The economies of classical and Mediterranean antiquity are currently a battleground. Some scholars see them as lively and progressive, even proto-capitalist: others see them as static, embedded in social action and status relationships. Focusing on the central period of the Mediterranean 330-30 BC, this book contributes substantially to the debate, by juxtaposing general questions of theory and model-building with case-studies which examine specific areas and kinds of evidence. It breaks new ground by distilling and presenting new and newly-reinterpreted evidence for the Hellenistic era, by opening the debate on how we should replace Rostovtzeff's classic view of this period, and by offering a compelling new set of interpretative ideas to the debate on the ancient economy.

Full Contributors:
Makis Aperghis, University College London, Zosia Archibald, University of Liverpool, Klaus Bringmann, Frankfurt University, John Davies, University of Liverpool, Vincent Gabrielsen, University of Copenhagen, David Gibbins, University of Liverpool, Kenneth Kitchen, University of Liverpool, Amos Kloner, Bar Ilan University, Benedict Lowe, University of Durham, Graham Oliver, University of Liverpool, Katerina Panagopoulou, University College London, Jeremy Paterson, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Archaeology, Sexism, and Scandal tells the hidden tale behind one of the great American excavations in Greece. In the 1930s, David Robinson's project on ancient houses became the first of its kind and fundamentally altered what classical archaeologists' study. Alan Kaiser documents previously unknown details of the Olynthus project through lively photographs and enthusiastic letters of one of Robinson's trench supervisors, Mary Ross Ellingson. He also reveals the plagiarism of Ellingson's work by Robinson, and how others in the field were complicit in the theft. This revised edition narrates the consequences of the first edition's publication. People who knew Ellingson, Robinson, and others mentioned in the book contacted Kaiser to share with him important details he could never have known. Enough new information has come to light in archives from Canada to Greece to require a retelling of the archaeology, sexism, and scandal associated with the Olynthus excavation. Kaiser also includes never-before published photos that tell the story further in a way words cannot. And in a twist neither Ellingson nor Robinson could ever have seen coming, Kaiser reports on one last extraordinary action the book inspired, a petition to the Library of Congress to add Ellingson's name to the two Olynthus volumes that her stolen works are in.

Archaeology, Sexism, and Scandal tells the hidden tale behind one of the great American excavations in Greece. In the 1930s, David Robinson's project on ancient houses became the first of its kind and fundamentally altered what classical archaeologists' study. Alan Kaiser documents previously unknown details of the Olynthus project through lively photographs and enthusiastic letters of one of Robinson's trench supervisors, Mary Ross Ellingson. He also reveals the plagiarism of Ellingson's work by Robinson, and how others in the field were complicit in the theft. This revised edition narrates the consequences of the first edition's publication. People who knew Ellingson, Robinson, and others mentioned in the book contacted Kaiser to share with him important details he could never have known. Enough new information has come to light in archives from Canada to Greece to require a retelling of the archaeology, sexism, and scandal associated with the Olynthus excavation. Kaiser also includes never-before published photos that tell the story further in a way words cannot. And in a twist neither Ellingson nor Robinson could ever have seen coming, Kaiser reports on one last extraordinary action the book inspired, a petition to the Library of Congress to add Ellingson's name to the two Olynthus volumes that her stolen works are in.