Proceedings of the

Danish Institute at Athens

VOLUME IX

Edited by
Kristina Winther-Jacobsen & Nicolai von Eggers Mariegaard

Athens 2019

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 Rediscovering Artemis Laphria at
Kalydon:
Preliminary Results*
SIGNE BARFOED

Abstract

This report presents the preliminary results of the research project “Rediscovering Artemis. A comprehensive
re-examination of the Artemis Laphria Sanctuary in Kalydon, Aitolia”. The project concerns the study
and publication of the finds, such as pottery and votives, from the Artemis Laphria sanctuary excavations,
which were carried out in the 1920s and 30s. “Rediscovering Artemis” is hosted by the Danish Institute at
Athens; its principal support comes from the Carlsberg Foundation, and it has also been awarded a number
of Danish and Norwegian grants. The project is a collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum
at Athens (NAM).

Research History
In 1926 a Danish–Greek collaboration began exploring
the Artemis Laphria sanctuary in Kalydon, the extra-mu-
ral sanctuary of the city, as well as a Hellenistic palaestra,
the so-called “Heroon”.1 The team consisted of the then
director of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen,
Frederik Poulsen, the renowned Greek archaeologist
Konstantinos Rhomaios and the famous Danish architect
Ejnar Dyggve. Explorations in Kalydon have continued
intermittently up to the present day. Søren Dietz excavat-
ed at the central acropolis, a Hellenistic peristyle house
in the Lower Town, and the Hellenistic theatre from
2001-06;2 Rune Frederiksen completed the excavation
of the Hellenistic theatre from 2011-14;3 and in 2013 Søren
Handberg initiated excavations at the Lower Acropolis
of Kalydon and found a Hellenistic house,4 carried out
new excavations at the fortification wall in order to estab-

* I am very grateful to the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports for the permit to study and publish the Artemis Laphria assemblage, and the
National Archaeological Museum, especially Dr Giorgos Kavvadias, who has made all my campaigns enjoyable and smoothly running. A warm
thank you also goes to the Friends of the National Archaeological Museum, the many guards who accompanied me in the apothiki, and to the
conservators in the NAM conservation laboratory for their extraordinary work on cleaning and restoring a selection of the pottery assemblage.
A heartfelt thank you also goes out to the Danish Institute at Athens and their help with acquiring the permit, Søren Dietz and Popi Sarri, and to
Katja E. Vinther, Joos Melander, Trine B. Pedersen and Søren Handberg for their company and help in the storerooms where they created technical
drawings of some of the pottery. Last but not least, I am extremely grateful to the Carlsberg Foundation, the Elisabeth Munksgaard Foundation,
the Svend G. Fiedler and Wife Foundation, and the Travel Stipend of the Norwegian Institute at Athens for their generous financial support.
1 Poulsen, Dyggve & Rhomaios 1934. Excavations were carried out in the years 1926, 1928, 1932 and 1935.
2 Dietz & Stavropoulou-Gatsi 2011.
3 Vikatou, Frederiksen & Handberg 2014.
4 http://www.carlsbergfondet.dk/da/Forskningsaktiviteter/Forskningsprojekter/Andre%20forskningsprojekter/Soeren%20Hanberg_THE%20
KALYDON%20ARCHAEOLOGICAL%20PROJECT 189

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