Clear and direct in style, and with more than eighty photographs, maps and plans, Early Greek States Beyond the Polis is a widely relevant study of Greek history, archaeology and society. Catherine Morgan addresses the different forms of association experienced by early Iron-Age and Archaic Greeks by exploring the archaeological, literary and epigraphical records of central Greece and the northern Peloponnese. Giving an unprecedented understanding of the connections between polis identity and other forms and tiers of association, and refuting the traditional view of early Greek 'ethnic' groups (ethne) as simple systems based on primitive tribal ties, students will find this an essential text in the study of Greek history.

The polis has long been conceived as the most advanced form of Greek political society. Yet recent research into how early Greeks used the term highlights discrepancies with modern views of the autonomous city state. Communities called poleis existed within wider political structures of various kinds. So what were the different forms of association experienced by Early Iron Age and Archaic Greeks? What impact did they have on the way in which individuals and groups thought of themselves and others, and what role did they play in the formation of federal states? Catherine Morgan addresses these questions by exploring the archaeological, literary and epigraphical records of central Greece and the northern Peloponnese. What emerges is an unprecedented understanding of the connections between polis identity and other forms and tiers of association, refuting our traditional view of early Greek 'ethnic' groups (ethne) as simple systems based on primitive tribal ties. Clear and direct in style, and with more than eighty photographs, maps and plans, Early Greek States Beyond the Polis will be widely relevant for the study of Greek history, archaeology and society.

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This book is a study of the origins and development of cult practice at Olympia and Delphi. It traces changing patterns of activity through the material record, and challenges many assumptions about the nature and role of the archaeological data. Dr Morgan considers the economics of dedication, technology and the organization of craft production, which provide insights into the behaviour of producers and purchasers of material dedicated at sanctuaries. Her study is exceptional for the emphasis placed upon the two sites in their contemporary local contexts and their changing roles in society. The progression of state formation is discussed through the relationship between changes in dedicatory practice during the eighth century and the changing needs of communities. The book concludes with a detailed study of the wider roles of Olympia and Delphi as two major sanctuaries in Archaic Greece, considering their relationships with other sites and their place in the Greek festival calendar.

This book is a study of the origins and development of cult practice at Olympia and Delphi. It traces changing patterns of activity through the material record, and challenges many assumptions about the nature and role of the archaeological data. Dr Morgan considers the economics of dedication, technology and the organization of craft production, which provide insights into the behaviour of producers and purchasers of material dedicated at sanctuaries. Her study is exceptional for the emphasis placed upon the two sites in their contemporary local contexts and their changing roles in society. The progression of state formation is discussed through the relationship between changes in dedicatory practice during the eighth century and the changing needs of communities. The book concludes with a detailed study of the wider roles of Olympia and Delphi as two major sanctuaries in Archaic Greece, considering their relationships with other sites and their place in the Greek festival calendar.

Ancient sport made a huge if indirect contribution to the literature of ancient Greece, since some sixty poems by Pindar and Bacchylides ("epinikian odes"), written to commemorate victories, survive from the Classical period. This book is a collection of essays about that literature, and about the social and physical context for which it was written. The editors assembled an internationally distinguished team of speakers for the original 2002 seminar series held in London, and these papers form the backbone of the book. But to ensure coherence and comprehensive coverage, they have commissioned three further papers, and have themselves written a long thematic Introduction. The result is a stellar team of authors, and a book which looks at an important literary phenomenon in light of the latest archaeological and sociological insights, as well as evaluating the poetry both as poetry and as a performance genre with distinctive characteristics.

Final report on the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age evidence (pottery, metalwork, terracottas, architecture and other constructions) from excavations conducted by the University of Chicago at the sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia between 1952 and 1989. Stylistic analysis of artifacts offers important new information on Corinthian production: Isthmia has produced the first substantial collection of Early Iron Age Corinthian terracottas, for example, as well as 8th-century human figure depictions. Functional analysis, developing established methodology for site characterization, distinguishes Late Bronze Age settlement from Early Iron Age cult activity. Thus Isthmia may be counted among the growing number of Greek shrines established during the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition, and the nature and variety of cult practices at the site may be compared with those elsewhere. In its Corinthian context, Isthmia offers unique insights into 800 years of development, from Mycenaean province to Archaic polis.

The crisis of Spartan power in the first half of the fourth century has been connected to Spartan inability to manage the hegemony built on the ruins of the Athenian Empire, or interpreted as a result of the unexpected annihilation of the Spartan army by the Boeotians at Leuktra. The present book offers a new perspective, suggesting that the crisis that finally brought down Sparta was in important ways a result of centrifugal impulses within the Peloponnesian League, accompanied by a general awakening of ethnicity in various areas of the Peloponnese.

A series of regional case studies is combined with thematic contributions focusing on topics such as the relationship of religious cults and ethnicity and of democracy and ethnicity, the use of archaeological evidence for ethnic phenomena, and comparative approaches based on social anthropology.

This book reviews the nature and social function of Attic fine pottery imported to the Greek colony of Phanagoria in the Taman Peninsula, southern Russia. The first part of the book reviews the history of research at Phanagoria, and presents a fully illustrated catalogue of Attic imports from the excavations of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1971-1996) and latterly the University of London. A concluding section examines imports from the city and its cemeteries in the wider context of the "Bosporan kingdom," drawing together a large collection of comparanda especially from the cities of the Taman Peninsula. Via comparison of data from Athens, the northern Aegean, Ionia, and the northern Black Sea, the changing role of Attic pottery in Black Sea trade is assessed.