Events Calendar – British School at Athens

Abstract: Professor Williams, who leads the excavations at Stymphalos, in a small mountainous lake valley in Arcadia, Greece, a site famous for Herakles and the Stymphalian birds, guides us through the site’s fascinating history across many periods. Finds at the site date from the Middle Palaeolithic, continue through the Bronze Age. We will hear about the late Classical-Hellenistic city currently under excavation, and how habitation continued through the Roman and Early Byzantine periods and also about the site’s unique Cistercian abbey of Zaraka with its Gothic church. Professor Williams will give us insights into a range of elements throughout the city’s life including the city’s defences, streets and houses, its theatre and sanctuaries. We will also hear about pioneering geophysical work which revealed the city’s street plan and other scientific research analysing finds and human remains.

Bio: Hector Williams is Professor Emeritus of Greek Art & Archaeology in the Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada, and has worked in the Aegean for over 56 years. He was assistant director and photographer at Anemurium from 1971-85. He directs the university’s archaeological excavations at Mytilene and Stymphalos and is also publishing material from excavations at Anemurium in Turkey. Hector has worked on numerous other projects across Greece and Turkey including the University of Chicago’s Kenchreai excavations and the University of Pennsylvania’s Gordion Project; he has also been active in other countries, such as his projects with the Underwater Archaeological Society of British Columbia. He also excavated at the American School excavations at Corinth and Samothrace. He is a Past President and Trustee of the Vancouver Maritime Museum and chaired its Collections Committee, served on the board of the Canadian Archaeological Institute at Athens, the Vancouver Society of the Archaeological Institute of America and served as UBC representative to the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens whose Publications Committee he used to chair. He is also Vice President and founding member of Pharos, the Canadian Hellenic Cultural Society of Vancouver and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Online only

17.00 (UK) / 19.00 (GR)

Register to attend via Webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5CY3xjOiTTSNMoMNNM5nZg

image: The lake valley of Stymphalos (photo by H.Williams)