Lecture by Mary E. Voyatzis, University of Arizona

The famed Pan-Arcadian sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion (Peloponnese) was first excavated at the turn of the 20th century by the Greek Archaeological Society. K. Kourouniotis uncovered the ash altar of Zeus on the southern peak, and the sacred precinct 25 m below. In the lower part of the sanctuary he found various administrative and athletic facilities, such as a hippodrome, stadium, stoa, fountain, and bathhouse. Since 2004 the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, in collaboration with the Arcadian Ephorate of Antiquities in Tripolis, has been conducting an excavation and survey project at Mt. Lykaion, under the direction of Dr. Anna Karapanagiotou, Director of the Arcadian Ephorate, and Drs. David G. Romano and Mary Voyatzis of the University of Arizona. The results of this new campaign reveal that the site had very early phases of activity, with evidence from the ash altar going back to the Neolithic period. In fact, all the material points to a long history of use, with consistent ritual activity at the altar from the Mycenaean through the Hellenistic periods. An overview of the results to date from the Mt. Lykaion excavations will be presented in this talk, as well as a brief look at other prehistoric sites in the vicinity.