The Archaeological Society and the development of epigraphy in nineteenth-century Greece

This paper explores the role played by the Archaeological Society at Athens under the influential leadership of the epigrapher Stephanos Koumanoudis (1818-1899) in the discovery, preservation, and publication of inscriptions in nineteenth-century Greece, and in the emergence of epigraphy as a scientific discipline in a scholarly context focused on sensational archaeological finds. The region of Boiotia provides illuminating case-studies, notably with the emblematic site of Tanagra, whose systematic looting in the 1870s sparked intense debates over the preservation of Greek antiquities and highlighted the need for new archaeological legislation. (Author abstract)