John Serrati (University of Ottawa), "Hoplites and Heroes: Homer on the Battlefields of Classical Greece"

Here, the works of Homer play a crucial role; marching to war, the hoplites undoubtedly saw Achilles, Hektor, and Agamemnon in themselves.  Just as these heroes of the past had competed with each other for battle honours, so too did the men of the phalanx seek to outdo each other as well as to best their opponents.  The works of Homer thus played a key role in the reinforcement of Greek ag​n​o​stic culture, and served as the prime motivation for Greeks to throw themselves into the thick of combat.

Jacob Heywood (Ph.D. Candidate, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne), “Cretan Larnakes: Towards an Understanding of Syntax in Late Minoan III Funerary Iconography”

The Late Minoan III period on Crete (ca. 1430-1100 BCE) was characterised by substantial socio-political discontinuity and island-wide change following the decline of the Minoan palaces. Alongside an array of other developments in material culture, the period was marked by a clear shift in mortuary practices, which included the expansion and re-invention of the pre-existing tradition of burial in clay funerary containers known as ‘larnakes’. Unlike funerary receptacles from earlier periods, many LM III larnakes are adorned with rich painted compositions. These draw upon a wide range of floral, faunal, cultic, and geometric motifs, many of which were already well-established in Cretan iconographic traditions. Despite having received a great deal of scholarly attention, the exact symbolic significance of larnax decoration remains difficult to interpret, particularly given its typically abstract nature.   

This talk investigates the value of a systematic ‘syntactic’ approach to larnax decoration as a means of establishing a more solid foundation for its iconographic interpretation. The identification and quantification of the specific symbolic associations and patterns characterising the use of individual larnax motifs may permit a more thorough understanding of the fundamental visual structures through which meaning was generated. A greater knowledge of this syntax can aid ongoing attempts to assess the possible funerary meanings associated with LM III art, as well highlight in more detail the relationship between the sudden development of larnax iconography and the processes of socio-cultural change occurring on Crete during this period. In particular, an analysis of syntactic patterns can assist in demonstrating how familiar Minoan symbols- for example the horns of consecration and double axe- were adapted to serve new mortuary functions as larnax adornments, and the extent to which this use is consistent with that of both earlier and other contemporary artistic contexts.

Thomas G. Chondros (University of Patras), "Reconstructing the Trojan Horse"

"From Maple to Olive: A Colloquium to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Canadian Institute in Greece"

 

PROGRAMME

FRIDAY 10 JUNE

09.30–10.00    Registration

10.00–10.45    Welcoming Remarks

                        R. Angus K. Smith (President, Canadian Institute in Greece)

                        H.E. Keith Morrill (Ambassador of Canada to the Hellenic Republic)

Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki (General Secretary, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport)

10.45–11.30    Keynote Address

From Maple to Olive: Canadian Fieldwork and Research Transforming the Archaeologies of Greece

David W. Rupp (Canadian Institute in Greece / Brock University)

 

11.30–12.00    Break

 

Session I

Chair: Jane Francis (Concordia University)

12.00–12.20    Kiapha Thiti: the pottery from the earliest phase of the acropolis (Final Neolithic-Early Bronze Age)

Margarita Nazou (Ghent University)

12.20–12.40    Kamares Cave and the early, ritual landscape of South Central Crete:  Diachronic changes in cave rituals

Loeta Tyree (ASCSA)

12.40–13.00    Of Bulls and Banquets: James Walter Graham’s Contributions to Minoan Archaeology and their Lasting Influence

D. Matthew Buell (Concordia University)

13.00–13.20    Using Archaeological Science to Reconstruct Mycenaean Burial Practices

R. Angus K. Smith (Brock University), Mary K. Dabney (Bryn Mawr College), James C. Wright (ASCSA)

13.20–13.40    Discussion

 

13.40–15.00    Lunch Break

 

Session II

Chair: Lucia Nixon (Wolfson College, Oxford)

15.00–15.20    Looking back in time: Three decades of research into the prehistory of Southern Euboea

Tracey Cullen (ASCSA), Lauren E. Talalay (University of Michigan), Žarko Tankosić (Norwegian Institute at Athens), Donald R. Keller (ACOR), Markos Katsianis (Aristotle University Thessaloniki)

15.20–15.40    Fact or Fiction? Lithics-only Prehistoric Sites in the Karystian Plain in Light of New Evidence from Southern Euboea

Zarko Tankosic (Norwegian Institute at Athens)

15.40–16.00    The Mytilene Project

Hector Williams (University of British Columbia)

16.00–16.20    Archaic Imported Fine Wares from Canadian-Greek Excavations on the Lower Town Site at Mytilene

Gerald P. Schaus (Wilfrid Laurier University)

16.20–16.40    Discussion

 

16.40–17.10    Break

 

Session III

Chair: Alexis Young (Wilfrid Laurier University)

17.10–17.30    Un complexe commercial à Argilos

Jacques Perreault (Université de Montréal)

