A project of love: The Australian-led research on Kythera

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The Australian Paliochora-Kythera Archaeological Survey (APKAS) is an Australian-led task that started successful 1999, investigating the diachronic improvement of the taste scenery of bluish Kythera from prehistoric times to the present. The probe concluded successful 2025 and will beryllium published successful 2026.

As 1 of the astir extended landscape-based archaeological projects undertaken connected bluish Kythera, it operated under the auspices of the Australian Archaeological Institute astatine Athens, alongside the University of Sydney.

Pivotal to its people implicit the years were the contributions of the Kytherian Association of Australia and the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust.

The task was directed by Dr Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory, alongside Professor Timothy E. Gregory and Dr Stavros Paspalas, who with passion, devoted years of their nonrecreational acquisition and created the so called “project of love”.

From Kythera to archaeology

Dr Lita Tzortzopoulou Gregory has Greek root and is some an archaeologist and an anthropologist. She was calved successful Australia but spent her formative years successful Greece. She presently is the Executive Officer of the Australian Archaeological Institute astatine Athens and Senior Research Fellow astatine the University of Sydney.

“I was astir 5 years aged when I arrived successful Greece and I spent a batch of clip with my grandparents surviving connected the Greek land of Kythera. Coming from a large metropolis successful Australia to a small village successful Kythera, I wasn’t truly alert of what was really happening.”

On the land she had a very elemental village benignant of upbringing. Growing up with her grandparents, they were doing everything the traditional way, similar getting the water from the spring and utilizing lipid lamps. However, astatine the property of 15, her household decided to determination backmost to Australia owed to her begetter facing difficulties with work.

“When we made the large determination backmost to Australia, I knew that what I wanted to bash with my beingness was archaeology. It was embedded successful maine from a very young age. What influenced maine a batch was increasing up connected an land similar Kythera and having that adjacent transportation with my grandmother, who shared each these stories from a agelong clip agone and passed connected oral traditions.”

Dr Lita went connected to explicate that the past ever fascinated her, thing aged oregon pre-modern.

“I had a very bully past teacher successful precocious school, and she was the 1 who benignant of directed maine successful that way. I told her I emotion history, but I truly want to spell beyond that, I truly want to cognize much astir the way radical used to unrecorded their mundane life. She said, ‘Aha! you want to beryllium an archaeologist!'”.

A task tied to heritage

After having completed her studies, and while she was processing her career, an accidental arose to work successful Cyprus, successful the Mediterranean. There, she met her husband, Professor Timothy E. Gregory, who was besides an archaeologist and had a batch of archaeological acquisition successful Greece. With his guidance and support, she got introduced to archaeologist Dr Stavros Paspalas, who had Kytherian practice arsenic well. Together, they each began discussing the thought astir conducting a task connected the island.

“We were each calved successful Australia, but we each had such strong connections to Kythera. We felt an work to spell backmost and find retired much astir the land of our ancestors. That’s why I telephone it a task of love, due to the fact that it felt very personal.”

After getting the support for the task from the Australian Archaeological Institute, the tract work began from 1999 and ended successful 2004.They each agreed that the spot that needed to beryllium cautiously looked astatine was Paleochora, a medieval colony destroyed successful 1537, by the pirate Barbarossa, the Ottoman Admiral astatine the time. After that incidental occurred, Paleochora was abandoned, it became a shade town, and the section colonisation would ever talk astir ghosts appearing there.

“For us it was ταξινόμηση of a magical place, it’s an astonishing determination isolated connected a cliff, you tin spot the Peloponnese crossed from it. We wanted to find retired however did Paleochora alteration implicit time, however it was founded, however it became such an important settlement, it was important capable for the Ottomans to destruct it. We wanted to cognize however Paleochora connected to its hinterland.”

Exploring the landscape

APKAS used a specific type of probe which is called scenery archaeology. Instead of digging heavy into the earth, this attack aims to understand however a scenery is shaped implicit clip some by its situation and inhabitants. The team collected the accusation listed supra by intensive survey, archival research, and oral histories. This was a multidisciplinary effort, to which experts from antithetic disciplines, archaeologists, historians, geologists, tried to understand however that scenery evolved implicit time.

“This type of survey does not absorption connected uncovering a unique entity but alternatively it is astir however radical lived successful the past, what was their narration with the sea, for example, and however was the scenery affected by its environment. You person to understand the scenery arsenic having its ain story.”

Rewriting Kythera’s history

During the tract work betwixt 2017 and 2020, with the support of caller young volunteers and the use of modern technology similar drones, the team discovered stone tools from “Deep Prehistory”.

“This truly puts Kythera connected the representation of aboriginal quality occupation. We ne'er thought the land was portion of that prehistoric web until 2017.This is important for the Aegean, for the whole Mediterranean.”

The find is ground-breaking, due to the fact that the stone used for these tools was not local. This suggests that radical were capable to use boats astatine that time, and navigate the Mediterranean, 100,000 years ago.

“That changes our cognition of however radical really lived astatine that time, it’s an astonishing discovery!”

APKAS: a span connecting the diaspora to its heritage

Apkas originates arsenic the thought of radical of the diaspora. A idiosyncratic and heartfelt task that captured their emotion and respect for their practice and ancestors. However, it besides represents a bond, a nexus betwixt the Greeks of the diaspora and their heritage. Projects similar APKAS are some of technological and sentimental value, they shed airy to the past and link radical from the future.

Dr Lita explained:

“The Greeks successful the diaspora person a very special transportation to their heritage. I judge overmuch stronger than Greeks successful Greece, due to the fact that they want to beryllium portion of that connection, they don’t unrecorded successful Greece. Third and 4th procreation of Greeks came implicit to visit us and saw what we were doing and got excited due to the fact that it was related to their ancestors.”

Through lectures and books APKAS has been introduced and explained to the nationalist successful Australia, engaging older and younger generations, and frankincense highlighting the relation of archaeology successful connecting radical to their past and present.

As Dr Lita mentioned:

“For maine what is astir memorable is the relationships you marque with the radical you are working with and the radical you are working for. The radical who came from each implicit the world to work with us to larn astir Kythera’s history.”

Future steps

APKAS whitethorn person travel to an extremity but that doesn’t mean it has tally its course. The worldly discovered tin beryllium used arsenic a instauration for something new, a caller exploration to uncover much details astir the island’s past.

Dr Lita finished by saying:

“We person paved the way for caller researchers to travel and use our information arsenic inheritance and inquire caller questions. I anticipation that radical will beryllium inspired by the work we person done and instrumentality backmost and uncover more, due to the fact that there is much to reveal.”