The Sanctuary Of Athena At Sounion PDF Download

This thesis presents a catalogue and analysis of the numerous, hitherto unpublished, small finds of different categories and materials discovered in the excavations of Valerios Stais at Sounion (1897-1915) and intends to assess their contribution to the understanding of cult activity at the sanctuaries of Poseidon and Athena. These finds come from the bothros in the sanctuary of Poseidon and from the bothros and artificial fill in the sanctuary of Athena. Within the two sanctuaries Stais discovered a large quantity of material of great importance, notably impressive Archaic and Classical sculptures (such as a number of Archaic kouroi) and architectural elements, which have received considerable scholarly attention and are not, therefore, discussed further in this thesis. However, they have tended to overshadow the numerous small finds, which have not previously been studied in depth. -- Permission to publish these small finds, now stored in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, was granted by the Archaeological Society at Athens. In view of the great quantity of material, which cannot be treated in its entirety within the confines of a thesis, its occasionally repetitive nature, and the lack of information from the excavator regarding the provenance of many objects, I have elected to present here a selected but representative group of finds. Consequently, the catalogue and discussion focus on 271 small finds of various materials from the two bothroi and the artificial fill, which are presented in 261 catalogue entries. The remaining circa 400 items consist largely of pottery, seals, scarabs and beads: the pottery is summarised in Appendix B and the scarabs and beads in Appendix C. It is hoped to include the seals, scarabs and beads in a future, larger publication.