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Books by Sofia Voutsaki

The edited volume consists of the proceedings of an International Conference entitled ‘Explaining... more The edited volume consists of the proceedings of an International Conference entitled ‘Explaining Change in Aegean Prehistory’, which was held in Groningen, the Netherlands on 16-17 October 2013. The aim of the conference was to explain processes of social and economic change from the Early Bronze Age III to the Late Bronze Age I period (ca. 2200 - 1600 BC) in the southern Aegean. The beginning of this period (the end of the EBA) witnesses a severe crisis which is followed by social regression (during the early phases of the MBA) and slow recovery and a precipitation of social change in the transition to the LBA. The focus is on the southern mainland, although we adopt a comparative approach and examine parallel (or divergent) processes in the surrounding islands and Crete.
The volume starts with an introduction by the editors, where we introduce the problem, the explanation of social change in Aegean prehistory, and outline the development of the debate in the last 40 years. We also provide an outline of the book and present the main themes addressed in the various papers. The introduction is followed by 10 papers presented at the conference. The first two (Gauss & Lindblom, Rutter) address the problems of periodization and the correlation of ceramic sequence (on which the traditional chronological sub-divisions are based) with the social developments taking place in this period, i.e. the successive cycles of crisis, recovery and growth. The next paper (Weiberg) offers a new and provocative interpretation of the causes and consequences of the severe crisis at the end of the EBA. Three papers (Pullen, Wiersma, Voutsaki & Milka) examine different aspects of the evidence (pottery, architecture, funerary data) and different social practices (feasting, organization of space, mortuary practices) in order to reconstruct and interpret social, economic and cultural changes during the period under discussion. The variety of factors considered – demographic changes, reciprocal relations and sumptuary behaviour, household organization and kin structure, age and gender divisions, internal tensions, connectivity and mobility – attest to the liveliness of the debate. The emphasis is not only on the wider processes, but also on the variety of responses by different communities and social groups and even different individuals. One paper (Gorogianni & Fitzsimons) adopt a comparative approach. They examines architectural changes in one highly interconnected harbor town in the Cyclades. The last paper (Bintliff) adopts a broader geographical view and examines changing settlement systems in the Aegean and on the Greek mainland. The volume is concluded by a response by J.F. Cherry

Importance to Field
This volume is of interest to scholars specializing in the Aegean Bronze Age, as well as scholars researching social and material change.
The Middle Bronze Age (MBA) societies in the Greek mainland have long been considered as simple, static and homogeneous, and it has long been thought that social and economic differences emerge towards the later MBA. However, recent research, presented at the Mesohelladika conference, suggests that the MBA witnesses important changes and divergent developments which are still imperfectly understood. However, our interpretation of these changes is based mostly on mortuary data. Therefore, in this volume, other spheres of life receive a systematic treatment, including houses and settlement organization, changes in material culture and shifting patterns of interaction in correlation with social change.
Any discussion of the MBA has to start with a serious reconsideration of social conditions during the unstable EB III period. This period of crisis, depopulation, material poverty and increased regionalism is usually set against the preceding EBA II period, which was characterized by population growth, differentiation, prosperity and increased interaction. As a result, the EBA III period has received little scholarly attention. In this volume, various papers discuss the EBA III material culture and communities in more detail, and compare these developments to what happens during the MBA.
While research in the last 30 years has rightly criticized monocausal diffusionist interpretations, we have not been able to come up with alternative explanations combining environmental factors, internal developments and shifting networks of mobility and interaction. Considerations of social change raise questions of periodization; indeed, one of the aims of the volume is to discuss whether the traditional chronological sub-divisions based on the ceramic sequence can adequately describe periods of change and increased regionalism.

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Ancient Monuments and Modern Identities sets out to examine the role of archaeology in the creati... more Ancient Monuments and Modern Identities sets out to examine the role of archaeology in the creation of ethnic, national and social identities in 19th and 20th century Greece.
The articles included in this volume examine the development of interpretive and methodological principles guiding the recovery, protection and interpretation of material remains and their presentation to the public. The role of archaeology is examined alongside prevailing perceptions of the past, and is thereby situated in its political and ideological context. The book is organized chronologically and follows the changing attitudes to the past during the formation, expansion and consolidation of the modern Greek State. The aim of this volume is to examine the premises of the archaeological discipline, but also to apply reflection and critique to contemporary archaeological theory and practice.
The past, however, is not a domain exclusive to archaeologists. The contributors to this volume include prehistoric and classical archaeologists, but also modern historians, museum specialists, architectural historians, anthropologists, and legal scholars who have all been invited to discuss the impact of the material traces of the past on the Modern Greek social imaginary.

