The 2007 Visiting Professor - Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier

Professor Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier studied at the University of Göttingen before undertaking a doctorate at the Universities of Mannheim and Heidelberg. He was awarded a PhD for his thesis entitled Die Palaststilkeramik von Knossos in 1976. After working at Marburg University and as general secretary of the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, he held professorships at Freiburg University (1986-1991) and Heidelberg University (1991-2001). In 2001 Professor Niemeier returned to the German Archaeological Institute at Athens to take up the position of Director.

A specialist in the Aegean Bronze Age, Professor Niemeier has excavated extensively in Crete, as well as on the Greek mainland, in southern Italy, Israel and Turkey. He is currently director of the German Archaeological Institute excavations at Miletus (Turkey), the Athenian Kerameikos (Greece), Kalapodi (ancient Phokis, Greece) and the Samos Heraion (Greece). He is widely published and well respected in his field, as evidenced by the many guest lectures he has been asked to deliver throughout Germany, the USA, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Austria and now Australia.

Professor Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier toured Australia as the 2007 AAIA Visiting Professor between August 6^th and September 12^th, delivering a series of seminars and lectures in Sydney, Armidale, Newcastle, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Hobart.

The most recent excavations at Miletus/Millawanda and the history of Western Anatolia in the late Bronze Age
According to tradition, Miletos, 'the ornament of Ionia', was owned by the indigenous Lelegoi before being settled by Cretans during the reign of the mythical king Minos of Knossos. This tradition has been interpreted by some historians as a myth with no historical reality behind it. The excavations conducted at Miletos under the directorship of Professor Niemeier have produced a continuous sequence of settlement levels from the Chalcolithic period (4th millenium B.C.) to the end of the Bronze Age (11th century B.C.). Miletos I and II, the settlements of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (3rd millenium B.C.), are of a native character. In the time of Miletus III, the settlement of the Middle Bronze Age (20th century to second half of the 18th century B.C.), the first Minoans arrived at Miletos. Miletus IV (second half of the 18th century B.C. to middle of 15th century) was a pure Minoan settlement, as demonstrated by locally produced domestic pottery, a Minoan sanctuary, Minoan wall-paintings, and evidence for Minoan administration. In the middle of the 15th century the settlement was conquered my Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland. The two following settlement periods, Miletus V-VI (second half of the 15th century to ca. 1200 B.C.), are of Mycenaean character.
In the cuneiform texts of the 14th to 13th centuries B.C. found at Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite empire, Miletos is refered to as Milawanda, a bridgehead of the Mycenaean kingdom of Ahhiyawa (connected to Homer's Achaians, probably centred in Boeotian Thebes). Mycenaeans and Hittites were opponents in western Asia Minor. This appears to form the historical background of the tradition of the Trojan War, since Troy = Ilios, or, in the Hittite sources, Wilusa, a vassal of the Hittites.

The Kouros of the Sacred Gate: New finds of archaic marble sculptures in the Kerameikos of Athens
For almost 2500 years the Kouros was hidden under a canal in the Kerameikos, the potters' quarter and cemetery of ancient Athens, until discovered in April 2002 during excavations by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens under the directorship of Professor Niemeier. The statue is a masterpiece of ca. 600 B.C., the very beginning of the great Athenian tradition of marble sculpture. With the kouros other sculptures were found: a Sphinx, two lions, an Ionian capital, and a Doric capital. This group forms the most spectacular find of Archaic sculptures since the discovery of those in the debris of the Persian destruction on the Athenian Acropolis. In the lecture, the exciting story of the discovery of the new sculptures is narrated. Their importance for the history of Greek sculpture, their original function as monuments on the graves of aristocratic families, and the question how they came to their place of discovery are discussed.

