Xenia (Polyxeni) Charalambidou
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Dept. of Arts and culture, History, Ancient Studies / CLUE+, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher
Current research interests:
Mediterranean archaeology, ancient craftsmanship, production and consumption, mobilities and interactions, social identities.
Pottery production and consumption, migration, technology transfer, cultural transmission and human dynamics between mother-cities, colonial establishments and the native milieux in Greece and in Southern Italy-Sicily during the Early Iron Age and the Archaic period.
Early Iron Age and Archaic feasting practices, examining linked interpretations of find-groups in context that can produce fine-scale reconstructions of the ritual/feasting landscape.
Macro- and science-based analyses of archaeological materials: macroscopic approaches, combined with archaeometric research [petrographic, elemental, microstructural], geological prospection of the areas under investigation; experimental archaeology; drawing on ethnoarchaeological research. Emphasis on the chaîne opératoire approach in context.
Mediterranean archaeology, ancient craftsmanship, production and consumption, mobilities and interactions, social identities.
Pottery production and consumption, migration, technology transfer, cultural transmission and human dynamics between mother-cities, colonial establishments and the native milieux in Greece and in Southern Italy-Sicily during the Early Iron Age and the Archaic period.
Early Iron Age and Archaic feasting practices, examining linked interpretations of find-groups in context that can produce fine-scale reconstructions of the ritual/feasting landscape.
Macro- and science-based analyses of archaeological materials: macroscopic approaches, combined with archaeometric research [petrographic, elemental, microstructural], geological prospection of the areas under investigation; experimental archaeology; drawing on ethnoarchaeological research. Emphasis on the chaîne opératoire approach in context.
less
Related Authors
InterestsView All (27)
Uploads
Books by Xenia (Polyxeni) Charalambidou
Papers-Book chapters by Xenia (Polyxeni) Charalambidou
A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers an original and inclusive review of two key periods of Greek archaeology, which are typically treated separately—the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. It presents an in-depth exploration of the society and material culture of Greece and the Mediterranean, from the 14th to the early 7th centuries BC. The two-volume companion sets Aegean developments within their broader geographic and cultural context, and presents the wide-ranging interactions with the Mediterranean.
The companion bridges the gap that typically exists between Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology and examines material culture and social practice across Greece and the Mediterranean. A number of specialists examine the environment and demography, and analyze a range of textual and archaeological evidence to shed light on socio-political and cultural developments. The companion also emphasizes regionalism in the archaeology of early Greece and examines the responses of different regions to major phenomena such as state formation, literacy, migration and colonization. Comprehensive in scope, this important companion:
Outlines major developments in the two key phases of early Greece, the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age
Includes studies of the geography, chronology and demography of early Greece
Explores the development of early Greek state and society and examines economy, religion, art and material culture
Sets Aegean developments within their Mediterranean context
Written for students, and scholars interested in the material culture of the era, A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide that bridges the gap between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age.
Central Euboea is a key area in archaeological discussions addressing issues of connectivity and cultural transmission between the Aegean and Anatolia in the third millennium BC, mainly during the Early Helladic (EH) II. Excavations at Eretria have recovered significant amounts of EH II–III pottery from levels underlying Classical-Hellenistic buildings. In spite of its fragmentary condition this material deserves special attention as it provides an interesting data set to complement the Lefkandi I–III pottery and it offers a rare insight into the EH III period in Euboea. The majority of the EH II pottery belongs to the second part of the period (EH IIB) and displays both continental (mainly sauceboats, saucers and askoi) and Anatolianising shapes (plates, bell-shaped cups, tankards, beaked jugs). EH III is marked by the appearance of grey ware and a new shape repertoire with the predominance of Bass Bowls, tankards and wide-mouthed jars. This paper aims at presenting an overview of the pottery groups based on a detailed macroscopic study combined with petrographic and chemical analyses using wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF). The main objective is to characterise, both compositionally and technologically, local products at Eretria and to follow transformations in local supply and production through time, shedding light on Eretria’s role in local and regional networks during the third millennium BC. The results show that both fine and coarse EH II and EH III local wares are made with the same fabrics, despite evident changes through time in terms of shaping, surface treatment and firing, leading to the conclusion that both continuity and innovation characterise different aspects of their production. Interestingly, the Anatolianising fine ware of late EH II is made of local clay, while some typical central Aegean vessels such as sauceboats appear to be non-local. Furthermore, a significant part of the EH II coarse ware is imported from the western Cyclades or South Euboea, unlike the EH III coarse ware which is almost exclusively local.
