• January 8, 2026 | 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM
• Golden Gate 7, Lobby Level

1G: Local Lakonia: Space and place beyond Sparta (Colloquium)

Organizers:
Shannon Dunn, AJA, Bryn Mawr College, and Luke Madson, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Overview Statement:
Famously leaving less monumental architecture than her frequent rival Athens, Sparta has been a challenge to understand archaeologically. In recent years, great strides have been made in covering the communities and landscapes beyond Sparta, throughout the greater territory of Laconia, through both regional surveys and excavations of towns and sanctuaries. A number of projects working across the region are currently illuminating areas that were previously understudied, shedding essential light on local histories, lived experience, and differing perspectives beyond the hegemony of Sparta.

This panel brings together six papers that apply regional approaches to local identity in Laconia. They will be organized as a geographic tour, from the southern extremity of Cape Tainaron to the northeastern borderlands. Paper 1 brings us to the southernmost point of mainland Greece to the sanctuary of Poseidon at Tainaron, where the author presents the history of this remote site as a place of refuge and the evidence for its autonomy from Sparta. Moving around the Laconian Gulf, paper 2 examines religious change in the harbor town of Gytheio, and how this coastal community may have affected the rest of Laconian religious life, as seen through epigraphic evidence. Paper 3 continues the religious theme with a look at a specific votive type found at the sanctuary of Apollo Hypertealeatas in the Malean Peninsula—incribed bronze bands dedicated by cult personnel—and considers what these votives can tell us about individuals, festival culture, and Laconian cult practices more broadly. Moving north, paper 4 presents the results of fieldwork at Geronthrai, a prominent and well-connected community with a strategic location along major routes, and traces its evolving identity from wealthy perioecic town to a free polis in its own right. Paper 5 follows one of the routes from Geronthrai into the Parnon Mountains, presenting the new study of a fortified site that the authors argue was a permanent settlement, part of a road network in the mountains. Paper 6 concludes the panel with a diachronic look at the sanctuaries, toponyms, and myths associated with a border zone at the northern end of these mountains, and how the ancient sites and stories affect the lived landscape of modern towns.

A local focus in historical studies has continued to facilitate nuanced understandings of politics, people, and landscapes. We seek to bring together scholars who address specific case studies on the intraregional dynamics of Laconia, and consider the evolving stories of epichoric communities.