ARCHAEOLOGICAL MEETING OF THESSALY AND CENTRAL GREECE, 2006-2008
FROM PREHISTORY TO THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD

Paper abstract

HUBER Sandrine
University of Lausanne, Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece
New Light on Eretrian Cults and Sanctuaries: Athena at Last

More than a hundred years after the first archaeological excavations at Eretria, the Euboean city has revealed ten attested sanctuaries as well as a number of sacred spaces that date from the geometric to the end of the roman imperial period. In addition to that, finds and epigraphical evidence also indicate the cult of several other deities in the city. In 2006 and 2007 I conducted the excavation on the summit of the ancient acropolis on behalf of the Swiss School of Archaeology in Greece. Previous campaigns during 1993, 1994 and 1995 had brought to light a sanctuary, which was in use from the end of the 6th (or late 7th) century until the end of the 2nd century B.C. The purpose of the 2006-2007 campaigns was to expand investigations in the precinct of the sanctuary and if possible to identify the divinity to which it was dedicated. The discovery of an archaic Cyprio-Ionian limestone sculpture representing a lion with the inscription ΑΘΕΝΑΙΑΣ carved on its back, as well as other indicative finds confirmed our theory that the sanctuary belonged to the goddess Athena. The discovery of this new site and recent excavations in two other sanctuaries at the heart of the city —those of Apollo Daphnephoros and probably Artemis— allow us to attempt a synthesis of the archaeological evidence we actually dispose essentially for the archaic period and discern common ritual practices, as well as specific religious activities. Sandrine Huber

<< Return to the speakers list