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Betweenseaandmountain:thearchaeologyofa20
th
century“smallworld”intheuplandbasinsofthesoutheasternKorinthia
ModernGreekStudiesAssociationBiennialSymposiumVancouver,October2009
©2009WilliamCaraher,TimothyGregory,DavidPettegrew,andLitaTzortzopoulou‐
Gregory
OurpapertodaywilldiscussourrecentworkatanuplandbasininthesoutheasternCorinthiacalledLakkaSkoutara.Wewereinitiallydrawntothisbasininthesummer2001becauseitappearedtobeasettlementintheprocessofnucleationwithitssmallchurchsurroundedbyoveradozenhouseslooselyarrangedalongtheintersectionoftworuralroads.[SLIDE][SLIDE].Wenotedthatthehousesthroughoutthecountrysidewereinvariousstatesofrepair[SLIDE],collapse[SLIDE],andabandonment[SLIDE],makingthesiteanideallaboratoryforthestudyofarchaeologicalformationprocesses.Withthispotentialinmind,wereturnedlaterthatsummerwithagroupofarchaeologistswhowerepartofabroaderresearchprogramdesignedtodocumenttheEasternKorinthianlandscapefromtheIsthmusofKorinthtothebordersofEpidauria.Ifatfirstwethoughtofthesettlementasprototypicvillageabandonedintheprocessofnucleation,wehavenowhavecometoseeLakkaSkoutaraasafluidandsemi‐permanentsettlementwithinadynamicrurallandscape.[SLIDE]LakkaSkoutaraisoneofaseriesoffertileuplandbasinswhosefortunesandfunctionsshiftedthroughtimeinresponsetothechangingworldtowhichthevalleywasalwaysconnected.[SLIDE]Inearliertimes
monopatia
crisscrossedtheruggedKorinthianlandscapeconnectingthebasintoothervalleys,settlements,monasteries,andtraderoutes.[SLIDE]Today,theareaislinkedbyabulldozedroadtothemajorvillageofSophikoandthecoastaltownofKorphos.[SLIDE]Despiteorperhapsbecauseofthis,thesettlementtodayisloosecollectionofstructures,consistingofachurch,about6standinghouses,adozenabandonedandruinedhouses,andavarietyofrural[SLIDE]installationslikecisterns,[SLIDE]wells,[SLIDE]threshingfloors,[SLIDE]resinprocessingbasins,and
 
bakingovensstretchedoverapproximatelyonehundredhectares.Landownerscontinuetotakecareoftheolivetreesinthebasinandafewmovebackintothestandinghousesduringthefallharvest,buttheonlyconsistentvisitorstothevalleytodayarealocalshepherd,whousesawellinthebasintowaterhisherdofgoats,and[SLIDE]Mr.Zographoswho,fordecadesnow,hasdrivenoutdailyfromSophikotomaintainhiscountryhouse,takecareofhisagingdonkey,andescapethebustleofvillagelife.OurworkatthesiteofLakkaSkoutarahasbeenconditionedbythedynamicpresenceofthemodernperiodinthelandscape.Whileourfieldmethodsincludedmanyofthestandardpracticesofintensivepedestriansurvey,wewereregularlyremindedhowincompletethesemethodswereforcapturinganarchaeologicallandscapethatcontinuedtodevelopevenasourfieldworktookplace.Consequently,afterourinitialfieldworkwereturnedtotheLakkaoverthepastdecadeandcontinuedtodocumentthearchaeologyoftheplacethroughthedetailedstudyofformationprocesses,oralinterviews,andstudyofthebroaderregion.Ourgoalwiththisworkwastoproduceanarchaeologicalstudyrootedinthemodernlandscape(ratherthananethnoarchaeologicalstudydirectedtounderstandingtheancientcountryside).Throughthesevariousmethods,wehaveproducedadynamiclandscapewhichsustainsmultiplemeaningsandfitswellthefractured,inconsistent,andcontingentmodernworld.
LakkaSkoutarathroughTime
Sincethe1970s,landscapearchaeologistsinGreecehaveusedthemethodsofintensivepedestriansurveytorecordthenumberandpatternofsettlementsacrossregionsoverlongperiodsoftime.[SLIDE]Inarchaeologicalsurvey,fieldwalkerssystematicallytraversearegionbyfootandrecordthesitesorartifactsvisibleonthegroundsurface.Thecollectedartifactsandsiteshavefunctional,chronological,andphysicalcharacteristicsthatcanbedisplayedthroughGISprogramsasdensityvaluesonarchaeologicalartifactdistributionmaps,amongthestandardwaysforarchaeologiststodocumentandanalyzetheexploitationofphysicalterritoriesthroughtime.Eachmaprepresentstheregionaldistributionofhumanactivitydocumentedforaparticular
 
archaeologicalperiod,andthecollectionofmaps,whentakentogether,demonstratethelong‐termchangesinthesocialandeconomicactivitiesinthecountryside.In2002,weconductedsuchanintensivepedestriansurveyofthevalleyaspartoftheEasternKorinthiaArchaeologySurvey.Afieldteamof5fieldwalkersdividedtheLakkaSkoutarabasinintoaseriesofsurveyunitswhichtheytraversedat10mintervals,countingeveryartifactineachswathanddocumentingexamplesofuniqueartifacts.DocumentingthelandscapeinthismannerdemonstratesthatthevalleyofLakkaSkoutarawasintensivelyinhabitedinalmosteveryarchaeologicalperiodwithdiscretedistributionsofmaterialfromtheFinalNeolithicthroughthe20
th
century[SLIDE].Inparticular,thereareclearpeaksofactivityduring[SlIDE]theRomanperiod,[SLIDE]theMedievalera,and[SLIDE]thelastcenturyorso.Thecomparisonofmapsofeachperiodestablishesthebasisforarangeofhistoricalinterpretationsabouttheintensity,type,andlocusofregionalactivitiesoverthelongestculturalperiods.
LakkaSkoutaraasplace
Thisstandardwayofrecordingthelandscape,however,tendstoproduceaseriesofchronologicalsnapshotsthatreducehumanactivitytostatic“thinsections,”eachcompressingcenturiesofactivitiesintodotsandcolorsintwo‐dimensionalmappinglayers.[SLIDE]SincetheestablishmentofregionalsurveyprogramsinGreece,landscapearchaeologistshavetriedtomovebeyondflatdescriptionsofsettlementperperiodtocharacterizethedynamicspatialrelationshipbetweenplaceswithinaterritory.Forexample,thesocialandeconomicrelationshipsbetweenLakkaSkoutaraandthemajorsettlementsoftheCorinthia,coastalcommunitieslikeKorphos,andthetradingnetworksoftheAegeanarethekindofdatathatarchaeologistshaveoftentriedsohardtounderstandintheirregionalmodelsofsettlementhierarchyandpatterns.TheintensivearchaeologicalsurveyatLakkaSkoutara,inconjunctionwithastudyofthebuildingsandfeaturesthere,demonstrateaclearinterdependencebetweenthisvalley,thebroaderregion,andMediterraneaneconomicnetworksinboththepre‐moderneraandmorerecenttimes.[SLIDE]For,despiteanappearanceofisolationandabandonmentofthevalleytoday,therehavealwaysbeenmajorrouteslinkingLakka
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