About the lecture:

Excavations at the site of ancient Eleon, located in the village of Arma about 14 km east of Thebes, began in 2011 as a synergasia of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia and the Canadian Institute in Greece. This talk focuses on the prehistoric remains, beginning with a large Shaft Grave Era burial enclosure, the Blue Stone Structure, that preserves a series of intact graves documenting the transition from the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Emphasis is placed on the construction of a local mortuary landscape, complete with two monumental grave stelai found in situ as well as a low tumulus that was erected over top of the enclosure towards the end of LH I. The talk will also explore the rich settlement deposits of palatial (LH IIIA–B) and postpalatial (LH IIIC) date that have been excavated along the eastern side of the acropolis.

About the Speaker: 

Brendan Burke (Ph.D. UCLA) is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor (2021–2024) at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and Professor of Greek and Roman Studies at the University of Victoria. As an archaeologist of Bronze Age and Classical Greece, he has broad experience teaching both graduate and undergraduate students, in the classroom and on-site throughout Greece and Turkey. He has a deep familiarity with the history and mission of the School, especially its Academic Program, having been a Regular Member (1994–1995), the Doreen Canaday Spitzer Fellow (1996–1997), and the School’s first Assistant Professor of Classical Studies (2000–2002). His publications include From Minos to Midas: Ancient Cloth Production in the Aegean and in Anatolia, (Oxbow 2010), work related to the archaeology of death, including a study of the Hagia Triada sarcophagus and lamentation rituals, and the archaeology of Anatolia. He co-directs the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project (EBAP), a synergasia with the Ephorate of Antiquities of Boeotia and the Canadian Institute in Greece, excavating the site of ancient Eleon.