[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review.]
This volume originated in a conference that took place from 7–9 November, 2014. The conference was convened to commemorate Anthony Snodgrass’s 80th birthday, in July of the same year. Snodgrass’s career, of course, needs little introduction. Two of his books, The Dark Age of Greece and Archaic Greece: The Age of Experiment, set the agenda for half a century of scholarship on the earlier first millennium in the Aegean. His work (with John Bintliff) as a landscape archaeologist in Boeotia has been equally influential on method and theory in Mediterranean pedestrian survey. Long before Classical archaeology developed into a self-aware field sensitive to its place in the broader scholarly landscape, Snodgrass provided regular, prescient, and informed comment on the shape and trajectory of the discipline. Participants in the conference and volume were drawn from a substantial pool of colleagues and former students: the table of contents reads as something of a “who’s who” of Classical archaeology, serving as impressive testimony of a prolific advisorial and professional career. Given the scope and scale of Snodgrass’s contributions and their impact, it would be difficult to identify a scholar more deserving of an honorary volume.
The only problem, James Whitley tells us in the introductory chapter, is that Festschriften—not overly lavished with good press in general—are held in rather low esteem by Snodgrass himself (pp. xi, 2). Therefore, Nevett and Whitley took on a seemingly impossible editorial task: to produce a volume that could both honor the great professor and avoid the normal shortcomings of the genre. To anticipate the conclusions of this review, they have succeeded admirably.
Following an introductory chapter by James Whitley that sketches the career and many major scholarly contributions of its honorand, the volume is divided into four parts. Papers in Part I cover Early Iron Age and Archaic material, Part II comprises papers that tackle structural revolutions, Part III concerns landscape and survey archaeology, and papers in Part IV focus on matters of historiography and reception. The fact that Snodgrass’s students and associates can write on such a diverse array of topics reinforces an appreciation of the breadth of his expertise and range of his contributions to the field (listed in pp. 250–254 and narrativized by Whitley on pp. 255–256).
The range of topics covered also furthers the stated aim of the volume—to demonstrate the transformation of the discipline of Classical archaeology since 1976, when Snodgrass was appointed Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at Cambridge University. The introductory chapter by Whitley provides important background and framing for the following chapters; I recommend that all readers begin with this introduction, even those who intend to delve into just one or two of the other papers. It is an engaging description of the recent history of the discipline, a topic that should be of interest to anyone working within it. It is also important, because it establishes the relationship of each paper to Snodgrass’ work, hence providing a rationale for the inclusion of each element in this particular venue. Finally, it is helpful because it makes very clear just how distinct this collection is from a volume that would have fallen within the definitional range of Classical archaeology in the 1970s. At that time—as Whitley reminds us—the field was widely known for being “curiously detached from the broader project of understanding human history” as well as “cliquey and introverted” (p. 2).
While Classical archaeologists may still be viewed in such terms by practitioners in other disciplines, the outdatedness of such an opinion is laid bare by the material in this book. Most papers definitely engage with the broader project of understanding human history thoroughly and in a variety of ways. In some cases, this engagement is manifest in the application of a broader spatial or theoretical framing that facilitates comparison between Greek and other human contexts. David Small’s contribution contextualizes the structural revolution Snodgrass identified in eighth century Greece within broader anthropological view, using tenets drawn from complexity theory and providing some comments on potential non-Mediterranean comparanda, e.g., among the Quiche Maya in the Yucatan peninsula. Ian Morris likewise endeavors to place the historical Greek structural revolution into global perspective, employing his signature style of big data analysis, forceful logic, and jaunty good humor. Whitley applies Gell’s notion of agency to evidence for divergence in the use and social function of decorated late Geometric and Archaic Greek pithoi and kylikes.
In other cases, engagement is facilitated by broadening analytically frames chronologically. Paul Halstead leverages anecdotal information obtained from interviews with modern Greek farmers and quantitative measures of dung produced by livestock to weigh in on the likely decisions that went into manuring choices in antiquity and the probable impact of manuring practices on patterns in surface deposits. Thomas Gallant likewise demonstrates the importance of attending to historical evidence in the context of diachronic landscape survey on Kefalonia and Andros, delving into rich recent Ottoman remains on these islands. Both Giovanna Ceserani and Jonathan Hall investigate matters of modern reception: Ceserani covers the treatment of Greek women in 18th century Europe and Hall the role of the Greek diaspora in shaping our modern imaginaries of ancient Greece. Jeremy Tanner’s paper widens the frame of view in both temporal and spatial dimensions, comparing the cultural phenomena of artistic imitations and revivals in Greco-Roman antiquity, Ming and Qing China, and Renaissance Europe. Some of the more stubborn ostriches among Classical archaeologists may still have heads lodged firmly in sand, but for the most part Snodgrass seems to have pushed his students and colleagues to look up and out.
If a time traveler dropped such a collection of papers into a room of Classical scholars in Cambridge fifty years ago, it is easy to imagine that feathers would be emphatically ruffled—or that the room would be empty within a few minutes, but for a faint whiff of pipe smoke and confusion. It is rather remarkable, from this point of view, that we now occupy a discipline within which the quantification of livestock manure production, large-scale global comparative history, and radiocarbon dating may sit comfortably in a collection alongside discussions about Homer and art, epigraphical interpretation, reception and diaspora, and agency theory. In this sense, Classical archaeology has inarguably undergone a major transformation—perhaps even a full structural revolution—since the 1970s, and the volume amply shows it.
