The texts and illustrations contained in this site may not be published, reproduced, or otherwise redistributed without permission of the authors or artists and are for personal and educational use only. Commercial use is strictly prohibited. Scholarly publications should make reference to this site as "The Southern Euboea Exploration Project: Internet Edition,"http://jan.nau.ucc.edu/~seep-p" For photo and illustration credits see: Photo credits and Illustrations credits .
For our new readers, a brief history of SEEP's work in southern Euboea may be of interest. The project was incorporated in 1984 as a nonprofit research and educational program and registered in the state of Maryland. Recent fieldwork has been conducted under the aegis of the Canadian Archaeological Institute in Athens. Our research is carried out in Greece with permission of the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Greek Archaeological Service, represented in Euboea by Dr. Efi Sakellaraki, whose active support we gratefully acknowledge.
Membership to date consists of 88 professionals and students from universities in North America and Europe, independent scholars, and other interested persons (see p. 5). Many of our members have served as volunteers in the field, while others have given research time or made generous financial donations.
Prior to the work of SEEP, the southern part of Euboea was very little known archaeologically. Only three sites had been tested by excavation and a total of nine sites catalogued during survey. Since 1984, SEEP has added over 200 ancient sites to the record, including 128 sites on the Paximadhi peninsula, one of the largest contiguous areas to be intensively surveyed in Greece. The diachronic reconstruction of the human ecology of the peninsula, now being prepared for publication, is based on archaeological survey and the excavation of three sites (a Final Neolithic settlement, a Classical farmhouse, and a Classical cistern reused in the Roman period as a shelter) as well as anthropological, historical, and environmental research (see Seepage 1 and 2 for bibliography and anecdotes generated during the Paximadhi years).
In 1989 the second phase of research, a reconnaissance survey along the premodern routes in the rugged interior of the island, was initiated and this work will be continued in the summer of 1993 (see Seepage 3, and below). The mountainous terrain of southern Euboea makes it likely that major routes in the past (before the use of dynamite and bulldozers) would have followed a limited number of natural passages. We have taken mule-trails, footpaths, and cobbled lanes as our initial survey transects into the area, recording sites and isolated cultural material encountered along the trails and documenting the nature of the route itself. In 1989 and 1990 we explored the route network in the region southeast and east of modern Karystos and recorded 54 new findspots.
One of the most exciting results of the route survey has been the discovery of most of the ancient road leading to Karystos from the port and sanctuary at ancient Geraistos. Sections of this route, especially on the steep terrain rising from the harbor at Geraistos, still have their original pavement.
In 1990, we were able to arrange a year-round lease with the Buris family of a beautiful old house in the center of Karystos, which has served as project headquarters during the summers and dry storage for all of our field equipment, library, and map collection during the winters.
The SEEP house
During July and August of the past two summers we have continued to record and analyze the Paximadhi artifacts stored in the Karystos Museum and revisited many of the findspots in the field. A number of new people have joined the Paximadhi effort and new tasks have been defined. Elizabeth Langridge, ABD at Princeton University, will publish the pottery from the excavated cistern (80C27) and farmstead (80C38) sites. Lia Karimali, ABD at Boston University, is studying the chipped and ground stone tools from the peninsula. Stamatis Zogaris of Vancouver is preparing a report on the present and past vegetation of the region. Els Hom, recent University of Amsterdam graduate, will provide a section on the land communication routes of the peninsula. Tracey Cullen, together with Don Keller, is writing the prehistory chapter for the volume. Maria Toli has undertaken a chapter on the post-Byzantine history of the peninsula.
Deirdre Beyer-HonVa completed a report on a sample of Classical sherds she submitted to John Mitchell at the Fitch Laboratory of the British School of Archaeology at Athens. John conducted petrological and chemical analyses of the material and made a series of winter excursions to seek out Karystian clay beds. The results of their study, which will be presented in full in the Paximadhi publication, indicate that all of the pottery sampled was almost certainly locally made. In 1992 Tracey presented John with a smaller sample of prehistoric sherds. He promises us an updated and final report on all of the sherds and local clay properties in the fall of 1993.
