Fieldwork at Ancient Eleon in Boeotia, 2011-2018

field report Fieldwork at Ancient Eleon in Boeotia, 2011–2018 Brendan Burke, Bryan Burns, Alexandra Charami, Trevor Van Damme, Nicholas Herrmann, and Bartłomiej Lis Open Access at www.ajaonline.org Supplementary Image Gallery at www.ajaonline.org This article presents the results of the first excavations at the site of ancient Eleon in eastern Boeotia, Greece. Fieldwork focused on the elevated limestone ridge on the western edge of the village of Arma about 14 km east of Thebes. The chronological framework of the excavated remains includes pottery dating from Early Helladic II through early Middle Helladic found in secondary contexts and not associated with any architectural remains. Funerary activity began during the Middle Helladic period, reaching a peak both in terms of the number of graves and monumentality in Late Helladic I. An impressive burial complex, the Blue Stone Structure, is contemporary with other cemeteries of the Shaft Grave period in southern and central Greece. During the Mycenaean Palatial period, contemporary with references to the toponym e-re-o-ni (Eleon) in Linear B tablets found at Thebes, activity on the site included significant craft production. Occupation continued directly into Postpalatial periods (Late Helladic IIIC Early and Middle), through several phases of building, destruction, and reconstruction. By the sixth century BCE, the construction of the large polygonal wall along the eastern edge of the plateau and an array of ceramics and figurines, of local, Corinthian, and Attic origins in secondary deposition, indicate renewed occupation.1 1 American Journal of Archaeology Volume 124, Number 3 July 2020 Pages 441–76 DOI: 10.3764/aja.124.3.0441 www.ajaonline.org The Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project (EBAP) is currently directed by Alexandra Charami of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia; Brendan Burke, University of Victoria; and Bryan Burns, Wellesley College. Permission for this synergasia excavation between the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports and the Canadian Institute in Greece (CIG) is gratefully acknowledged. The Ephorate and CIG have facilitated the necessary land purchase for excavation and other yearly permits. The excavation would not have happened without Vasilis Aravantinos, Stavroula Dimitriou, Yannis Fappas, Kiki Kyriaglou, Olga Kyriazi, and Jonathan Tomlinson. We happily acknowledge our funding agencies, the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, and the Loeb Classical Library, as well as support from student volunteers and private donors. All the architecture and stratigraphy at Eleon has been recorded, drawn, and prepared for publication by Giuliana Bianco. Our ceramics and other finds have been drawn by Tina Ross. Project conservators are Basiliki Karas and Nefeli Theocharous. Trench supervisors include E. Anderson, S. Bartlett, J. Bellows, H. Bertram, A. Causer-McBurney, M. Condell, J. Engstrom, G. Hill, M. MacDonald, K. Mahoney, U. Maihöfer, J. Morton, D. Nadal, M. Nikolovieni, and M. Pihhoker. M. Bullock, K. Cruz, C. Kocurek, Y. Lam, S. Lupack, A. Nagel, S. Nikoloudis, and J. Sadarananda are sincerely thanked for their significant contributions to the excavation. A volume of preliminary reports by individual collaborators at ancient Eleon is forthcoming. Figures herein are the authors’. Additional figures can be found with this article’s abstract on AJA Online (www.ajaonline.org). 441 © 2020 Archaeological Institute of America