Island Archaeology - Despotiko

JICAS Island Archaeology Field School – Despotiko, The Cyclades, Greece (14 - 30 June 2024) 

The archaeological excavation of the Sanctuary of Apollo at Despotiko is run in partnership with the Ephorate of the Antiquities of the Cyclades, Greek Ministry of Culture. This two-week Island Archaeology Field School will explore the key achievements of Parian culture during the Archaic period through the lens of the island’s ancient sites and the magnificent ceramics and sculptures housed in the Archaeological Museum of Paros. The Field School will devote particular attention to the Sanctuary of Apollo on nearby Despotiko, where students will have the opportunity to excavate for two weeks and learn the basics of field archaeology. To place Parian achievements in context, we will visit museums in Naxos and Delos to compare the Archaic materials from these sites. The two-week course also comprises a series of thematic lectures that will acquaint students with broader themes of the Archaic period, helping to set the background to understand the Parian achievements within the broad context of Greece.

Cost: £3500 (includes travel from London to Athens / Athens to London, all ferries and and transportation on island, accommodation, dinner on site, day trip to Delos and Mykonos, as well as travel from all other cultural activities).

Pls note that this Field School is limited to ten (10) students. Pls email info@jicas.ac.je to register and a complete trip itinerary and prospectus.

Typical day on site: 

7:20 – 7:30 – meet at the peer of Aghios Georghios (5 min. walking from accommodation) 

7:30 – 7:40 – small boat to Despotiko island (5 – 10 minutes ride depending on the current)

7:40 – 8:00 – walk from the coast of Despotiko to the site (max.10 minutes)- preparation for the dig (sunblock, proper clothing etc)

8:00 – 11:00 – excavation

11 – 11:30 – break - free time for relaxing, eating, etc

11:30 – 14:30 – excavation

14:45 – 15:00 – return to Aghios Georghios

16:00 – 17:00 – dinner 

19:00 = 20:30 - lectures (Tues / Weds / Thurs)

Saturday, 22 June 2024 - day trip to Delos and Mykonos

Saturday, 29 June - night in Athens at the Acropolis

Field School leader: Yannos Kourayos.

Kourayos studied Archaeology at the University of Florence and has been working as an archaeologist for the Greek Ministry of Culture since 1986. He was head Archaeologist for the 21st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities on the islands of Paros, Antiparos and Despotiko from 1986 through 2006 and from 2011 until now. Over the last 28 years he has been conducting many rescue excavations in Paros and currently he is curator at the Archaeological Museum of Paros. Since 1997 he has directed the excavations on the sanctuary of Apollo at Despotiko. Dr. Kourayos has several articles and books on the archaeology and art of Paros and Despotiko and has given more than one hundred talks at universities in Europe, United States of America, Brazil and Japan.

Field School leader: Dr Erica Angliker

Dr Angliker has BA and MA in Classics from Unicamp (Brazil), an MA in Archaeology from Columbia University in New York and PhD in Classical Archaeology from University of Zurich. Erica was Research Fellow at the Institute of Classical Studies, University of London from 2019 until 2021. Currently she is fellow at the British School at Athens and Researcher collaborator at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Unicamp (Brazil). Erica has worked as scientific member at the excavations on the island of Despotiko since 2011 and together with the director of the excavation Yannos Kourayos she has been publishing several artefacts retrieved from the excavations; currently they are working on the study of the dancing floor recently discovered at the island of Tsimintiry. Dr Angliker is the author of a range of articles on the religion and archaeology of the Archaic and Classical Cyclades.