17.30–17.50    Notes sur un Groupe de Cratères Archaïques d’Argilos

Martin Perron (Parks Canada Agency)

17.50–18.10    Adventurous Speculation about Kle(on?) and an Owl at Argilos

Mark L. Lawall (University of Manitoba)

18.10–18.30    Architectural Energetics and Archaic Cretan Urbanisation

Rodney D. Fitzsimons (Trent University)

18.30–18.50    Discussion

 

SATURDAY 11 JUNE

09.00–09.30    Registration

Session IV

Chair: Maria Papaioannou (University of New Brunswick)

09.30–09.50    The Palaeolithic Quarry and Stone Tool Workshops of Stélida, Naxos: New Light on Early Humans in the Aegean Basin

Tristan Carter (McMaster University), Demetrios Athanassoulis (Hellenic Ministry of Culture), Daniel Contreras (Aix-Marseille Universite), Justin Holcomb (Boston University), Danica Mihailović (Belgrade University), Nikolaos Skarpelis (University of Athens), Kathryn Campeau (McMaster University), James Feathers (Washington University)

09.50–10.10    Mycenaean Eleon and Eastern Boeotia during the Bronze Age

Bryan Burns (Wellesley College), Brendan Burke (University of Victoria), Alexandra Charami (Hellenic Ministry of Culture)

10.10–10.30    Archaic and Classical Eleon in Eastern Boeotia: Canadian Excavations from 2011-2015

Brendan Burke (University of Victoria), Bryan Burns (Wellesley College), Alexandra Charami (Hellenic Ministry of Culture)

10.30–10.50    The Defense Network in the Chora of Mantineia

Matthew Maher (University of Winnipeg), Alistair Mowat (University of Manitoba)

10.50–11.10    Athens and the Sikels in the late fifth century BC

Spencer Pope (McMaster University)

11.10–11.30    Discussion

 

11.30–12.00    Break

 

Session V

Chair: Tristan Carter (McMaster University)

12.00–12.20    To Argos: Archaeological survey in the Western Argolid, 2014-2015

Dimitri Nakassis (University of Toronto), Scott Gallimore, (Wilfrid Laurier University), Sarah A. James, (University of Colorado Boulder), William Caraher (University of North Dakota)

12.20–12.40    The Stymphalos Project

Hector Williams (University of British Columbia)

12.40–13.00    The Examination of Selected Motifs on Votive Offerings of Jewellery from the Acropolis Sanctuary, Stymphalos: Towards a Greater Perspective of Cult

Alexis Young (Wilfrid Laurier University)

13.00–13.20    Contributions to Canadian Maritime Archaeology: Harbors, Urbanism, and Ideology in Asia Minor

Lana Radloff (University at Buffalo, SUNY; ASCSA)

13.20–13.40    Discussion

13.40–15.00    Lunch Break

 

Session VI

Chair: Sheila Campbell (University of Toronto)

15.00–15.20    From sherds to slope: Interpreting survey data at Kastro Kallithea in Thessaly

Laura Surtees (Bryn Mawr College), Margriet Haagsma (University of Alberta), Sophia Karapanou (Hellenic Ministry of Culture)

15.20–15.40    Kastro Kallithea: the analysis of ceramics from a Hellenistic townhouse

Colette Beestman-Kruyshaar (University of Amsterdam), Margriet Haagsma (University of Alberta), Sophia Karapanou (Hellenic Ministry of Culture)

15.40–16.00    Home away from Home: Canada's Contribution to Greek Domestic Studies

Craig I. Hardiman (University of Waterloo)

16.00–16.20    Negotiating Identities: Material Expression of Cults in Perrhaibia

Gino Ruggiero Canlas (University of Alberta)

16.20–16.40    Cultural Landscapes and Resources in Sphakia, Crete: A Diachronic Perspective

Lucia Nixon (Wolfson College, Oxford), Jennifer Moody (University of Texas at Austin)

16.40–17.00    Discussion

 

17.00–17.30    Break

 

Session VII

Chair: Gerald P. Schaus (Wilfrid Laurier University)

17.30–17.50    Roman Influence on Greek Sphakia

Jane Francis (Concordia University)

17.50–18.10    The Leukos Survey Project: A Small Early and Middle Byzantine Harbour

D. J. Ian Begg (Trent University), Michael C. Nelson (Queen’s College), Todd Brenningmeyer (Maryville University), Amanda Kelly (University College Dublin)

18.10–18.30    The Digital World of Greek Archaeology: Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Maria Papaioannou, Peter Dare (University of New Brunswick)

18.30–18.50    The Cistercian Monastery of Zaraka in Arcadia

Sheila Campbell (University of Toronto)

18.50–19.10    Discussion

19.10–19.30    Presentation of the forthcoming monograph:

Sheila Campbell (ed.), “The Cistercian Monastery of Zaraka in Arcadia” (Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece, No. 9)

19.30–19.45    Closing Remarks

R. Angus K. Smith (President, Canadian Institute in Greece)

20.00               Dinner for Speakers