Excavating under Gunfire

I will be contributing "Excavating under Gunfire: Archaeologists in the Aegean during the First World War" to the day workshop "Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Protection in Wartime: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives" in Swansea. It develops Chapter 13 of Sifting the Soil of Greece, "Students at War".

One of the topics will be the work of British and French archaeologists to record the archaeological remains and to preserve the finds during the campaign in Macedonia. French archaeologists formed part of the Service Archéologique de l'Armée d'Orient. They had gained expertise working on the site of Elaious at Gallipoli, a site that attracted gunfire from the Turkish forces.

The British work in Macedonia was initially led by Lt-Commander Ernest Gardner RNVR, a former director of the BSA and also Yates Professor Archaeology in the University of London. Gardner was one of several former BSA students operating with Naval Intelligence in Salonica (EMSIB).

For further details about Sifting the Soil of Greece see here.

Megalopolis: 'A quarrel is a capital thing'

The interpretation of the theatre at Megalopolis caused a major disagreement between the British excavators and Wilhelm Dörpfeld. Eugénie Sellers wrote a letter in support of Dörpfeld (and critical of Ernest Gardner, the Director of the BSA) to the Athenaeum ('The Theatres of Megalopolis', July 4, 1891). In addition, a short note from her, dated March 29 [1891], was published by the Classical Review (5, 5, May 1891) along with a summary of Dörpfeld's comments summarised by Louis Dyer.

Sellers' letter, and the wider dispute, was noted in the weekly theatrical newspaper The Era ('Theatrical Gossip', July 11, 1891).

A quarrel is a capital thing in a family, but, like all other good things, it should come to an end some time or other. There was a theatre built several hundred years B.C., of which a good deal still remains to be quarrelled over; but we must say that we think it would show better taste if people just dropped the subject now. The theatre (or its ruins) is at Megalopolis; but it is quite a long time since there were any performances there—a thousand years, very likely. Probably the Megalopolitan Lord Chamberlain would insist on its being relicensed if they wanted to play the Agamemnon or the Seven Against Thebes there now; and, anyhow, we think Mr Gardner and Dr. Dörpfeld might leave off squabbling about it in the highly respectable page of the Athenaeum. No doubt the point they are fighting over is one of supreme importance. Dr. Dörpfeld says that the lower steps could not possibly, any more than the wall at the back, belong to the original structure, and Mr Gardner says contrariwise. But, after a thousand years or so, even a subject like this palls, unless, indeed, it is treated by Mr Rider Haggard; and Mr Gardner's obstinacy has actually brought a pretty girl into the controversy. Miss (or Mrs) Eugénie Sellers—we do not know her, but she must be pretty with that name—has only last week written a letter to say that Mr G. is a bold, bad man and has no right to chaff Dr. D. about the scænæ frons when he makes such gross errors himself about the logeion. Eugénie even goes so far as to say some very cross things about certain Skenengebäude mentioned by Mr G.

Image
© David Gill

Excavations: Ernest A. Gardner (1887-95)

Archaeological fieldwork was initiated during the directorship of Ernest Gardner who had gained experience in Egypt with Flinders Petrie at Naukratis. The first major project (from 1887) was on the island of Cyprus, supported by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies (Cyprus Exploration Fund).

The first excavation on mainland Greece was at Megalopolis. This proved to be controversial over the interpretation of the theatre.

Smaller projects were then attempted, first at Aegosthena in 1893, directed by E.F. Benson. The following year A.G. Bather and V.W. Yorke explored two sites, Abae and Hyampolis, in Phocis.

The financial position did not allow further field projects in the session 1894/95. However, a preliminary excavation at Alexandria was made in April 1895 by David G. Hogarth with assistance from two BSA students, E.F. Benson and Edwyn Robert Bevan.

A regional survey of Aetolia was conducted in 1892 and 1893 by W.J. Woodhouse (who had gained experience at Megalopolis).

Such work was in marked contrast to the other Schools in Greece: for example, the French at Delphi and on Delos, the Americans at the Argive Heraion, and the Germans in Athens itself.