Post-doc Research Project
ATTICA IN THE MIDDLE. Exploring Networks of Pottery Production, Consumption and Distribution in the Middle and early Late Bronze Age.
Postdoctoral Fellowship: FSR-Incoming UCLouvain (01/04/2019-30/03/2021).
The main purpose of my project is to explore production, consumption, and circulation patterns of Middle Helladic-early Late Helladic pottery in Attica. I am also involved in various projects related to the study and publication of significant Middle to early Late Bronze Age deposits from different sites of southern Greece, including Argolid and more recently Elis.
My approach to MH pottery combines the study of style, technology and context, using the integrated application of traditional macroscopic examination and scientific analysis, mainly ceramic petrography. My work puts special emphasis on issues of regional and supra-regional contacts, in order to estimate the intensity and impact of these networks on the development of local communities. It also aims to establish clearer and more distinct chronological borders within the Middle Bronze Age.I first applied this approach in the context of my doctoral thesis and I have also followed a similar methodology in the following studies that I undertook. Indeed, my PhD analysis revealed important socio-economic differences in terms of material culture, between different habitation areas in Argos, as well as between Argos and other settlements in the Argolid.
Supervisor: Dr. Prof. Charlotte Langohr (F.R.S.-FNRS - UCLouvain, AegIS).
Education
- 2017 : PhD thesis in Prehistory Archaeology, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece). Title of the PhD dissertation: ARGOS. The Middle Helladic (MH) Origins of a Diachronic Argive Site. New Evidence for the MH I-II Period from the South Quarter (supervisor: Dr. Prof. Yannis Papadatos).
- 2012 : Master of Arts in Prehistoric Archaeology, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece).
- 2008 : Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology and History of Arts, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece).
Research topics
- Aegean Archaeology, Mainland Greece,
- Middle Helladic pottery, Ceramic petrography,
- Cultural synchronisation, Trade networks.
Field projects
- Since 2019: Thorikos Archaeological Project, pottery specialist (Belgian School at Athens; dir. R. Docter)
- Since 2015: Plasi-Marathon Excavation, pottery specialist & trench supervisor (University of Athens; dir. Assoc. Prof. Y. Papadatos)
- 2012-2015: Ayios Vasilios Cemetery Excavation, trench supervisor (Sparta, Greece; University of Gronigen; dir. Prof. S. Voutsaki)
- 2009-2012: South Laconia Survey, museum assistant (Neapolis, Greece; University of Athens; dir. Prof. E. Mantzourani
Choice of publications/conferences (5 max.)
Balitsari A. (forthcoming). “The House of Pithoi. An early Middle Helladic (MH) household in the South Quarter of Argos (Argolid, Peloponnese)”, BCH.
Balitsari A., E. Kiriatzi & N.S. Müller (forthcoming). “Petrographic and chemical analysis of Middle and Late Helladic pottery from Vranas tumuli, Marathon (in Greek)” in: M. Pantelidou-Gofa, G. Touchais, A. Philippa-Touchais & N. Papadimitriou (eds.), Οι Προϊστορικοί Τύμβοι Βρανά Μαραθώνα. Ανασκαφή Σπυρίδωνος Μαρινάτου 1970, Athens.
Philippa-Touchais A. & A. Balitsari 2020. “Attica in the Middle: Middle Helladic Pottery Traditions and the Formation of Cultural Identity”, in: Ν. Papadimitriou, J. Wright, S. Fachard, N. Polychronakou-Sgouritsa & E. Andrikou (eds.), Athens and Attica in Prehistory. Proceedings of the International Conference held.in Athens, 27-31 May 2015, Oxford 2020, p. 277-288.
Balitsari A. & J.K. Papadopoulos 2019. “A Middle Helladic Tomb in the Athenian Kerameikos and Some Thoughts on the Early Connections of Attica”, BSA 114 (2019), p. 119-143.
Balitsari A. & J.K. Papadopoulos 2018. “A Cist Tomb on the South Bank of the Eridanos in the Athenian Agora and the Middle Bronze Age in Athens”, Hesperia 87 (2018), p. 215-277.