The introductory section of the exhibition and the eastern entrance of the venue
SIPHNOS LANDSCAPE
Tracing the landscape
of ancient Siphnos
Timeline of archaeological research in Siphnos:
Mycenaean acropoleis and towers
Mycenaean acropoleis and towers
The first systematic archaeological investigations in Siphnos are due to the pioneering archaeologist Christos Tsountas, who visited the island in 1898. He located the Mycenaean acropolis (12th and first half of 11th century BC) at the site tis Baronas to Froudi and carried out some limited excavation research at Ayios Andreas focusing on the strong double fortification wall.
Almost seventy years later, the Siphnian archaeologist Varvara Filippaki from Siphnos began the first systematic excavation of the acropolis of Ayios Andreas under the auspices of the Archaeological Society at Athens. From 1997 to the present day, the investigations have continued under the direction of Dr. Christina Televantou, revealing the strong Mycenaean wall in its entire extent, as well as the dense urban planning of the historical times (mid-8th to 2nd century B.C.). The works implemented in the period 2002-2008 offered Siphnos the first organized and visitable archaeological site.
The numerous ancient towers of Siphnos and their surroundings attracted the interest of scholars from very early on. The first systematic attempt to compile a catalogue of the towers was made by the Siphnian Iakovos Dragatsis, who in the period 1915-1924 located 38 towers and excavated four of them. His studies were supplemented shortly afterwards with the publication of the map of Siphnos by the Siphnian Antonios Gryparis, where 28 of the towers mentioned by Dragatsis are marked. In 1938 American archaeologist John Young studied three more unknown towers and between 1981 and 1989 the Australian archaeologist Norman Ashton located 17 more, resulting in a catalogue of 55 towers in total.
The Ephorate of Antiquities of Cyclades proceeded in 2002 with the geospatial localization of the towers, which resulted in the gradual identification of 23 more, completely unknown, in addition to the 55 already known towers. Hence, the total number of towers on Siphnos today amounts to 78 –a unique case in Greece in relation to the surface area of the island.
