The 2005 Visiting Professorship

Professor Nota Kourou was awarded her BA from the University of Athens in 1968, and her D.Phil, with the thesis The Sphinx in Early Archaic Greek Art, from Somerville College, Oxford, in 1979. She is now the Professor of Early Iron Age Aegean Archaeology at the University of Athens, a chair she has held since 2001.

Professor Kourou's main areas of interest are Greek pottery of the Geometric and Archaic Periods; the Dark Ages, the Geometric and the Early Archaic Period in the Aegean, Cyprus and the Mediterranean; relations between the Aegean and Eastern/Western Mediterranean; the Cyclades and Crete; and archaeometry. She is director of the University of Athens excavations at Tinos, Xobuorgo.

Public Lectures
1. From a refuge site to a fortified City-State:
New Discoveries at Xobourgo on the island of Tenos

2. The Bull and the Mistress:
Continuity and Changes in Greek Religious Practices

The aim of this lecture is to discuss recent archaeological evidence on Phoenician and Cypriot presence in the Aegean during the Early Iron Age (c.1100-700 B.C.). Phoenician, Cypriot and Near Eastern objects found in Greek contexts of the Geometric period are presented and discussed in the light of recent archaeological research.
Factors related to the emergence of the Phoenician states and their first colonial movements to Central and Western Mediterranean in the early first millennium BC. are analysed in order to define possible pre-colonial commercial networks active in the Mediterranean during that period.

1. The Cesnola Style East and West:
A travelling potter or an influential workshop of the 8th century B.C.?
The Euboean pottery style of the Geometric period known as the Cesnola style is discussed against similar material from Naxos and elsewhere in the Aegean and also against some close styles found in the West and made locally.

2. Early Iron Age open--air sanctuaries in the Aegean: Continuity and Break.
The seminar takes up the issue of the open-air sanctuaries established during the Dark Ages and discusses their development morphologically and in terms of religious practices. Emphasis is given to the types of figurines found in the sanctuaries and their cultural tradition.

3. The artist and the donor: Limestone statuettes of Cypriot type found in the Aegean.
The aim of this seminar is to discuss a class of Archaic limestone statuettes in a mixed Cypro-Aegean style, which have been found in some quantities at a few major sanctuaries in the Eastern Aegean and at Naucratis in Egypt. Similar statuettes found in Cyprus follow a purely Cypriot style and iconography and they have their dedicatory inscriptions in Cypriot syllabary.
The style and iconography of the statuettes found in the Aegean are discussed against their contemporary Cypriot background and their origin problem is reviewed by taking into consideration also their inscriptions. The discussion aims to elucidate issues related to religious and social practices in major Archaic sanctuaries.

*The 2005 Visiting Professorship is generously sponsored by various Governors of the AAIA



		The 2005 Visiting Professorship
		The 2005 Visiting Professorship
			Professor Nota Kourou Professor Nota Kourou was awarded her BA from the University of Athens in 1968, and her D.Phil, with the thesis The Sphinx in Early Archaic Greek Art, from Somerville College, Oxford, in 1979. She is now the Professor of Early Iron Age Aegean Archaeology at the University of Athens, a chair she has held since 2001. Professor Kourou's main areas of interest are Greek pottery of the Geometric and Archaic Periods; the Dark Ages, the Geometric and the Early Archaic Period in the Aegean, Cyprus and the Mediterranean; relations between the Aegean and Eastern/Western Mediterranean; the Cyclades and Crete; and archaeometry. She is director of the University of Athens excavations at Tinos, Xobuorgo. A list of her lecture and seminar topics are listed below. Public Lectures 1. From a refuge site to a fortified City-State: New Discoveries at Xobourgo on the island of Tenos The aim of this lecture is to give an account of a major Cycladic centre currently excavated by Professor Kourou. The interest of Xobourgo lies in the fact that the settlement which was established originally as a refuge site with a huge Cyclopean wall during the Dark Ages (c.1100-800 B.C.) soon developed into a major urban centre. The huge Cyclopean wall encircling the first early settlement suggests that it was set up as a refuge site for the islanders living on the coast wanting to avoid piracy that presented a continuous threat in the Aegean following the collapse of the Mycenaean world. The later City-State was also protected by a huge wall which offered security to the inhabitants during the Persian Wars. The illustrated lecture gives a vivid image of life in the ancient Cyclades during the Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (c.800-400 B.C.). 2. The Bull and the Mistress: Continuity and Changes in Greek Religious Practices The aim of the lecture is to discuss the changes in Aegean culture after the end of the Bronze Age (c.1200-800 B.C.). A number of votive objects are discussed including female figures and figurines of animals (mostly bulls) and hybrids which have parallels also in Cyprus and which provide evidence for the cultural and religious changes during that period. The discussion includes an analysis of the technique of their manufacture, their iconography and their style. 3. Cypriots and Phoenicians in the Aegean in the Early Iron Age The aim of this lecture is to discuss recent archaeological evidence on Phoenician and Cypriot presence in the Aegean during the Early Iron Age (c.1100-700 B.C.). Phoenician, Cypriot and Near Eastern objects found in Greek contexts of the Geometric period are presented and discussed in the light of recent archaeological research. Factors related to the emergence of the Phoenician states and their first colonial movements to Central and Western Mediterranean in the early first millennium BC. are analysed in order to define possible pre-colonial commercial networks active in the Mediterranean during that period. Seminars 1. The Cesnola Style East and West: A travelling potter or an influential workshop of the 8th century B.C.? The Euboean pottery style of the Geometric period known as the Cesnola style is discussed against similar material from Naxos and elsewhere in the Aegean and also against some close styles found in the West and made locally. 2. Early Iron Age open--air sanctuaries in the Aegean: Continuity and Break. The seminar takes up the issue of the open-air sanctuaries established during the Dark Ages and discusses their development morphologically and in terms of religious practices. Emphasis is given to the types of figurines found in the sanctuaries and their cultural tradition. 3. The artist and the donor: Limestone statuettes of Cypriot type found in the Aegean. The aim of this seminar is to discuss a class of Archaic limestone statuettes in a mixed Cypro-Aegean style, which have been found in some quantities at a few major sanctuaries in the Eastern Aegean and at Naucratis in Egypt. Similar statuettes found in Cyprus follow a purely Cypriot style and iconography and they have their dedicatory inscriptions in Cypriot syllabary. The style and iconography of the statuettes found in the Aegean are discussed against their contemporary Cypriot background and their origin problem is reviewed by taking into consideration also their inscriptions. The discussion aims to elucidate issues related to religious and social practices in major Archaic sanctuaries. *The 2005 Visiting Professorship is generously sponsored by various Governors of the AAIA