New light on the Greek 'Dark Age': cult continuity in sanctuaries at Miletus and Kalapodi
In ca. 1200 B.C. the Mycenaean civilization ended with the destruction of their impressive citadels, the seats of its mighty kings. A period of discontinuity, decrease in population, and poverty followed: the 'Dark Age' of Greece. During this 'Dark Age' there was also discontinuity in religion and spatial indeterminacy in cult. Not until the second half of the 8th century B.C. did a sudden development lead to the 'Greek Renaissance', a period of immense economic and cultural advance which formed the basis of Classical Greece. The Greek sanctuary as a discrete area of religious activity emerged also at this time.
Such had been the long-held belief regarding developments in Greece between the 12th and 8th centuries B.C.. Excavations over the last decades have, however, demonstrated that there is more continuity in various spheres than previously thought. Yet the problem of continuity in religion and cult remains controversial. Excavations in the sanctuary of Athena at Miletus (Ionia) and in the probable sanctuary of Apollon at Abai, Kalapodi (ancient Phokis), both directed by Professor Niemeier, have revealed evidence for continuous cult activity from at least the Mycenaean Age, through the 'Dark Age', to the Archaic period. Among the important finds from Kalapodi are unique fragments of a 7th century B.C. wall-painting representing a battle scene.

New excavations in the sanctuary of Kalapodi (Phokis): the oracle sanctuary of Apollo of Abai
The Greek 'Dark Age', the time between the fall of the Mycenaean citadels of ca. 1200 B.C. and the 'Greek Renaissance' of the second half of the 8th century B.C., remains one of the most enigmatic periods in the history of ancient Greece. There is still much controversy about continuity and discontinuity during this time. For religion and cult, scholars have argued that there was discontinuity and spatial indeterminacy during 'the Dark Age' and that the Greek sanctuary as a discrete area of religious activity emerged only in the eighth century B.C. However, most of the Olympian gods were venerated as early as the Mycenaean period. If they survived through 'the Dark Age', those gods must have been venerated in that period also. The sanctuary near the village Kalapodi (Nomos Fthiotidas, ancient Phokis), probably that of Apollon of Abai, being excavated under the directorship of Professor Niemeier, is producing a sequence from the sanctuary from as early as the Middle Bronze Age, through the Dark Ages, to the Archaic and Classical periods. Such a sequence is up till now unique on the Greek mainland. Exciting finds have also been made, including fragments of Mycenaean clay vessels with painted representations of warriors and battles, a unique wall-painting of the 7th century B.C. with the representation of a battle scene between hoplites, and a series of chariot wheels of the late 6th century which had been attached as votives to the temple.