Kirsten Gay, who was the recipient of (uniquely) two successive undergraduate travel and research grants from Loyola University, Baltimore, for her work on Paximadhi, undertook an independent study of the rural religious sanctuaries on the peninsula, and Bill Parkinson, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, initiated a study of the towers on the peninsula. In 1992 Susan Predovic, an architecture student also at the University of Illinois, Chicago, completed detailed plans of all the towers on the peninsula. Bill and Kirsten, by the way, will both begin graduate school in September of 1993&emdash;Bill in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Kirsten in Classics at the University of Cincinnati.
Priscilla Murray and Curtis Runnels of Boston University visited our team in 1991 and brought with them the exciting news of the famous Lower Palaeolithic hand axe Curtis discovered in Epiros. This news later made worldwide headlines, but we heard it first in Karystos. While in town, Curtis gave us valuable advice about our chipped and ground stone tool assemblage and also demonstrated stone tool knapping in the SEEP courtyard. Let the archaeologists of A.D. 3092 sort out that assemblage!
In 1992 we were visited by Jon-Paul Crielaard, Associate Director of the Netherlands Institute of Archaeology at Athens, who is especially interested in Eubocan trade contacts in the Early Iron Age. Together with Els Hom and Don Keller he looked at our Geometric pottery and visited the Geometric sanctuary on Plakari, greatly recharging SEEP interest in this important site and encouraging plans to salvage it before summer houses spring up.
In 1991 we were invited by the Ephor, Dr. Efi Sakellaraki, to submit a report on the identification and status of endangered sites in our study area. This was a very timely suggestion given the ever-increasing pace of construction and land development in the Karystos area and because, as our survey expands outward from Karystos, we are covering much more territory than before. As always, of course, we notify the authorities at once if we notice a site in immediate danger, but the "Cultural Resource Memo" that we now enclose with our season report each September allows us to provide the authorities with our general observations and opinions regarding the state of site preservation in southern Euboea.
Among the items reported in 1992 were indications of renewed building in the area of the Neolithic/Geometric site of Plakari, a new private road across the EBA site at Akri Rozo, and the uncovering of a large number of EBA sherds during new construction work at the municipal sewage treatment plant.
In 1992 Francis Cairns of the University of Leeds carried out a restudy of the published inscriptions in the Karystos Museum. Prof. Cairns and his colleagues have now established an archaeological practicum in Karystos (course title: Karystos: A Greek City and Its Territory) to complement a program of study in Classical civilization offered at the University of Leeds. As part of the program students will have the opportunity to spend two weeks in September in Karystos. The first group of students is expected in September of 1993.
Maria Panagopoulou, now Epimelete of the Cyclades, and her team offered the town of Karystos a slide presentation on their ongoing research and excavation work at Archampolis, a dramatic Iron Age site first reported on by Keller in 1983 at the AIA Annual Meeting.
Hans Goette of the German Archaeological Institute in Athens came to Karystos in the fall of 1992 to clean and investigate the "Roman Temple" located in the center of town. He will soon publish his interpretation of the structure. Dr. Goette has also expressed interest in continuing research in the Karystia with the cooperation of SEEP.
During the past two winters Roz Schneider has spent much of her time completing William Chapman's book on the history of Karystos. Prof. Chapman, a classicist who had taught at U. C. Riverside and retired some years ago to live and write in Karystos, requested in his will that Roz see to the publication of his work. Unfortunately, with the exception of the first chapters, there was no manuscript in the traditional (typed) sense of the word at the time he died. After 18 months, Roz has combined the contents of over 35 notebooks and countless small scraps of paper with the first few chapters, which were in draft form, into a narrative history. The work will be printed and bound over the summer and distributed to university libraries next fall under the title, Karystos: City-State and Country Town.