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""Contents: S. Voutsaki & S.M. Valamoti Towards a better integration of archaeology and scie... more ""Contents:

S. Voutsaki & S.M. Valamoti
Towards a better integration of archaeology and science in the study of ancient diet: an introduction

J. Bintliff
Archaeological science, scientific archaeology and the Big Questions in the long-term development of Greek society from prehistory to Roman times

A. Papathanasiou, T. Theodoropoulou & S.M. Valamoti
The quest for prehistoric meals: towards an understanding of past diets in the Aegean. Integrating stable isotope analysis, archaeobotany and zooarchaeology

M. Roumpou, N.S. Müller, N. Kalogeropoulos, P.M. Day, I. Nikolakopoulou & V. Kilikoglou
An interdisciplinary approach to the study of cooking vessels from Bronze Age Akrotiri, Thera

B. Derham, R. Doonan, Y. Lolos, A. Sarris & R. Jones Integrating geochemical survey, ethnography and organic residue analysis to identify and understand areas of foodstuff processing

S. El Zaatari, K. Harvati & E. Panagopoulou Occlusal molar microwear texture analysis and the diet of the Neanderthal from Lakonis

E. Kotjabopoulou
The horse, the lake and the people: implications for the Late Glacial social landscapes at the foot of the Pindus mountain range, north-western Greece

M. Pappa, P. Halstead,
K. Kotsakis, A. Bogaard, R. Fraser, V. Isaakidou, I. Mainland, D. Mylona, K. Skourtopoulou, S. Triantaphyllou, Chr. Tsoraki, D. Urem-Kotsou, S.M. Valamoti & R. Veropoulidou
The Neolithic site of Makriyalos, northern Greece: a reconstruction of the social and economic structure of the settlement through a comparative study of the finds

Κ. Psaraki, Μ. Roumpou, V. Aravantinos and N. Kalogeropoulos
Food storage and household economy at late Early Helladic II Thebes: an interdisciplinary approach

A. Papanthimou, S.M. Valamoti, E. Papadopoulou, E. Tsagkaraki & E. Voulgari Food storage in the context of an Early Bronze Age household economy: new evidence from Archontiko Giannitson

E. Papadopoulou & Y. Maniatis
Reconstructing thermal processing techniques: the application of FTIR spectroscopy in the analysis of clay thermal structures from Early Bronze Age Archontiko

T. Brogan, C. Sofianou, J. Morrison, D. Mylona, E. Margaritis & R. Beeston Living off the fruits of the sea: new evidence for dining at Papadiokampos, Crete

S. Voutsaki, S. Triantaphyllou, E. Milka & C. Zerner
Middle Helladic Lerna: diet, economy, society

A. Ingvarsson-Sundström, S. Voutsaki & E. Milka Diet, health and social differentiation in Middle Helladic Asine: a bioarchaeological view

A. Galik, G. Forstenpointner, G.E. Weissengruber, U. Thanheiser, M. Lindblom, R. Smetana & W. Gauß Bioarchaeological investigations at Kolonna, Aegina (Early Helladic III to Late Helladic III)

S. Andreou, C. Heron, G. Jones, V. Kiriatzi, K. Psaraki, M. Roumpou & S.M. Valamoti Smelly barbarians or perfumed natives? An investigation of oil and ointment use in Late Bronze Age northern Greece

D. Mylona, M. Ntinou, P. Pakkanen, A. Penttinen, D. Serjeantson & T. Theodoropoulou
Integrating archaeology and science in a Greek sanctuary: issues of practice and interpretation in the study of the bioarchaeological remains from the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Kalaureia

M. Tiverios, E. Manakidou, D. Tsiafaki, S.M. Valamoti, T. Theodoropoulou & E. Gatzogia
Cooking in an Iron Age pit in northern Greece: an interdisciplinary approach

