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The Mediterranean Archaeological Trust (MAT) is pleased to announce the 27 grant recipients of 2023/2024 grants, along with their project titles:

1. Dr Sofia Antonello – The First Palace of Phaistos: the final use of the main palatial building after its MM IIB collapse (18th century BC).

2. Dr Stephanie Aulsebrook – Mycenae’s Forgotten Ritual Landscape: the Poros Wall Hoard and Its Environs.

3. Dr Robin Barber – Final stages of preparation of publication of ‘The National Archaeological Museum, Athens: finds from the 1896–99 excavations at Phylakopi, Melos, Cyclades, Greece’.

4. Mr Hamza Benattia – The Bronze Age settlement of Kach Kouch (Oued Laou, Morocco). Exploring the social and economic dynamics of Mediterranean Africa from the late 3rd to the early 1st millennia BC.

5. Professor Andrew Bevan – Emborio Hinterland Project.

6. Dr Michael Boyd – Publication of the Keros-Naxos Seaways Project (fieldwork 2015- 2018).

7. Professor Ilaria Caloi – The Early Minoan IIA (2650-2400 BC) ‘village’ of Sissi (Crete). Placing pottery in context.

8. Mr Richard Catling – Sparta. Sanctuary of Helen and Menelaos. Archaic to Hellenistic Pottery. Preparation of drawings for publication.

9. Dr. Kostis Christakis – Study and illustration of the Old Palace pottery assemblages from Agriana, North-Central Crete.

10. Dr Sylviane Dederix – Minoan burial practices at Malia: The islet of Afendis Christos and the Western Ossuary.

11. Dr Adrien Delahaye and Dr Christian Mazet – Archaic Amyklaion. The study of the Laconian and imported archaic pottery from the excavations of the Spartan sanctuary of Apollo Amyklaios (2005-2021).

12. Dr Emily Egan – Wall Paintings from Petsas House, Mycenae.

13. Dr Vasso Fotou – Knossos: The Royal Villa and the House of the Chancel Screen.

14. Dr Paula Gheorghiade – The Excavations at Chiona-East Beach, Palaikastro, Crete: Study of the 2022 Excavation and Finds.

15. Dr Artemis Karnava – The Late Bronze Age site of Kastro-Palaia on the bay of Volos.

16. Dr Dimitris Kloukinas – From matter to edifice: a technological study of burned daub fragments from Neolithic Kleitos I.

17. Dr Iro Mathioudaki – Kirrha, Phocis: The pottery and stratigraphic sequence of the Soultani plot.

18. Dr Sergios Menelaou – Revisiting the Early Bronze Age pottery from Troy, northwestern Anatolia: interdisciplinary analysis and publication.

19. Dr Nikos Merousis – Tombs of the Late Minoan IIIA-B Period in Central Crete, Excavated by Costis Davaras (1962-1964).

20. Dr Irene Nikolakopoulou – Storage facilities and island economy. The evidence from Late Cycladic I Akrotiri, Thera.

21. Dr Maia Pomadere – New insights on the Neopalatial period at Malia (Crete): excavations in the Area Pi.

22. Dr Francesca Porta – Storage vessels from Pyla-Kokkinokremos (Cyprus).

23. Dr Santo Privitera – The First Mycenaeans in South Central Crete: The Necropolis at Kalyvia Near Phaistos.

24. Dr Antonio Manuel Sáez Romero – Wine amphoras and drinking vessels from a Classical tavern at Corinth. An approach to the Greek transport containers and tableware of the Punic Amphora Building.

25. Mr Dimitris N. Sakkas – A late Mycenaean chamber tomb at the cemetery of Aidonia.

26. Dr Metaxia Tsipopoulou – Publication of the Ceremonial Areas of the Necropolis of Petras, Siteia, Crete, Greece.

27. Dr Taylor Zaneri – The relationship between Animal and Human Health in Medieval Tuscany 1200-1400.

The Mediterranean Archaeological Trust (MAT) invites applications for  grants, made on a competitive basis, for expenses in 2024, in the preparation for final publication of material from archaeological excavation or fieldwork in the Mediterranean world.

Within the terms of the Trust, priority may be given to publication of Mediterranean sites but the trust funds research from a diversity of sites and eras. Grants for any amount, however small, will be considered, provided they expedite publication. The grants do not normally exceed £2,500.

