Theodore Spyropoulos () is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeol ...

who is a regional official of Greece's Central Archaeological Council.

Excavations at Tanagra

At Tanagra, Spyropoulos began excavating a large Mycenaean cemetery in 1968. Every year, until Spyropoulos moved to the ephorate at

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, the excavation site yielded larnakes, pottery and terracottas. The chamber tombs uncovered were apparently in use from LH IIIA up until the end of LH IIIB and perhaps beyond.

Excavations near Thebes

Near Thebes, Spyropoulos excavated the supposed tomb of Amphion and Zethus between 1971 and 1973. He identified the structure of the tomb as a step-pyramid or ziggurat built during the 3rd millennium BC.

Excavations at Pellana

Spyropoulos discovered an alternative site for the palace of

Menelaus In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; ) was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', the Trojan war began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen, fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Menelaus was a central ...

at Pellana located 25 kilometers north of Sparta. The site itself is near a series of large Mycenean chamber tombs. This has led Spyropoulos to believe that his excavations uncovered the lost

Homeric Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his authorship, Homer is ...

capital of

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia (, , ) is a historical and Administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti (municipality), Sparta. The word ...

. The palace itself is 32 meters by 14 meters and is dated to around 1200 BC.

Cyclopean Cyclopean masonry is a type of masonry, stonework found in Mycenaean Greece, Mycenaean architecture, built with massive limestone boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal Engineering tolerance, clearance between adjacent stones and with clay ...

walls surround the palace and a wide road leads up to the entrance. During Antiquity, the tombs were all plundered. However, the palace was unscathed since it yielded jewelry, wall paintings, pottery, and a plethora of

Linear B Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...

tablets. Currently, there exists a major clash of interpretation between Spyropoulos and members of the

British School at Athens The British School at Athens (BSA; ) is an institute for advanced research, one of the eight British International Research Institutes supported by the British Academy, that promotes the study of Greece in all its aspects. Under UK law it is a reg ...

. The former believes that Pellana was the Mycenean capital of Laconia and the latter believe that the Menelaion was the capital.Castleden, pp. 16-17. "An alternative site for the Palace of Menelaus has recently been uncovered by Theodore Spyropoulos at Pellana, 25km north of Sparta. The alleged palace site is close to a series of large Mycenaean chamber tombs and Professor Spyropoulos believes that what he has found is ancient Lakedaimon, the lost Homeric capital. The principal building is 32m by 14m, apparently a palatial building on the same scale as the 'palace' at Mycenae. Associated finds date it to 1200 BC. Cyclopean walling protects it and a wide road leads up to the entrance. The nearby tombs were plundered in antiquity, but not the 'palace', which has yielded pottery, jewellery, wall paintings and many Linear B tablets. There is a major clash of interpretation between Spyropoulos, who is convinced that Pellana was the Mycenaean capital of Laconia, and the British School at Athens, who believe that the Menelaion was the capital. The archive tablets at Pellana may help to resolve the issue."

References

Sources

*Carter, Jane Burr and Morris, Sarah P. ''The Ages of Homer: A Tribute to Emily Townsend Vermeule''. University of Texas Press, 1995. *Castleden, Rodney. ''Mycenaeans''. Routledge, 2005. *Fagan, Garrett G. ''Archaeological Fantasies: How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public''. Routledge, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spyropoulos, Theodore Archaeology of Greece Mycenaean archaeologists Archaeologists of the Bronze Age Aegean Greek archaeologists Living people Year of birth missing (living people)