C. Bourbou
Are we what we eat? Reconstructing dietary patterns of Greek Byzantine populations (7th-13th centuries AD) through a multi-disciplinary approach
R. Charalampopoulou The institutional framework of scientific analyses in Greece:
administrative procedures and some statistics for the period 2002 – 2009
S. Voutsaki, S.M. Valamoti & the participants Institutional framework and ethical obligations: the Round Table discussion on archaeological science in Greece
"

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Papers by Sofia Voutsaki

(2023) Roumpou, M., Vika, E., Hachtmann, V., and Voutsaki, S. Investigation of consumption practices in the early Mycenaean period through biomolecular analyses: the case of the Ayios Vasileios North Cemetery (Laconia). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 103864. , 2023

The Early Mycenaean cemetery of Ayios Vasileios in Laconia offers unique insights into social pra... more The Early Mycenaean cemetery of Ayios Vasileios in Laconia offers unique insights into social practices at the dawn of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1700 1500BCE). The North Cemetery consists mostly of large and carefully constructed cist tombs, but the majority of burials were unfurnished. Although a number of studies are engaged in the investigation of this formative period, integrated approaches which focus on the social practice of consumption and contextualised understanding of material culture are still scarce. In this paper we present the results of an integrated study of ceramic vessel use, implementing gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and a detailed typological characterisation of the pottery recovered, as well as correlations drawn with the results from isotope analyses on the skeletons. Our aim is to explore the ways technological, ecological, and social factors affect consumption in the mortuary sphere. Ceramic offerings are few in number and consist only of one or two small vases per burial, usually a drinking cup and a small jar, but variety in style and fabric suggests increased interaction with areas further afield. Organic residue analysis shows that several of the vessels in the graves had been used before deposition and contained lipids from animal sources and plant lipids. Isotope analyses on bone collagen indicate the exploitation of similar types of food sources by the living community, with little observable variation. New perspectives are offered for better understanding of the social practices in Early Mycenaean Laconia, while reflecting on everyday life and subsistence by drawing together multiple lines of analysis.

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The Classical Review, 2000

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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

The results of a large-scale magnetometry survey are used to investigate two key aspects of the s... more The results of a large-scale magnetometry survey are used to investigate two key aspects of the spatial organization of the Mycenaean palatial settlement at Ayios Vasileios (Laconia, Greece): the extent of the site and the existence, or possibly even zoning of distinct functional areas. These include the palatial core, funerary zones, industrial areas, and infrastructure. The unique situation at Ayios Vasileios, which remained relatively undisturbed after its abandonment, provides the possibility to explore the potential, limitations, and challenges of spatial research based on geophysical data of a prehistoric urban context. We do so by engaging different sources of information: geophysical contrasts mapped by our own and previous surveys, information from the excavations of the palatial core and the adjacent North Cemetery, preliminary observations on surface materials, and wider scholarship on Mycenaean palatial settlement. This dialogue between the disciplines enables us to prob...

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Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2022

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The Ayios Vasilios Survey Project is a 5-year project which started in 2015 and consists of three... more The Ayios Vasilios Survey Project is a 5-year project which started in 2015 and consists of three pedestrian survey campaigns, followed by further geophysical research and an ethnographic survey. The main aims of the survey project include a reconstruction of the extent and development of the settlement through time, the refinement of survey methodologies targeting complex prehistoric sites and the understanding of the position of Ayios Vasilios in the political landscape of Mycenaean Laconia. Our investigations focus on the integration of surface and subsurface data stemming from field survey and geophysical measurements, and on assessing artefact survey strategies for urban prehistoric settlements. The preliminary results show that pedestrian survey data and the geophysical data complement one another. They both indicate that the extent of the built-up settlement at Ayios Vasilios did not exceed an area of approximately 5-6 ha in size. Around this built-up zone, a halo of finds wa...

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In this paper we have formulated a critical assessment on the current use of architectural energe... more In this paper we have formulated a critical assessment on the current use of architectural energetics in archaeology. We then propose an alternative method of measuring and comparing labour investment in the past. Our method is particularly suitable to compare multiple architectural units from a single geographical context. Our research questions are: a) how to interpret labour investment (theoretical); b) how to measure and compare labour investment (methodological); c) how to explain labour mobilization in processes of social change (historical). This method is applied to the recently discovered early Mycenaean cist graves of the North Cemetery at Ayios Vasilios, excavated as part of the Ayios Vasilios Excavations project under the auspices of the Archaeological society of Athens.

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