Individually, the papers are of high quality. Most withstand scrutiny as freestanding scholarly contributions outside of their context in this edited volume, to the extent that my limited expertise allows me to evaluate the quality of research. In part, this is to be expected, because Snodgrass’s students have so often risen to the top of the field. It is also another testament to strong work by the editors: it was probably made obvious to authors that small-potatoes Festschrift papers about, e.g., “largely forgotten bronze horse-bits in a provincial museum” were not suitable as contributions in this context (Whitley, Introduction, p. 2). The degree of interest afforded each paper will depend on readers’ backgrounds and research areas; here I highlight those I found especially insightful or enjoyable to read. Sara Owen’s paper starts with a question that at first seems mainly aimed towards a narrow audience—what was the colonial relationship between Thasos and Paros in the Archaic period?—but unfolds, via a careful analysis of epigraphic contexts, into a thoughtful discussion about the way our reconstruction of such a relationship is inevitably transformed by both ancient and modern interventions and distortions. Sturt Manning’s paper discusses a pair of Bronze Age absolute chronological conundra: the timing of the rise and fall of the Hyksos in Egypt and the relationship between climatic indicators and the Bronze Age collapse. Both discussions provide superbly clear overviews of complex yet important scientific problems and demonstrate how absolute chronology can—indeed must—impact interpretation. They also show a major challenge that remains in the discipline: convincing colleagues to integrate new data into established old models even when this will have unsettling ramifications for issues long thought to be settled. Halstead’s analysis of manuring is characteristically incisive and ingenious. Its conclusions should provide a source of optimism for survey archaeologists in confirming that analysis of off-site scatters, when combined with other lines of inquiry, can potentially shed valuable light on regional and temporal variation in agricultural strategies. Michael Given’s paper on the “glorious” copper slags of Cyprus (p. 161) shows what archaeologists stand to gain by attending analytically to material that is not aesthetically appealing or high ranking in modern schemes of value.
This selection reflects more my own particular interests than the relative quality of these papers compared to the others. In a few cases, the long-term freestanding value of individual chapters is limited by the fact that they represent preliminary or partial discussions of fieldwork or book projects, the publication of which has or will supersede the comments in this volume (e.g., contributions by Small, Morris, Nevett, and Gallant). But even these are useful to read for a sense of the intellectual status of these projects as of 2014 or to check in on fieldwork results that will not be published in full for quite some time. Overall, while some papers will appeal more than others based on the specialty of the reader, the quality of discourse and presentation of ideas is high throughout.
For another reason entirely, the collection under review is a rather special gem of a publication. Sprinkled throughout the papers are anecdotal accounts or impressions of the authors’ experiences with Snodgrass as students or junior scholars, which sound like they were genuinely delightful. Most Classical archaeologists initially pursue the field because they find the subject matter to be a source of humanistic joy and wonder, as well as rich fodder for intellectual fascination. Alas, such sentiments are only rarely glimpsed in scholarly publications. Often they are stamped out by the brutal grinding turns of graduate school, the job market, temporary positions, and the publication mill. Even if some remain after all that, it is necessary to adopt a serious scholarly voice in most professional contexts. But apparent in the margins and interstices of this volume are many moments of collegial fellowship, true inspiration, generous engagement, and real levity that seem to have characterized life as a Snodgrass advisee or colleague. Reading about such moments might go some way towards warming even the iciest cockles of a time-worn academic heart. It also serves as a helpful reminder that, at least at some level, being a scholar in this field is supposed to be fun. I came away from reading the volume feeling an unusual combination of personal warmth and intellectual enrichment, along with a conviction that we should all strive to be more Snodgrassian in our collegial interactions, even if we cannot achieve such rarified heights of scholarship.
Thus, on many counts, this volume provides a tribute to a true giant of the field of Classical archaeology that is both suitably wonderful and wonderfully suitable. It is very well produced; I found only one or two minor typographical errors, and these are of no consequence. The illustrations are ample, in color where necessary, and well chosen. Perhaps most exceptionally, the book is a pleasure to read. In my view, it provides a model of what an honorary volume should and can do, worthy of scrutiny for anyone planning such a project in the future. For this reason I think it deserves a wider readership than the already large swath of scholars of Greek archaeology that will find substantive contributions of interest amongst its individual offerings.
Authors and titles
1: Introduction: Anthony Snodgrass and the Transformation of Classical Archaeology, by James Whitley
2: An Explosion, Not Revolution: Recasting Issues in the Greek Iron Age, by David B. Small
3: Gifts for the Gods in an Early Polis, Zagora on Andros, by Alexandra Coucouzeli
4: The Krater and the Pithos: Two Kinds of Agency, by James Whitley
5: Homeric Imagery, by Robin Osborne
6: Parian Memory and the Greek ‘Colonization’ of Thasos, by Sara Owen
7: Location, Location, Location: Site and Status in Sicilian Cemeteries, by Gillian Shepherd
8: Structural Revolution: Archaeology, the Rise of the Greek State, and the Shape of the Greek World, by Ian Morris
9: Events, Episodes, and History: Chronology and the Resolution of Historical Processes, by Sturt W. Manning
10: Structural History and Classical Archaeology: 25 Years On, by Lisa Nevett
11: The Sh** That You Find on the Surface: Manuring and Field Survey in the Mediterranean Countryside, by Paul Halstead
12: The Materiality, Monumentality, and Biography of Copper Slag on Cyprus, by Michael Given
13: Social History and Historical Archaeology in Greece. The Kefalonia and Andros Project, 2010–2014, by Thomas W. Gallant
14: Revixit Ars: Artistic ‘Rebirth’ in Greco-Roman Antiquity and Early Modern China and Europe, by Jeremy Tanner
15: Ancient Greek Women in Eighteenth-century Europe: A Preliminary Survey, by Giovanna Ceserani
16: Hellenic Homelands: The Greek Diaspora, Ancient and Modern, by Jonathan M. Hall
17: Convergers, Divergers and the Changing Contrarieties of Classical Archaeology, by Susan E. Alcock