Thanks to his recent employment by the Perseus Project at Harvard University, Don Keller can now talk about bits and RAMs and ROMs and hardware and sometimes know what he means. Contact with the Perseus people, and in particular Neel Smith, has reinforced Don's determination to see that all the Paximadhi data be made available for others in an electronic form. We currently envision transferring all of our catalogues and inventory archives, as well as maps and drawings (stored in a data base designed for the project by Neel), to a simple software system readable by Macintosh computers. We hope to set a new trend here and that in the future all information too costly to print will be made available on disk by other survey projects.
In June of 1993 many of the contributors to the Paximadhi monograph will convene in Karystos for an informal working symposium. Bill Parkinson will also be on hand to continue study of the ancient towers on Paximadhi, and Kirsten Gay plans to finish her research on the rural sanctuaries of the peninsula. Cindy Kosso, in addition to using the month for final checks on her Paximadhi chapters, plans to investigate in detail a Roman structure at Paliochora (first recorded and tentatively interpreted as a bath by Don Keller in 1979). Cindy recently completed her Ph.D. in History at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is now teaching at the University of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, where Peter Kosso, official SEEP Philosopher (see Seepage 3), also teaches. The Paliochora project, organized and directed by Cindy, is the first of (we hope) many future projects involving more detailed study of sites recorded over the years by SEEP.
Don Keller has been awarded a grant from NEH to continue the reconnaissance-route survey in 1993. We have scheduled July 1-August 15 for the survey, and the last two weeks in August for inventory and catalogue work in the Karystos Museum. With luck we hope to complete the survey of the northeastern zone this summer, i.e., from the village of Platanistos to Kavo d'Oro (Cape Kaphereus).
As reported previously, in the summer of 1990 the road beyond Platanistos effectively destroyed the Canadian Institute's Peugeot (known affectionately as the Yakmobile by SEEP members). But, with a new engine and a winter of pampering in the hands of John Mitchell under its fan belt, the Yak is eager for a rematch. As a backup Don assures us that this summer he will get his cycle running.
Because of the travel time and fuel required to drive to the survey zone, we plan to rotate two teams of six members each in overnight field trips. Back in Karystos crews will use their two "town days" to clean, inventory, and catalogue finds and to update forms and maps. An alternative to this plan would have been to establish a base camp far from Karystos, but that seemed impractical since the route crews will be covering large distances far from any villages or modern roads and it would require constantly moving the base camp. The present plan allows crew members to get back into Karystos every second day for cold showers, checking the mail, use of electrical appliances, and tending to snakebites.
Lauren Talalay of the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology in Ann Arbor will join SEEP this summer, supported by a grant from the University of Michigan. She will work with Tracey and Don in documenting the prehistoric sites and material yielded by the survey, and will also acquaint herself thoroughly with the area in preparation for possible excavation in 1994 (given permit and funding) of the site of Plakari. A brief salvage excavation carried out by Keller in 1979 (after part of the site was illegally bulldozed) has already yielded a rich collection of Final Neolithic material reflecting ties to other parts of the Aegean, particularly the Cyclades. We are also hoping Laurie will bring her rubber boat (which Don insists on calling the SEEP Maritime Coastal Research Craft) to Karystos so that we might explore the offshore islands with almost no fear of drowning.
The Ay. Andreas caique service to Kalianou has finally been terminated. Many SEEP members and visitors will recall fondly the gentle, relaxing sea voyages beginning at 5:15 a.m. in Karystos (if calm), rounding Kavo d'Oro (if calm), and being put ashore at Kalianou (if calm). Apparently the government thinks that there is now a passable road to Kalianou. We are happy to report that the Ay. Andreas is now plying the route between Kos and Nisyros.
The Karystos Museum is now open to the public, free of charge, and an electronic surveillance system has been installed in the galleries and the storerooms.
As usual, there were a number of wildfires in the Karystia over the past two summers. One particularly vicious fire in August of 1992 killed a large number of livestock and burned off much of the northwest quarter of the Kampos and Paximadhi.