Eretria, in the centre of the Aegean (Greece), has been the focus of an interdisciplinary programme that combines macroscopic, petrographic and elemental analysis in a diachronic investigation of pottery production and supply on the site from the early third millennium (Early Bronze Age) to the end of the first millennium BCE (Hellenistic
period). This paper reviews the preliminary results of the analyses of the pottery of historical times, mainly from the Geometric to the Hellenistic periods (phase II of the Eretria pottery project). It presents the compositional and technological characteristics of the local fabrics and offers examples of how continuity and innovation characterise different aspects of Eretria's pottery production. In addition, different categories of imported vessels that arrived in Eretria are investigated in order to recognize the origin of these specific products.
This chapter focuses on seventh-century BC pottery from various contexts on Euboea and at Oropos (a closely related site in the central Euboean Gulf region), seeking to gain information about the life history (life cycle) of pottery and its social reflections
in settlements, burials and cult areas. Some products display continuity, especially from the late eighth to the seventh century, in terms of raw material selection, style, or the use of certain vessel shapes. By contrast, changes can be discerned in drinking/feasting habits as well as the intensification of use of special ceramic products for cult and funerary rites. Particularly at Eretria, we see changes in consumption in the male social sphere and a rise in the visibility of women at cult sites. At the same time, adult burials show low visibility, yet there is a higher representation of child burials in enchytrismoi. Some of these changes seem to go hand-in-hand with wider changes in society during the seventh century.
A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers an original and inclusive review of two key periods of Greek archaeology, which are typically treated separately—the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. It presents an in-depth exploration of the society and material culture of Greece and the Mediterranean, from the 14th to the early 7th centuries BC. The two-volume companion sets Aegean developments within their broader geographic and cultural context, and presents the wide-ranging interactions with the Mediterranean.
The companion bridges the gap that typically exists between Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology and examines material culture and social practice across Greece and the Mediterranean. A number of specialists examine the environment and demography, and analyze a range of textual and archaeological evidence to shed light on socio-political and cultural developments. The companion also emphasizes regionalism in the archaeology of early Greece and examines the responses of different regions to major phenomena such as state formation, literacy, migration and colonization. Comprehensive in scope, this important companion:
Outlines major developments in the two key phases of early Greece, the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age
Includes studies of the geography, chronology and demography of early Greece
Explores the development of early Greek state and society and examines economy, religion, art and material culture
Sets Aegean developments within their Mediterranean context
Written for students, and scholars interested in the material culture of the era, A Companion to the Archaeology of Early Greece and the Mediterranean offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide that bridges the gap between the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age.
Central Euboea is a key area in archaeological discussions addressing issues of connectivity and cultural transmission between the Aegean and Anatolia in the third millennium BC, mainly during the Early Helladic (EH) II. Excavations at Eretria have recovered significant amounts of EH II–III pottery from levels underlying Classical-Hellenistic buildings. In spite of its fragmentary condition this material deserves special attention as it provides an interesting data set to complement the Lefkandi I–III pottery and it offers a rare insight into the EH III period in Euboea. The majority of the EH II pottery belongs to the second part of the period (EH IIB) and displays both continental (mainly sauceboats, saucers and askoi) and Anatolianising shapes (plates, bell-shaped cups, tankards, beaked jugs). EH III is marked by the appearance of grey ware and a new shape repertoire with the predominance of Bass Bowls, tankards and wide-mouthed jars. This paper aims at presenting an overview of the pottery groups based on a detailed macroscopic study combined with petrographic and chemical analyses using wavelength dispersive x-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF). The main objective is to characterise, both compositionally and technologically, local products at Eretria and to follow transformations in local supply and production through time, shedding light on Eretria’s role in local and regional networks during the third millennium BC. The results show that both fine and coarse EH II and EH III local wares are made with the same fabrics, despite evident changes through time in terms of shaping, surface treatment and firing, leading to the conclusion that both continuity and innovation characterise different aspects of their production. Interestingly, the Anatolianising fine ware of late EH II is made of local clay, while some typical central Aegean vessels such as sauceboats appear to be non-local. Furthermore, a significant part of the EH II coarse ware is imported from the western Cyclades or South Euboea, unlike the EH III coarse ware which is almost exclusively local.
