassa-kai-teleferik-sti-monembasia
https://www.blod.gr/lectures/ancient-greek-colonization-as-a-paradigm-for-decolonization/
Aegean, Anatolia, and the Levant. Our understanding of the transition into the Iron Age
has followed Ramses III's narrative of invasions by migrants, which brought down all
polities in the Eastern Mediterranean, except for Pharaonic Egypt. The traditional
reconstruction for this period features a universal super-regional collapse followed by
regeneration during the Iron Age. By contrast, profound regional differences have now
been identified and juxtaposed in Eric Cline’s new book After 1177 BC: The Survival of
Civilizations, which will be released immediately before the workshop. Focusing on the
dynamics of the interaction between different regional processes at the Bronze Age-
Iron Age transition, the international experts contributing to this workshop will
present the results of recent fieldwork and new finds, and the research questions
which have emerged in the last few years to complement and enrich Cline's vision.
Yet, serious disruptions are identified in the historical and archaeological record of different Mediterranean regions (central Anatolia, different parts of the Aegean, Etruria and Rome, Sicily, Sardinia, and Iberia) in the 6th or 5th centuries BCE. Traditionally, these phenomena have been approached through event-based, top- down interpretations, such as the fall of Tyre to the Babylonians in the early 6th century BCE, and they have been treated in isolation from each other, within regional and disciplinary silos.
Bringing together archaeologists and historians working in different parts of the Mediterranean, our workshop promotes a more inclusive and comparative approach to these phenomena, explores the degrees to which methodological flaws in fieldwork and finds research have had a grave impact on archaeological visibility, and emphasizes the ways in which new fieldwork can overcome the conditions which created and perpetuate these problems, and thus, revolutionize interpretations of the Mediterranean in the mid-1st millennium BCE.
https://architecture.nd.edu/news-events/events/2022/05/09/the-toumba-building-at-lefkandi-preliminary-results-of-a-new-architectural-analysis/
Built in the first half of the tenth century BC, the Toumba Building at Lefkandi is one of the earliest-known monumental structures built in Greece following the end of the Bronze Age. According to J.J. Coulton’s 1993 reconstruction, the building had a “veranda” of wooden posts around the perimeter, which therefore established the Toumba Building as the earliest-known local antecedent of the peristyle of later Greek temples. This conception was widely accepted by scholars and went unchallenged until 2015, when Georg Herdt called it into question on structural grounds. Subsequent studies have therefore been divided, with some retaining Coulton’s peripteral reconstruction, and others rejecting it as “structurally questionable”.
This colloquium presents the preliminary findings of a new architectural study of the Toumba Building that began in 2020 at the ISHA Lab—Laboratory for the Interdisciplinary Study of Historical Architecture. A team of architectural historians, civil engineers, and aerospace engineers from the University of Notre Dame, joined by scholars from other institutions, has reassessed the structural feasibility of Coulton’s peripteral reconstruction. Using finite element analysis, the team has comprehensively analyzed the structural capacity of the reconstruction. Through the use of technologies normally used in aerospace research, the team has also determined the effect of wind loading. This colloquium illustrates the interdisciplinary methods and goals of ISHA’s ongoing research on the building.
By elucidating the structural function of the Toumba Building’s wooden posts, this research will provide an answer as to whether the building could have had a structurally functioning wooden ‘peristyle’. More broadly, it will clarify how the building’s design related to structural needs, thus furthering our understanding of early Greek architecture.
This workshop brings together archaeologists, anthropologists, cultural historians, and scholars of comparative literature, linguistics, and film for a dynamic cross-cultural conversation. Focusing on the mobility and movement of peoples through islands and archipelagos of the Mediterranean and Caribbean, from antiquity to the present, participants seek to identify common ground as well as to define differences. Topics for discussion include the role of literature, arts, and language in the development of regional archipelagic consciousness, the production of spatial identities, transmission and evolution of artistic, religious, utilitarian and other cultural markers, issues of race, power, colonial/colonized relations, and the creation of subalternity as a category. Introducing an archaeological perspective to ongoing scrutiny of the effects of inter-island movement and migration today may bring a new dimension to our understanding of human mobility across the ages, its motivations, influences, perils, benefits, and unforeseen consequences.