TAPHOS

The archaeological site of Aidonia is located in the southern Corinthia, Greece, and includes several Late Bronze Age cemeteries dating from the 15th to 13th centuries BCE. Our project focused on one of these cemeteries that was discovered in the late 1970s and that contains at least 20 chamber tombs comparable in design and construction to the elite tombs uncovered at Mycenae. These chamber tombs sometimes contain burial goods and furnishings. Unfortunately, many tombs were looted in the 1970s. Some of the materials stolen in the 70s have been returned to Greece, but looting at the site has resumed and intensified in recent years.

The TAPHOS project conducted systematic excavations in an attempt to recover information lost by illicit digging. Faculty and students worked together with local workers to better understand the site’s use, its occupants, and its chronology. The team also designed protective shelter for one of the most vulnerable tombs in the lower cemetry. Beyond that, we continue to collaborate with local entities in order to further secure the site and to set up education and outreach programming for the local community (and beyond). Our hope is that increasing awareness of the material destruction and loss of knowledge caused by looting will encourage local stakeholders to take ownership and stewardship of the site. In the near future, the team plans to create a visitor’s center with exhibit and teaching spaces, provide training for local staff, establish proper pathways and signage for visiting the site, and hire a local workforce to establish and implement security protocols that will provide for the long-term security of the site.