		The 2007 Visiting Professor
		The 2007 Visiting Professor
			Professor Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier Director, The German Archaeological Institute at Athens Professor Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier studied at the University of Göttingen before undertaking a doctorate at the Universities of Mannheim and Heidelberg. He was awarded a PhD for his thesis entitled Die Palaststilkeramik von Knossos in 1976. After working at Marburg University and as general secretary of the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, he held professorships at Freiburg University (1986-1991) and Heidelberg University (1991-2001). In 2001 Professor Niemeier returned to the German Archaeological Institute at Athens to take up the position of Director. A specialist in the Aegean Bronze Age, Professor Niemeier has excavated extensively in Crete, as well as on the Greek mainland, in southern Italy, Israel and Turkey. He is currently director of the German Archaeological Institute excavations at Miletus (Turkey), the Athenian Kerameikos (Greece), Kalapodi (ancient Phokis, Greece) and the Samos Heraion (Greece). He is widely published and well respected in his field, as evidenced by the many guest lectures he has been asked to deliver throughout Germany, the USA, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Austria and now Australia. Professor Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier toured Australia as the 2007 AAIA Visiting Professor between August 6^th and September 12^th, delivering a series of seminars and lectures in Sydney, Armidale, Newcastle, Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Hobart. Public Lectures & Seminars The most recent excavations at Miletus/Millawanda and the history of Western Anatolia in the late Bronze Age According to tradition, Miletos, 'the ornament of Ionia', was owned by the indigenous Lelegoi before being settled by Cretans during the reign of the mythical king Minos of Knossos. This tradition has been interpreted by some historians as a myth with no historical reality behind it. The excavations conducted at Miletos under the directorship of Professor Niemeier have produced a continuous sequence of settlement levels from the Chalcolithic period (4th millenium B.C.) to the end of the Bronze Age (11th century B.C.). Miletos I and II, the settlements of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (3rd millenium B.C.), are of a native character. In the time of Miletus III, the settlement of the Middle Bronze Age (20th century to second half of the 18th century B.C.), the first Minoans arrived at Miletos. Miletus IV (second half of the 18th century B.C. to middle of 15th century) was a pure Minoan settlement, as demonstrated by locally produced domestic pottery, a Minoan sanctuary, Minoan wall-paintings, and evidence for Minoan administration. In the middle of the 15th century the settlement was conquered my Mycenaeans from the Greek mainland. The two following settlement periods, Miletus V-VI (second half of the 15th century to ca. 1200 B.C.), are of Mycenaean character. In the cuneiform texts of the 14th to 13th centuries B.C. found at Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite empire, Miletos is refered to as Milawanda, a bridgehead of the Mycenaean kingdom of Ahhiyawa (connected to Homer's Achaians, probably centred in Boeotian Thebes). Mycenaeans and Hittites were opponents in western Asia Minor. This appears to form the historical background of the tradition of the Trojan War, since Troy = Ilios, or, in the Hittite sources, Wilusa, a vassal of the Hittites. The Kouros of the Sacred Gate: New finds of archaic marble sculptures in the Kerameikos of Athens For almost 2500 years the Kouros was hidden under a canal in the Kerameikos, the potters' quarter and cemetery of ancient Athens, until discovered in April 2002 during excavations by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens under the directorship of Professor Niemeier. The statue is a masterpiece of ca. 600 B.C., the very beginning of the great Athenian tradition of marble sculpture. With the kouros other sculptures were found: a Sphinx, two lions, an Ionian capital, and a Doric capital. This group forms the most spectacular find of Archaic sculptures since the discovery of those in the debris of the Persian destruction on the Athenian Acropolis. In the lecture, the exciting story of the discovery of the new sculptures is narrated. Their importance for the history of Greek sculpture, their original function as monuments on the graves of aristocratic families, and the question how they came to their place of discovery are discussed. New light on the Greek 'Dark Age': cult continuity in sanctuaries at Miletus and Kalapodi In ca. 1200 B.C. the Mycenaean civilization ended with the destruction of their impressive citadels, the seats of its mighty kings. A period of discontinuity, decrease in population, and poverty followed: the 'Dark Age' of Greece. During this 'Dark Age' there was also discontinuity in religion and spatial indeterminacy in cult. Not until the second half of the 8th century B.C. did a sudden development lead to the 'Greek Renaissance', a period of immense economic and cultural advance which formed the basis of Classical Greece. The Greek sanctuary as a discrete area of religious activity emerged also at this time. Such had been the long-held belief regarding developments in Greece between the 12th and 8th centuries B.C.. Excavations over the last decades have, however, demonstrated that there is more continuity in various spheres than previously thought. Yet the problem of continuity in religion and cult remains controversial. Excavations in the sanctuary of Athena at Miletus (Ionia) and in the probable sanctuary of Apollon at Abai, Kalapodi (ancient Phokis), both directed by Professor Niemeier, have revealed evidence for continuous cult activity from at least the Mycenaean Age, through the 'Dark Age', to the Archaic period. Among the important finds from Kalapodi are unique fragments of a 7th century B.C. wall-painting representing a battle scene. New excavations in the sanctuary of Kalapodi (Phokis): the oracle sanctuary of Apollo of Abai The Greek 'Dark Age', the time between the fall of the Mycenaean citadels of ca. 1200 B.C. and the 'Greek Renaissance' of the second half of the 8th century B.C., remains one of the most enigmatic periods in the history of ancient Greece. There is still much controversy about continuity and discontinuity during this time. For religion and cult, scholars have argued that there was discontinuity and spatial indeterminacy during 'the Dark Age' and that the Greek sanctuary as a discrete area of religious activity emerged only in the eighth century B.C. However, most of the Olympian gods were venerated as early as the Mycenaean period. If they survived through 'the Dark Age', those gods must have been venerated in that period also. The sanctuary near the village Kalapodi (Nomos Fthiotidas, ancient Phokis), probably that of Apollon of Abai, being excavated under the directorship of Professor Niemeier, is producing a sequence from the sanctuary from as early as the Middle Bronze Age, through the Dark Ages, to the Archaic and Classical periods. Such a sequence is up till now unique on the Greek mainland. Exciting finds have also been made, including fragments of Mycenaean clay vessels with painted representations of warriors and battles, a unique wall-painting of the 7th century B.C. with the representation of a battle scene between hoplites, and a series of chariot wheels of the late 6th century which had been attached as votives to the temple.

Professor Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier Director, The German Archaeological Institute at Athens

Professor Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier
Director, The German Archaeological Institute at Athens