Hesperia 89.1 Now Online!
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is pleased to announce the publication of Hesperia 89.1. Topics in this issue include an overview of the Neolithic settlement on Tsoungiza at Ancient Nemea, an editio princeps of 21 columnar grave monuments from the Athenian Agora, a study of miniature herms that depict Alexander the Great, and a report on the 2018 excavation season at Corinth.
Subscribers can read the issue online at JSTOR, which now hosts all current issues of Hesperia as well as an archive of past volumes. The printed version will be mailed shortly.
The Neolithic Settlement on Tsoungiza at Ancient Nemea, by Mary K. Dabney, Susan E. Allen, Anne Kugler, Anastasia Papathanasiou, and James C. Wright, documents the nature, size, and date of the Neolithic settlement on Tsoungiza at ancient Nemea and reports the results of the ceramic, ground stone tool, archaeobotanical, and human osteological analyses. The results of excavations on Tsoungiza in 1974, 1975, 1981, 1982, and 1984, and a restudy of the finds discovered by Carl W. Blegen in 1925–1926, show that the site was an open-air settlement, not a cave; was much larger than previously known, scattered over an area of 26,000 m2; and was occupied from the Early Neolithic period into the early Middle Neolithic and reoccupied in the Final Neolithic period.
A Selection of Columnar Grave Monuments from the Athenian Agora, by Michael Laughy, presents an editio princeps of 21 columnar grave monuments from the Athenian Agora excavations of 1969–1990. The names of the Athenians, foreigners, and slaves engraved on these humble stone markers not only contribute to the study of Athenian onomastics, but also illustrate a number of social phenomena in Athens during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, including the rise of theophoric names and the frequency of intermarriage between Milesian women and Athenian men.
Miniature Herms Representing Alexander the Great, by Antonio Peña and David Ojeda, focuses on a type of miniature herm depicting a masculine figure in military costume whose identification has long been debated. Through examination and a cataloguing of the pieces belonging to the type, the authors outline the iconography and possible prototype, offer some considerations of their material and other aspects, and conclude that the herms are representations of Alexander the Great. A discussion of the possible reasons for the depiction of a real person within the repertoire of miniature herms of Dionysiac character is also offered.
Corinth, 2018: Northeast of the Theater, by Christopher A. Pfaff, presents the results of the 2018 excavations at ancient Corinth, which opened up a new area of exploration northeast of the ancient theater. During the season, part of a major east–west road dating from the 3rd to the 5th or 6th century A.D. was revealed. South of the road were remains of a substantial Roman building, the walls of which were extensively plundered in the 6th century or later, although portions of three rooms provide evidence of elaborate pavements that appear to be Early Roman. A few lower strata with predominantly Hellenistic pottery and mixed fills with redeposited Archaic and Classical sherds suggest that the area may provide an opportunity to explore undisturbed earlier contexts in the future.
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