Eretria, in the centre of the Aegean (Greece), has been the focus of an interdisciplinary programme that combines macroscopic, petrographic and elemental analysis in a diachronic investigation of pottery production and supply on the site from the early third millennium (Early Bronze Age) to the end of the first millennium BCE (Hellenistic
period). This paper reviews the preliminary results of the analyses of the pottery of historical times, mainly from the Geometric to the Hellenistic periods (phase II of the Eretria pottery project). It presents the compositional and technological characteristics of the local fabrics and offers examples of how continuity and innovation characterise different aspects of Eretria's pottery production. In addition, different categories of imported vessels that arrived in Eretria are investigated in order to recognize the origin of these specific products.
This chapter focuses on seventh-century BC pottery from various contexts on Euboea and at Oropos (a closely related site in the central Euboean Gulf region), seeking to gain information about the life history (life cycle) of pottery and its social reflections
in settlements, burials and cult areas. Some products display continuity, especially from the late eighth to the seventh century, in terms of raw material selection, style, or the use of certain vessel shapes. By contrast, changes can be discerned in drinking/feasting habits as well as the intensification of use of special ceramic products for cult and funerary rites. Particularly at Eretria, we see changes in consumption in the male social sphere and a rise in the visibility of women at cult sites. At the same time, adult burials show low visibility, yet there is a higher representation of child burials in enchytrismoi. Some of these changes seem to go hand-in-hand with wider changes in society during the seventh century.
In: «Η ΝΑΞΟΣ ΔΙΑ ΜΕΣΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΑΙΩΝΩΝ» , 7ο ΠΑΝΕΛΛΗΝΙΟ ΣΥΝΕΔΡΙΟ , ΠΕΜΠΤΗ 2 ΝΟΕΜΒΡΙΟΥ 2023
In: The International Conference "Brightening the Dark Ages. Archaic Greek Culture and its Past", Academy of Athens, 27-30 September 2023.
When Professor Nikolaos Kontoleon wrote the above words in 1961, he had already completed 10 years of excavations in the coastal zone of Grotta, with finds that opened a new page in the study of the “proto-historic” Aegean (1400-1050 BC), while the adjacent cemeteries of chamber tombs highlighted with their important finds the special character of the flourishing Naxian culture of the Late Mycenaean period (1200-1050 BC).
In the years that followed, research in the fortified Mycenaean settlement revealed successive horizons of Early Iron Age funerary complexes (1050-700 BC). These documented various rituals including memory practices of the descendant Naxian community, which had invested in the imprint of the past.
In this presentation we will discuss the transformation of Grotta from a “proto-urban town” to a historical “polis”, we will look for the settlement models of the island that led to the monopolis / city-state of Naxos as well as the complexities of memory rituals.
The Mitropolis area and its adjacent plots at Grotta in modern Naxos Town (excavated in 1984-1994 by Vasileios Lambrinoudakis and Foteini Zaphiropoulou) offer a unique opportunity in Mediterranean archaeology to study the development of an “urban” landscape in conjunction with Naxian ceramic production and consumption in one of the most important Cycladic settlements.
Focusing primarily on the 8th and 7th centuries BC, this paper discusses preliminary results of the systematic study of pottery from the site, following a chaîne opératoire approach for both fine and coarse wares. The investigation of local pottery production, consumption and circulation sheds further light on Naxos’ role in local and regional networks.
in: the Athens and Attica in the Early Iron Age and the Archaic period International Conference, 8-11 December, 2022
in: International Symposium on Cultural Continuity, Change and Interaction In the Aegean World from the Second to First Millennium BC (Izmir, 18 November 2022).
Early Iron Age and Archaic Naxos can offer a nuanced insight into potting traditions, not only of fine wares but also of coarse wares. The latter material category deserves the same attention from scholarship as the first and can reveal important insights into ancient Aegean and Mediterranean societies and the life histories of their products, from the production through the functional stages. Naxian coarse-ware pots of these periods belong to a hand-building tradition being practiced alongside Naxian fine wheel-made wares. Although hand-built, a number of Naxian coarse wares, i.e. cooking jugs and storage amphorae, (at least) from the second half of the 8th century BC show a high reliance on wheel rotation for vessel shaping and/or finishing, as preserved especially from the Tsikalario cemetery in inland Naxos.
