Ancient Agora Excavation

These photos are from an active excavation site in the Ancient Agora in Athens. Brian Martens of the American School of Classical Studies Athens met us at the gate of the Agora and gave us a personally guided tour of the site, we greatly appreciate his time and hospitality.

In the lower of the two photos you can make out a jumble of walls, building styles and building materials.  For instance, the large monolithic slabs of stone in the lower right corner of the photo belong to the Classical Period, around 480 BC. Smaller stones and tiles packed tightly together represent higher levels of the stratigraphy from Byzantine and Medieval times. The terracotta pipe on the lower left side of the photo is a Roman drainpipe. At present archaeologists know that this site's earliest occupation was the Mycenean Period around 1100BC to 800BC. The area is still a bustling part of the city of Athens today.  I am standing on the modern street while shooting this photo, and the level of the Classical Period buildings is about two stories below the current street level.

The aim of the current project is to uncover the Stoa Piokile, which means painted porch in Greek. The stoa is currently wedged between the Byzantine and Mycenean layers, so most of the walls that you see in the photos need to be removed before the Classical layer encompassing the stoa can be unearthed. This is a difficult process, as the Ephorate of Antiquities first needs to approve the excavation and therefore the destruction of the Byzantine structures. Legal battles are also part of the picture, as part of the Stoa Piokile lies beneath shops in the modern city of Athens and landowners do not want their businesses destroyed.

Archaeologists want to uncover the stoa, as it was an extremely important structure in Classical Greece. It is mentioned and described many times in ancient texts.  The stoa was known for the paintings it housed, the most famous being the Battle of Marathon.

We wish them luck in their endeavor.

More soon.