Titbits and News from the Mare Nostrum

Broadening Horizons: New Approaches in East Mediterranean & Black Sea Archaeology

A look at the 'East Mediterranean, Aegean, Black Sea: New Approaches' Colloquium at the Acropolis Museum, exploring innovative techniques like LIDAR, big data, and geoarchaeology.

By Nick Nutter on 2025-11-17 | Last Updated 2025-11-17 | Titbits and News from the Mare Nostrum

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Acropolis Museum Friday evening

Broadening Horizons

Sitting in an auditorium for twelve hours on a Friday evening followed by a full Saturday and Sunday morning, listening to a group of archaeologists expounding on their latest findings may not be everybody’s idea of a great weekend. But, read on.

On Friday 7th November 2025, Professor Dr. Nikolaos Chr. Stampolidis, the General Director of the Acropolis Museum, opened the International Colloquium, “East Mediterranean, Aegean, Black Sea: New Approaches” at the splendid auditorium at the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Notable academics from all over the Eastern Mediterranean and Europe presented papers highlighting their latest research and findings relating to the expansion of the Greek colonies in the Aegean, Black Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean. So far, so normal. What made this conference different was that the Greek expansion was only the backdrop against which new ways of acquiring and presenting data were explored.

‘New Approaches’ included the use of LIDAR, big data, petrographic analysis, ground penetrating radar and geoarchaeology. The presenters looked at ways of connecting the data in innovative ways to conceptualise historical events, thereby opening up exciting new avenues of research and, potentially, new conclusions.

The Importance and Aims of Colloquium

Archaeology has come a long way since the first antiquarians began digging up fossils and ancient artefacts. Today the archaeological field has dozens of specialised subfields, all of which demand particular knowledge gained over, in some cases, a lifetime of intensive work and study, leaving little time for an appreciation of developments in related subfields.

Colloquium are occasions when specialists in their individual subfields can be brought together to share their methods and knowledge to other academics in related but different subfields and, perhaps more importantly, to that portion of the general public with an interest in, in this case, the spread of Greek colonies between the 8th and 6th centuries BC.

Did the Athens Colloquium achieve its aim?

A resounding yes. Professor Stampolidis and his team assembled a distinguished and informed array of fourteen speakers. As a member of the public with a great interest in the subject of the colloquium, rather than an academic working in a specialised field, I found the talks engrossing. The cross-purpose nature of the methods used to reach an opinion or conclusion sparked not a few ideas of my own that will no doubt manifest themselves in future articles.