Due to operational constraints, no grants were awarded in 2022. As such, the Trustees will consider awarding a greater number of grants in the 2023 grant cycle than normal (the exact number will depend on a range of factors including the availability of funds, the number (and quality) of applications received, and the total grant requests).

Please note that the trust is operating on a different timeline to previous years, with grant applications accepted until 27th November 2023.

Please see the Applications page for further details about the grants and the grant application process. Please see the Featured work page for examples of previously funded research.

The cave site of Agriomernos (Megalo Seitani) is located in the northwest part of Samos Island (eastern Aegean). Recent excavations carried out by the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology-Spelaeology, Ministry of Culture and Sports at Athens (Directors: Dr Andreas Darlas and Dr Stella Katsarou), following its accidental discovery in 2016, have brought to light archaeological remains that reflect two different chronological periods of use, the Final Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age.

Having being found intact from later disturbance, Agriomernos offers a unique opportunity to evaluate a securely-dated ceramic assemblage with strong morphostylistic parallels from the nearby east Aegean islands and sites in western Asia Minor. These artefacts were dispersed across the cave and around hearths of non-domestic use. The study and analysis of pottery, generously funded by MAT, complements previous and ongoing work undertaken by other members of the wider project, with the aim to shed light into the multi-purpose character and function of the site, and by extension to explore the nature of ceramic production and potting traditions. Agriomernos provides new research ground for understanding marginal landscapes of insular communities in a geographical area that lacked evidence for prehistoric habitation.

The grant from MAT was essential and allowed the study and analysis of the ceramic assemblage. It covered the expenses for the petrographic and chemical analysis (WD-XRF) of representative samples, including the preparation of thin-sections at the Fitch Laboratory (British School at Athens). The analytical results revealed a diverse ceramic assemblage in terms of mineralogical composition and provenance. While most of the pottery was produced locally, using a range of different raw material sources, secure intra- and off-island imports have also been identified.

For further information, please contact Dr. Sergios Menelaou at menelaou.sergios@gmail.com, or visit his profile at https://ucy.academia.edu/SergiosMenelaou. For more information on the wider project, contact Dr Stella Katsarou at stella@stellakatsarou.gr.

From 2005 to 2015, we carried out archaeological field surveys, excavations, and geological research on the Greek island of Zakynthos, with the aim of assessing the distribution of archaeological remains in the landscape. Archaeologically, the island of Zakynthos has been neglected compared to the other Ionian Islands. Our research has shown that the island has been inhabited continuously since Palaeolithic times. Remains from Early Prehistory, the Mycenaean Period, and Hellenistic-Roman times are particularly abundant.

Zakynthos is not known for its archaeology and the island possesses very few monuments from antiquity. In fact, the archaeology of Zakynthos is fragmented, due to frequent earthquakes, intensive agriculture, and tourism. The scarcity of archaeological remains is certainly not due to a lack of ancient habitation, or that the island would not have been significant in the past. In order to understand antiquity, we need to find ways to study areas with a marginal archaeological record – such as Zakynthos.

The Mediterranean Archaeological Trust has generously funded sub-projects by students and team members. Because of this, specific aspects of the project have already been published and young researchers had the opportunity to develop themselves academically. In addition, MAT funding has enabled us to conduct study campaigns. We expect the final publication of the project in 2023.

For more details on this project, you may get in touch with Dr. Gert Jan van Wijngaarden, Associate Professor at ACASA – Archaeology, University of Amsterdam or visit their website at www.uva.nl/archaeology-zakynthos.

The Cave of Pan was excavated for a short period of time in 1958, by I. Papadimitriou who identified it as the one described by the ancient traveller Pausanias (I, 32, 7). Several years later, the Ephorate of Palaeoanthropology and Speleology decided to include the cave into a rescue excavation program and conducted new research between 2014 and 2018. It was ascertained that the cave was used during the Neolithic period, the Bronze Age and the historic times.

The prehistoric remnants discovered testify to the persistent use of this monument as a place for the interment of selected disarticulated human bones since the Early Neolithic (mid-7^th millennium B.C.). The quantity of the bones increased gradually throughout the Middle Neolithic, whereas in the Late Neolithic the practice was intensified and acquired distinctive characteristics, eventually transforming into a specific custom carried out between 5300/5200 and 4700/4550 B.C. The variation and method of performing these Late Neolithic secondary burials lend special interest to the finds due to their uniqueness; no similar phenomena dated to this particular chronological phase have ever been brought to light in any other Greek site.

