A team of 50 Australian archaeologists has this week departed for Greece, to take part in the third and final year of the current excavation program at Zagora, the only undisturbed settlement site dating back to the Greek Early Iron Age that provides archaeologists with a direct look into what it was like to live on a Greek island 3,000 years ago.
Situated on one of the Cycladic islands in the Aegean Sea, Zagora is a unique site.
The Australian team has been entrusted with the vital task of conserving the remains of a temple and ancient houses at Zagora. With a specialist architectural conservator, the group will work to secure the buildings scattered around the 7 hectare site.
The Australian team will have to carry in materials for conservation, hiking each day along a rough donkey track. They will ensure the buildings are protected, so that they last for generations to come.
Throughout the past two years, the Australian team has uncovered some remarkable finds, including a massive 200-kilogram storage vessel decorated with unusual and arresting figural decoration, indications of long-distance trade, and evidence of metalworking.
This year the team is hoping to gain further insights into the social structure of Early Iron Age Greece and to try to determine why Zagora was abandoned in the late 8th century BCE.
“We know about the houses. Now we need to find out about the social glue that tied the community together,” says dig co-director Dr Lesley Beaumont.
The team will also conduct testing to better determine the diet of the ancient Greeks.
Modern society is, to a significant degree, based on ancient Greek culture, so the Zagora excavations are about “answering questions to better understand where our roots lie”, says Dr Beaumont.
“Our Australian team’s work on Andros is reconstructing a dimension of our past, physically and historically, in order to better comprehend the early development of Western urbanism.”
The Zagora dig is a collaborative project of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens, the University of Sydney, the Athens Archaeological Society and the Powerhouse Museum.
The Zagora excavations will take place from 22 September to 1 November.
For more information about the Zagora dig, visit www.powerhousemuseum.com/zagora/about-zagora/