Our efforts to maintain a permanent center in Karystos, initially made possible by a generous donation from James Essaris, have met with some success. An art program directed by Elizabeth Nead and Ted Theodore of the Maryland Institute, College of Art, made use of the SEEP house in June of 1991 and 1992. Francis Cairns and his colleagues in the Classics Department of the University of Leeds occupied the house in September of 1991 and 1992. Beata DeVligher brought a group of University of Gent geography students to the house in August of 1991. In response to a request in the last newsletter, several members donated bedding, towels, and kitchen supplies to the SEEP household. Also donated were a broken typewriter and a bicycle without brakes. The SEEP house continues to be available for winter sublet. We also have a bicycle for rent!
SEEP T-SHIRTS
Exquisite 100% cotton T-shirts with a rousing equestrian scene (SEEP surface find) are NOW ON SALE Medium, large, and extra-large sizes are in stock and will be shipped immediately upon request and payment. The Cost of this chic shirt is only $12.00, including postage. Profits from the T-shirt sales will be used to purchase books for the SEEP library in Karystos. Act soon for the chance to wear your T-shirt this summer. Orders will not be processed in July or August since we will all be in the field.
The activities of the Southern Euboca Exploration Project, including printing and mailing an occasional newsletter, are supported by federal and private grants, volunteer labor, and by your donations. To date, SEEP has 88 contributing members (see below), and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all of these individuals for their generosity.
We would like to remind those of you who have not yet joined or contributed recently that donations to SEEP are welcome in any amount and are tax deductible. Individuals wishing to support our efforts in southern Euboea should send their checks, payable to Southern Euboea Exploration Project, or SEEP, to Donald Keller, 11 Belmont Sq. #3, Somerville, MA 02143 USA. Thank you
Members
Ayla Akin, Deirdre Beyer-Honca, Judith Binder, Harriet Blitzer, Nick Buris, Michael Byme, Francis Cairns, John Camp, Nancy Cooper, Yasmin Craig, Tracey Cullen, Margaret Curry, Luc Daels, Morgan DeDapper, Hilda DeKimpe, Pieter DeKimpe, Christina Dengate, James Dengate, Beata DeVligher, James Essaris, Pat Felch, Cheryl Floyd, Peter Funke, Kirsten Gay, Hans-J. Gehrke, Nick Germanacos, Hans Goette, Mark Golden, Rudi Goossens, Kristen Hannold, Robert Hardy, Reg Heron, Els Hom, Thomas Jacobsen, Michael Jameson, David Jordan, Olga Kalentzidou, Lia Karimali, Ingrid Keller, Walter Klippel, Carolyn Koehler, Steven Koob, Peter Kosso, Robert Lamberton, Elizabeth Langridge, Carol Lawton, Maria Liston, John McEnroe, Camilla MacKay, Craig Mauzy, Marie Mauzy, John Mitchell, Mark Munn, Mary Lou Munn, Deb Munson, Priscilla Murray, Wil Myers, Ellie Myers, John Oakley, Josh Ober, Bill Parkinson, Chip Pennington, Jacques Perreault, Lisa Pintozzi, Susan Predovic, T. Rahbek-Nielsen, Susan Rotroff, Curtis Runnels, Hugh Sackett, Eric Schneider, Neel Smith, Carolyn Snively, Tom Strasser, Katie Sweet, Lynn Snyder, Lauren Talalay, Maria Toli, Richard Vedder, Karen Vitelli, Pamela Vreeland, Marc Waelkens, Vance Watrous, Kim Webster, Berit Wells, Jere Wickens, Barbara Winter, Grant Winter, Stamatis Zogaris
Seepage 4 was compiled and edited by TC, DK, CK, RS, and MW. Contributions and suggestions for future issues are welcomed. For earlier issues of Seepage, write to Cynthia Kosso, 4532 South Kathy Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001.