Secondary burials continued until the beginning of the Final Neolithic and it seems that Late Mycenaean visitors used the cave as a place for practicing funeral rituals.

Approximately 700 years later, the monument comes to the fore anew, functioning as a sanctuary dedicated to deities of vegetation and fertility (the Nymphs, Pan, Kybele, Artemis and Hermes). Its intensive use ceases after the first half of the 6^th century A.D.

The significant financial support provided to the Marathon project through the grants awarded by MAT is utilised for the preparation of drawings, inking (S. Vavatsikos and O. Metaxas) and photographic presentation (K. Xenikakis) of the abundant finds originating mainly from the Neolithic deposits of the Cave of Pan. The drawings and photographs will constitute the essential appendant material for the final publication of the specific archaeological finds.

For more information regarding this project, please reach out to Dr. Alexandra Mari via email at amari@culture.gr.

References:

Facorellis, Y., Mari, A., Oberlin, C. 2017. The Cave of Pan, Marathon, Greece – AMS dating of the Neolithic phase and calculation of the regional marine reservoir effect. Radiocarbon 59, 5: 1475-1485. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2017.65

Mari, A., Facorellis, Y. 2019. 56 years later: excavating anew the Cave of Pan at Marathon and dating its anthropogenic deposits. Archaeology and Archaeometry: 30 years later’, 7^th Symposium on Archaeometry of the Hellenic Society for Archaeometry, Athens, Byzantine and Christian Museum, 9-12 October 2019, Book of Abstracts, eds. A. Oikonomou – M. Kaparou, 23-24. Athens: Byzantine and Christian Museum, Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Bravo, J.J. III and A. Mari. 2021. The Cave of Pan at Marathon, Attica. New evidence for the performance of cult in the historic era. In Cave and Worship in Ancient Greece. New approaches to Landscape and Ritual, eds. S. Katsarou – A. Nagel, 144-166. Routledge: London, New York.

Mari, A. forthcoming. Neolithic representations of human figures upon stone or clay: the case of the Cave of Pan, at Marathon – Attica, Greece. In Figurine making in the Aegean Neolithic, eds. S. Nanoglou – F. Mavridis.

by Meir Edrey, Adi Erlich, and Assaf Yasur-Landau

In the 1970s a chance discovery by a diver revealed a large cache of hundreds of terracotta figurines on the seabed opposite of Shavei Zion in northern Israel. The site, located some 5km north of Akko, is found nearly 1km off the coast in a depth of 8-11m. It is clear this was never a terrestrial site, and the excavators interpreted it as representing the cargo of a shipwreck dated to the 5th century BCE.

Our re-examination of the site and its finds, both ceramics and terracottas, revealed that it is unlikely the Shavei Zion figurine cache represents a shipwreck. It seems that both the pottery and the figurines were accumulated at the site over a long period of time, possibly from the late 7th to the late 4th centuries BCE. Therefore, it seems Shavei Zion was a cultic site in which maritime rituals were performed that included the casting of votive offerings into the sea. This interpretation can shed new light on multiple other underwater figurine sites across the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean Archaeological Trust played an instrumental role in the study of the Shavei Zion assemblage, as it funded the petrographic analysis of ca. 10% of the entire assemblage, revealing that the clay used for the figurines and ceramic vessels originate from a wide area in the Phoenician homeland, tying the Phenomenon to the Phoenician culture on the one hand and suggesting that the site of Shavei Zion may have been used for religious pilgrimage.

For more information on this project, please reach out to Dr. Meir Edrey via email at edrey.meir@gmail.com

Dr. Edrey is the Professional Director of the Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies. He is also a research fellow, adjunct lecturer, and post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa, and adjunct lecturer and research fellow for the International MA Program of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at the Tel Aviv University.

The Mediterranean Archaeological Trust (MAT), set up in 1959 for the promotion of the study of archaeology, invites applications for grants, made on a competitive basis, for expenses in 2022-2023, in the preparation for final publication of material from archaeological excavation or fieldwork in the Mediterranean world.

