Karen S. Garnett

Karen is currently working on a manuscript presenting the lamps found in Ancient Corinth’s Gymnasium area during excavations conducted 1965-1972. These excavations uncovered almost 2000 intact lamps and probably as many partial lamps from an underwater deposit (the Fountain of the Lamps) at the north edge of the Corinthian plateau. Though the lamps themselves are not of great artistic merit, their sheer quantity and quality of preservation make them a valuable collection that needs to be virtually accessible to Late Roman archaeologists. The main goal of Karen’s current research is to finalize the catalogue and discussion of the inventoried lamps. The catalogue will become part of the Corinth series of excavation publications and will expand on Karen’s prior publication in Hesperia of the subset of local lamps. Color photos of the top, bottom, profile and handle end of each lamp have already been uploaded to the ASCSA.net database.

Karen was present during the initial excavation of the major lamp deposits, but left her archaeological interests aside for many years. After retiring (twice) as a technical writer for fabless semi-conductor companies producing 3D graphics and AI chips, she is now fully focused on this special deposit of lamps which continues to fascinate her and hold her interest.