This tradition is examined within its contemporary social system. On Naxos, where provenience is known, hand-built coarse pots are often found in the context of Naxian cemeteries, associated with the consumption and deposition choices of particular social groups. Equally important is that such pots seem to have had a prior function in the household before they were ‘adapted’ to a funerary context, arguing for their recycling from the household to the cemetery. This presentation discusses the use made of rotational devices in Naxian coarse wares and changes/evolution in coarse-ware production and wheel-potting techniques. From this, complex interplays between artisans, ceramic traditions that overlapped or were successive, and the societal conditions that may have formed these developments, are investigated.
Η μελέτη εστιάζει στον πολύπλευρο χαρακτήρα της παραγωγής και διακίνησης τεχνέργων και τεχνιτών και στον ρόλο των «περιπλανώμενων» κεραμέων πριν και κατά τη διάρκεια του ελληνικού αποικισμού. Επιπροσθέτως, αναδεικνύεται ξανά η οικολογική προσέγγιση των Peregrine Horden και Nicholas Purcell (The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History), σύμφωνα με την οποία η Μεσόγειος ήταν ένα «τοπίο» εξόχως πιο πολυσύνθετο από ένα «απλό» δίκτυο θαλάσσιων διαδρομών. Υπό αυτό το πρίσμα, συζητούνται οι σχέσεις των μεγάλων «αστικών» και μικρότερων οικισμών και της υπαίθρου στην Εύβοια και στη Νάξο για να τονιστεί η σημασία της οικονομίας σε διάφορες κλίμακες και ο αντίκτυπος αυτών των πολυπαραγοντικών δικτύων πέρα από τα εν λόγω νησιά, στις μεταναστεύσεις των κατοίκων τους μέχρι και τη Νότια Ιταλία και Σικελία.
The second webinar will be held by Dr. Xenia Charalambidou (Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam):
The Lelantine Plain: a field of prosperity and a field of rivalry?
(05 April, 10.00 CET)
These webinars are also offered within the course of Greek History (MA): students will be supported through workshops of preparation and consolidation by their tutor. Before each webinar, an optional preparatory workshop for students will take place with the support of the tutors (PhD and final-year Master’s students). In these workshops, students will be divided into groups that work autonomously in Zoom breakout rooms on tasks prepared by the teacher in collaboration with the tutor. Groups will be selected in accordance with the principles of knowledge sharing so as to include diverse competences, as previously established through a student questionnaire. Group tasks will focus on the topics that the experts will discuss in the following webinar and will involve analysis of documents, reading of scientific articles, and preparatory activities that focus on the micro-language of topics to be dealt with by the webinar speakers. After each webinar there will be a consolidation workshop dedicated to discussing the most complex passages from the webinars and the analysis of sources discussed.
In this lecture older and more recent archaeological evidence from a selected range of Early Iron Age and Archaic sites in the Aegean are brought together, focusing mainly on the central and southern parts of the region. Sites which can produce fine-scale reconstructions of feasting practices are discussed for the information that they provide about the extent of local and regional diversity in feasting practices.
Building on a comparative regional approach allows us to assess the value of material culture in relation to commensal activities locally, regionally, and supra-regionally and so to evaluate regional diversity and overarching trends as they become evident in the material record. Several focal points for discussion are also raised: whether polis-centred institutions of feasting were integrated into complex pre-existing cultural associations; the difficulties in distinguishing between the sacred and the profane in certain contexts; the possible roles of various social groups in feasting, beyond the elites.
https://www.ouc.ac.cy/index.php/el/news-events-menu-2/nea/4511-bip-cypotters
EN
https://www.ouc.ac.cy/index.php/en/news-events/news/4512-bip-cypotters
Photo album:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/oucyprus/albums/72177720319236091
https://www.ouc.ac.cy/index.php/el/news-events-menu-2/nea/4413-bip-pottery
The Open University of Cyprus (OUC) is organizing an Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) entitled: “Cyprus Experimental Field School (CEF): From Cultural Heritage to Materials Science – The Female Potters of Cyprus”. The BIP, with scientific coordinator Dr Xenia Charalambidou, will be held in Cyprus (Nicosia, Kornos village and Agios Demetrios village) from July 8 to July 16, 2024. The objective of this BIP is twofold. First, it seeks to provide a fully immersive experience of dynamic pottery cultures from apprenticeship through to vessel use and also in material science analyses. Secondly, it aims to give students the requisite skills, in consultation with potting elders, to apply this knowledge to explore how multistage hand-built pots were made and used in the past. In this BIP, the archives of ethnoarchaeologist Dr Gloria London, who has documented the Cypriot female potters since 1986, serve as a nucleus from which one can thoroughly document the dynamic context of their practices.