To see how to apply, please visit the Applications page.

Please note some of the adjusted conditions for the 2022 grant cycle (summarised on the Applications page and in the application form).

Motya, an islet in the Marsala Lagoon, is the earliest Phoenician settlement (c. 8th-4th centuries BC) in western Sicily. The almost complete absence of modern buildings makes it one of the most favourable places to undertake large-scale investigations of a Phoenician foundation. The so-called Luogo di Arsione (nowadays known as “Area V”) entwines some pivotal episodes in the city’s history, shedding new light on their interpretation.

The project aims at the comprehensive study and publication of an area on the northern coast of the island, where part of the necropolis, the city-walls and the industrial quarter are located. Apart from enhancing our understanding of the cemetery, the final report will give insights into the economy of Motya – by examining the industrial quarter (c. 26.7 x 22.5 m), where a purple-dye factory, a pottery workshop and an extremely rich inventory of artefacts are attested (c. 6th – 4th centuries BC), and will reconsider the dramatic episode of the siege by Dionysius of Syracuse in 397/396 BC.

The drawing and digitisation of the small finds, architectural fragments and pottery from V. Tusa’s excavations at Motya’s industrial area have been completed thanks to the generous MAT grant. By funding the work of two illustrators, this grant enabled substantial progress to be made towards the publication of the final report.

For further information, please contact Dr Adriano Orsingher (Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Institute of Biblical Archaeology) at adriano.orsingher@gmail.com or check his profile at https://uni-tuebingen.academia.edu/AdrianoOrsingher.

Petsas House is located in the settlement of Mycenae in the Argolid of southern Greece. The building, which was occupied during the 14th C BCE and destroyed at the end of the century, was a multi-functional space that served as a ceramic production and storage facility in addition to being a residence. Notably, it is one of the few sites to preserve a record of independent or semi-independent craft production at a time when Mycenae was emerging as a palatial power.

Evidence for autonomy includes, among other things, the discovery of clay tablets inscribed with Linear B, found during renewed excavations of the site under the direction of Dr. Kim Shelton. The majority of the tablets were found in a well deposit dating to the destruction of the house, which positions them among the earliest found on the Greek mainland. Some of the tablets have been preliminarily published, but several fragments have not yet been closely studied. Work on these documents will provide crucial evidence for the deployment of record keeping systems before the height of the palatial period and will better elucidate the multi-functional nature of the house.

Funding from MAT was used to conduct Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) of the inscribed tablets. RTI uses mathematical computations to define the topography of an object’s surface by simulating raking light at any angle. These enhanced images of the texts more clearly reveal traces of inscriptions as well as signs of possible erasures or reuse.

For more information, please contact Dr. Lynne A. Kvapil (Associate Professor of Classics, Butler University) at lkvapil@butler.edu and see related work at https://works.bepress.com/lynne_kvapil/ or https://butler.academia.edu/LynneKvapil.

The Bronze Age site of Phaistos, located in Southern Crete, has been excavated by the Italian Archaeological Mission since 1900. Among the two Minoan palaces of Phaistos, the First Palace is the only palatial building on Crete providing crucial evidence of the Protopalatial period (MM IB – MM IIB: 19th – 17th c. BC), corresponding to the emergence of the palatial societies on the island. Besides the First Palace, Phaistos has also revealed exceptional evidence of contemporary wealthy Protopalatial houses dating to MM IIB.

Among the Protopalatial houses of Phaistos, the House to the West of the Middle West Court of the Palace is unique for its position, its large size (14 rooms) and complex layout (with storage and working spaces), and its exceptional number of ceramic vases (more than 1000). Its publication not only yields a vast body of data on Protopalatial pottery, but also contributes to the broader discussion on the function/s of the Phaistian Houses, shedding new light on of the role of these wealthy houses in the administration and/or promotion of the palatial system in Protopalatial times.

The MAT grant was used for the final review of the pottery from the House and for producing further drawings and photographs of the numerous finds stored in the Stratigraphic Museum at Phaistos, an important step for the publication of the Protopalatial House to the West of the Middle West Court of the Phaistos Palace.

For further information, please contact Dr Ilaria Caloi at icaloi@unive.it, or check her profile at the research institution website https://www.unive.it/data/people/48392.