British School at Athens

The BSA maintains one of the foremost Classical/archaeological libraries in Europe.

The British School at Athens (BSA) (Greek: Βρετανική Σχολή Αθηνών) is one of the 17 Foreign Archaeological Institutes in Athens, Greece.

General information

The School was founded in 1886 as the fourth such institution in Greece. For most of its existence, it focused on supporting, directing and facilitating British-based research in Classical Studies and Archaeology, but in recent years, it has broadened that focus to all areas of Greek Studies. For example, it has made notable contributions in the fields of epigraphy and modern Greek history.

The BSA's activities include a regular programme of lectures and seminars, a series of scholarships and bursaries, Athens-based courses for undergraduates, postgraduates and teachers, as well as archaeological fieldwork.

Facilities

Its facilities include one of the most important Classical and archaeological libraries in Greece (over 60,000 volumes), and the Fitch laboratory, the oldest archaeometric laboratory in Greece. The BSA also operates a branch at Knossos in Crete, including one of the island's main archaeological libraries.

Archaeological fieldwork

The Heraion of Perachora, excavated by the British School at Athens during the 1930s.

During its long history, the BSA has been involved in a multitude of archaeological projects, including surveys in Laconia, Boeotia, Methana (Argolid), and in the islands of Ithaca (Ionian islands), Kea, Melos, Kythera (Cyclades), Chios (North Aegean) and Crete (Ayiopharango Survey, Ayios Vasilios Survey, Knossos Survey, Praisos Survey) and excavations at Nea Nikomedeia, Sitagroi, Servia and Assiros (Greek Macedonia), Lefkandi (Euboia), Emborio and Kato Phana (Chios), Perachora (Corinthia), Mycenae (Argolid), Sparta (Laconia), Phylakopi (Melos), Keros (Cyclades), as well as in Crete at Knossos, Karphi, Praisos, Debla, Trapeza Cave, Atsipades Korakias, Psychro, Myrtos, Petsofas and Palaikastro.

History of the BSA

Agnes Conway, was admitted to the British School at Athens under Director Alan John Bayard Wace for the 1913-1914 session, along with her friend Evelyn Radford with whom she had attended Newnham College, Cambridge. The trip they took to the Balkans during the session was published in 1917 as A Ride Through the Balkans: On Classic Ground with a Camera. Agnes Conway married architect-archaeologist George Horsfield in 1932.

Directors of the BSA

2

† Died in office

See also

• British School at Rome

Bibliography

• Helen Waterhouse, The British School at Athens: the First Hundred Years. London: British School at Athens, 1986.
• Helen Waterhouse and others, Ανασκαφές: A Celebration of the British School at Athens 1886–1986. London: Camberwell Press, n.d. (c.1988).
• Eleni Calligas and James Whitley, On Site: British Archaeologists in Greece. Athens: Motibo, 2005.
• Elena Korka (ed.), Foreign Archaeological Schools in Greece: 160 Years. Athens, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, 2005 (in Greek and English). pp. 52–63.

Further reading

• Gill, D. W. J. 2011. Sifting the Soil of Greece: The Early Years of the British School at Athens (1886-1919). London: Institute of Classical Studies, University of London.

External links

• British School official website
• History of the Institute (Michael Boyd)
• Ambrosia - The BSA/ASCSA libraries' Union catalogue
• Bibliography from WorldCat