Understanding settlements in Byzantine Greece:

old data and new approaches for the Peloponnese (11th-12th centuries)

King's College London, Strand Campus, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS Council Room, K2.29

The current project investigates key questions about aspects of Byzantine landscapes through a novel comparative analysis of archaeological and textual sources. It sets the visual record within the wider social, economic, and political history of the Peloponnese and provides an important interpretative field for exploring the relationship between archaeology, topography, landscape and resources diachronically and geographically. The goal of the paper is to provide a model of investigation that can be applied more broadly in other medieval contexts.

Dr Maria Papadaki has a doctorate in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies from King’s College London. Her PhD thesis examines the Byzantine Peloponnese, its land, people and visual culture through a wide range of sources (e.g. churches, sculptures, inscriptions) and perspectives. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the University of Edinburgh with her research being supported by the British School at Athens. Dr Papadaki also has extensive professional experience in the museum sector and has co-curated the exhibition ‘Ioannis Makriyannis. Vital expression’ currently on display at the new wing of ASCSA.

Part of the Late Antique and Byzantine Studies Seminar Series.