Research projects
The Centre is responsible for running a variety of research projects into various aspects of Sparta. These include:
Pavlopetri
The oldest submerged town in the world is about to give up its secrets — with the help of equipment that could revolutionise underwater archaeology.
The ancient town of Pavlopetri lies in three to four metres of water just off the coast of southern Lakonia in Greece. The ruins date from at least 2800 BC through to intact buildings, courtyards, streets, chamber tombs and some 37 cist graves which are thought to belong to the Mycenaean period (c.1680-1180 BC). This Bronze Age phase of Greece provides the historical setting for much Ancient Greek literature and myth, including Homer’s Age of Heroes.
More on Pavlopetri
Kouphovouno
Kouphovouno, just south of Sparta, has been described as 'the most important Neolithic site in Laconia'. Our work at the site aims to clarify some of the key questions in earlier Greek prehistory. In the course of excavation the site has provided evidence for the domestic architecture, mortuary practices, ceramic and lithic technologies of the Middle and Late Neolithic periods. Burnt levels have provided rich bioarchaeological samples and seeds will also be used for 14C dating. The site was also occupied in the Early Helladic period and has provided new information on the Neolithic-Bronze Age transition, a process which is still not fully understood; Kouphovouno functioned as one of a network of Early Helladic sites which have been identified in and near Sparta. A cemetery of Middle Bronze Age burials has also been uncovered.
Sparta in comparative perspective: ancient to modern
This project, 'Sparta in comparative perspective, ancient to modern: history, historiography and classical tradition' has been running since 2004 under the directorship of Professor Stephen Hodkinson. From 2004 to 2010 the project was funded by a generous research grant from the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), with additional assistance from the University of Nottingham School of Humanities.
The project integrates three interrelated areas of academic enquiry which are normally separated in scholarly research. Its first strand is a substantive study of Spartan social institutions from the perspective of comparable institutions at other times and places. Its second strand is historiographical scrutiny of attempts in historical writings since the eighteenth century to illuminate Sparta through comparison with other societies. The third strand is an examination of the broader intellectual context of this modern historiography: the appropriation of Sparta in modern European thought, especially through explicit or implicit comparison with contemporary European and non-European societies.
To date the project has published more than 20 articles and three edited books:
Sparta and War (2006);
Reinventing History: The Enlightenment Origins of Ancient History (2008); and
Sparta: Comparative Approaches (2009)
More on the project
Rethinking Mycenaen Death - A view from Lakonia
Dr Chrysanthi Gallou; find out more on the project web page.
Tiny Archaeologies: The world of children in Mycenaean Greece
Dr Chrysanthi Gallou; find out more on the project web page.