Greeks vs. Macedonians: Soldiers' deaths on both sides of the Battle of Chaironeia, 338 BCE
In 338 BCE Philip of Macedon and his teen-aged son Alexander defeated the allied Greek forces led by the Athenians and Thebans. Recent rediscovery of records from the 19th century excavations site resulted in a new multinational project to analyze the battle from multiple perspectives, examining previously unstudied materials. This lecture presents the results of these new analyses, focusing primarily on the skeletons of Theban soldiers from the Lion Monument mass grave at Chaironeia and the cremated remains of the Macedonians buried under a mound on the battlefield. It is the only battle from Greek antiquity in which the remains of the opposing forces have been studied, providing a unique perspective on different fighting techniques and injuries.
Reception to follow in PAS Lounge (PAS 3005)
About the speaker: Dr. Maria Liston
Maria Liston received her BA in Classics from King College in Bristol, Tennessee, her MA in Classics from Indiana University and a BA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee. She is the co- author of The Agora Bone Well (2018, American School of Classical Studies at Athens/ Princeton University Press) and co-author of the two-volume The Early Iron Age Cemeteries at Vronda (2023, Institute of Aegean Prehistory Academic Press). She has held visiting professor positions at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and holds an appointment as an Honorary Research Associate at the Malcolm H.Wiener Laboratory of Archaeological Sciences at the American School in Athens. She has served as a Distinguished National Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America for many years. She has participated in excavations at the Athenian Agora, ancient Corinth, Eretria and the Sanctuary of Artemis on Evvia, and Kavousi, Crete. Her research on the Battle of Chaironeia was recently featured in a museum exhibit and a television documentary.