ΑΡΧΑΙΟΣ ΝΕΩΣ. New studies on the archaic architecture at the Acropolis of Athens

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Torsten Mattern
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426704324

The architectural history of the archaic and early classical temples on Athens’ Acropolis, above all concerning the Dörpfeld-Foundation and its possible phases, belong to the most controversial and at the same time most important questions in Classical Archaeology. The foundation’s connection with the H-Architecture and the Older Temple of Athena, the Ur- and Vorparthenon, as well as the epigraphic and literary tradition concerning the Archaios Neos and the Hekatompedon, has not yet been finally resolved. The most important archaeological sources are the Dörpfeld-Foundation, the remains of the so-called H-Architecture that were found south of the Parthenon, the architectural parts in the north and the south wall of the Athenian Acropolis, the remains of marble and clay roofs, the sculptures, scattered remains of archaic buildings and the various unpublished excavations and architectural surveys on the Acropolis, conducted by I. Beyer between 1975 and 1985. From 1992 until 2006, K. Kissas was in charge of the project ‘membra disiecta’ on the Acropolis. The aim of the project work was to view the architectural components, to document them and to assign them to buildings. Thus, by the end of 2006, a total of 20,620 fragments had been recorded. They include also building elements of archaic architecture. The objective of the proposed project is the revision of the archaic temple architecture on the Athenian Acropolis based on the preparatory work of I. Beyer and K. Kissas and a new analysis of the historical sources on the archaic Acropolis.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Immo Beyer; Professor Dr. Hans-Joachim Gehrke; Dr. Florian Ruppenstein