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Borders, Boundaries, Landscapes, vol. 5
Redefining Ancient Epirus
Milena Melfi, Maria Stamatopoulou (eds)
- Pages: 283 p.
- Size:216 x 280 mm
- Illustrations:55 b/w, 81 col., 1 tables b/w., 11 maps b/w, 5 maps color
- Language(s):English
- Publication Year:2025
- € 140,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-58148-4
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- Forthcoming (Feb/25)
- € 140,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-2-503-58149-1
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Subject(s)
BIO
Milena Melfi is a Lecturer in classical art and archaeology (New College) at the University of Oxford and a Curator of casts of Greek and Roman sculptures at the Ashmolean Museum. She has worked on surveys and excavations in Greece, Sicily and Albania and specialises in the archaeology of ancient religion. Since 2008 she has been directing a team from the University of Oxford in the joint Italian-Albanian-UK excavations at Hadrianopolis in Epirus (Albania) and has been engaged in the study and publication of the finds from the site.
Maria Stamatopoulou is Associate Professor in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Lincoln College. She is interested in the archaeology and art of the Archaic to late Hellenistic periods, with main emphasis on the Greek north, in particular Thessaly, its settlement patterns, sanctuaries, mortuary archaeology, material culture. She is also interested in the history of archaeological investigations during the late 19th and early 20th century.
Summary
Ancient Epirus, ‘the Mainland’ of the Odyssey, has meant different things at different times. Covering a region that today spans parts of south Albania and north-west Greece, Epirus was an important crossroad in antiquity, a meeting place of different peoples and cultures. Yet while the history of the region is well-known, thanks to a combination of historical studies and major Greek myths, its archaeology has remained relatively little studied. Now, derived from a larger project based at Oxford University entitled ‘Beyond the Borders’, this volume for the first time offers a reliable and up-to-date account of the archaeology of Epirus.
The contributions gathered here, written by some of the most influential international scholars currently involved in archaeological research in Epirus, aim to offer a balanced synthesis of the different cultural and historical phenomena at play in the region. Chapters span the Archaic period to Roman Imperial times, and starting from the material record, touch upon a wide range of subjects: landscape studies, urbanization, fortifications and defence, ritual, sanctuaries, burial practices, relationships between mother cities and colonies, and borders and borderlands. Through this approach, the volume effectively moves Epirus from the border to the centre of the map of current archaeo-historical research, as well as offering a starting point for further historical investigations in the field.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Redefining Ancient Epirus: An Introduction
Milena Melfi and Maria Stamatopoulou
Settlement
1. Chaonia in Epirus: A Fresh Assessment in Light of New Archaeological Data
Julian Bogdani
2. Settlement patterns in Molossia: The Case of the Ioannina Basin
Georgia Pliakou
3. Habitation in Thesprotia from the Late Classical to the Late Hellenistic period: A General Overview
Kassiani Lazari, Vasiliki Lamprou, and Antonia Tzortzatou
Fortifications
4. Territorial Occupation and Defensive Models in Chaonia and the Drino Valley between the Fourth and Third Centuries BC
Roberto Perna
5. Fortifications and Spatial Organisation in Molossia: The Contribution of Historical Geography and Archaeological Sources
Marie-Pierre Dausse
6. Gitana, Elea, Dymokastro, Doliani"Remarks on the Fortifications of Four Thesprotian Centres
Christos Spanodimos
7. Beyond the Tangible: Archaeology and Borders in South-eastern Epirus, Fourth to First Century BC
Maria Kopsacheili
Sanctuaries
8. Temple-Like buildings among the Epirote Ethne: The Archaeology and Architecture of a ‘Peripheral’ Sacred Landscape
Lorenzo Mancini
9. Polis and Religion in Epirus
Milena Melfi
Cemeteries
10. Burying the Dead in Southern Epirus: The Necropoleis of Ambracia
Anthi Aggeli
11. Phoenice: A Necropolis of the Koinon of the Epirotes
Giuseppe Lepore