The BIP is coordinated by the Open University of Cyprus (OUC), and the following Universities from Greece and Poland are the members of the consortium: University of Crete, University of Thessaly, University of the Aegean, University of the Peloponnese, University of Patras, University of Warsaw. In addition to Dr Xenia Charalambidou (OUC), Dr Gloria London and Beatrice McLoughlin (the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens), academics and researchers from the University of Cyprus, and the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) of The Cyprus Institute are collaborating as guest instructors. Female potters in Cyprus will be contributing to the instruction of the BIP with workshops that will be provided to all participating students.
Blended Intensive Programmes are funded in the context of the Erasmus+ Programme, and are short, intensive programmes that use innovative ways of learning and teaching, including the use of online cooperation. By enabling new and more flexible mobility formats that combine physical mobility with a virtual part, BIPs aim at reaching all types of students from all backgrounds, study fields and cycles.
Το Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου (ΑΠΚΥ) διοργανώνει το καινοτόμο Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) με τίτλο: «Cyprus Experimental Field School (CEF): From Cultural Heritage to Materials Science – The Female Potters of Cyprus», στο πλαίσιο του προγράμματος κινητικότητας Erasmus+. Το BIP, με επιστημονική συντονίστρια τη Δρα Ξένια Χαραλαμπίδου, θα πραγματοποιηθεί στην Κύπρο, σε τρεις τοποθεσίες (Λευκωσία, Κόρνος, Άγιος Δημήτριος), μεταξύ 8 και 16 Ιουλίου 2024. Το Πρόγραμμα αποσκοπεί στην προσφορά γνώσεων γύρω από την πολιτισμική κληρονομιά και την τέχνη της αγγειοπλαστικής στην Κύπρο, με στόχο οι εκπαιδευόμενοι να εμβαθύνουν, θεωρητικά αλλά και πρακτικά, στην κατασκευή παραδοσιακών κεραμικών και τη χρήση τους , αλλά και να κατανοήσουν τα υλικά κατασκευής τους. Το BIP στοχεύει, επίσης, στην ανάδειξη της τέχνης της αγγειοπλαστικής ως εθνογραφικό στοιχείο, στενά συνυφασμένο με την πολιτιστική κληρονομιά της Κύπρου. Στην επιτυχία του BIP θα συνεισφέρει ουσιωδώς η εθνοαρχαιολόγος Dr Gloria London, η οποία έχει μελετήσει συστηματικά, από το 1986, τις γυναίκες αγγειοπλάστριες της Κύπρου.
Στην κοινοπραξία υλοποίησης του BIP, το οποίο συντονίζει το ΑΠΚΥ, συμμετέχουν έξι (6) Πανεπιστήμια (Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης, Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλίας, Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου, Πανεπιστήμιο Πελοποννήσου, Πανεπιστήμιο Πατρών και University of Warsaw) από την Ελλάδα και την Πολωνία. Μαζί με τις Δρα Ξένια Χαραλαμπίδου (ΑΠΚΥ), Dr Gloria London και Beatrice McLoughlin (Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens), που διεξάγουν και συντονίζουν τα εργαστήρια και τις διαλέξεις, εγνωσμένου κύρους καθηγητές, καθηγήτριες και ερευνητές από το Πανεπιστήμιο Κύπρου και το Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC) του The Cyprus Institute θα συμμετάσχουν στο BIP με διαλέξεις και ξεναγήσεις.. Επιπροσθέτως, γυναίκες κεραμίστριες στα χωριά Κόρνος και Άγιος Δημήτριος θα συνεισφέρουν στην επιμόρφωση των φοιτητριών και φοιτητών που θα παρακολουθήσουν το BIP με τη μεταφορά της θεωρίας σε πράξη στα παραδοσιακά εργαστήριά τους.