Archaeology lecture series at the University of Richmond features notable speakers on ancient Greece

The University of Richmond Department of Classical Studies and the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) are hosting a lecture series focusing on Athenian naval bases and erotic curse tablets. 

Bjørn Lovén, a research associate with the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen and expert in the archaeology of ancient harbors and submerged sites, will present, “The Ancient Athenian Naval Bases in the Piraeus – The Backbone of the World’s First Democracy,” March 16, 6 p.m. in Jepson Hall, room 118. 

Lovén’s talk will focus on how the ten-year “Zea Harbor Project” uncovered extensive archaeological remains of the Athenian naval facilities and discuss how those finds inform us about developments from the dawn of Athenian power through the waning years of the empire. 

Lovén is the director of the Zea Harbor Project at ancient Piraeus in Greece and co-director of the Lechaion Harbor Project in Corinth, Greece, and he has conducted extensive fieldwork at underwater and harbor sites around the Mediterranean.

Jorge Bravo, a professor at the University of Maryland who researches the archaeology of Greek cult and ancient athletics, will present, “Lust in the Dust: Erotic Curse Tablets Unearthed at Nemea Greece,” April 20, 6 p.m. in Jepson Hall, room 118.

Bravo is a field archaeologist and has participated in several excavations in Greece and Italy, including the Athenian Agora. 

The lectures are free and open to the public.

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