A Path to Resources in Classical Archaeology
Lucie Stylianopoulos (lsw4n@virginia.edu)
Classical Archaeology at the University of Virginia includes the archaeology of Greece, Rome, and Early Byzantium from the Bronze Age through Late Antiquity. The study of Archaeology falls into many disciplines of the humanities, thus the resources given are only a sampling.
Databases
These subscription databases are only available to the University of Virginia academic community. They can all be found listed, with a direct link already provided, on the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library web page under Online Resources – Art (http://www.lib.virginia.edu/fine-arts/online_res/artdatab.html).
An index for periodicals and books on classical and medieval art, archaeology, and humanities, the database is compiled at the German Archaeological Institute in Rome. Coverage began in 1956 with annual updates. The database for citations is called the Realkatalog DAI Rom and contains thousands of entries. A particularly valuable feature of DYABOLA is the listing of table of contents for conference proceedings and festschriften. A guide to using DYABOLA is available (www.lib.virginia.edu/fine-arts/guides/dyabolaweb.html).
(BCIN) Conservation Information Network
First released in 1987, BCIN is an index of articles from concerning conservation and the restoration of cultural property. BCIN contains over 190,000 bibliographic records on conservation, including the Art and Archaeology Technical Abstracts, technical reports, conference proceedings, journal articles, books and audiovisual and unpublished materials. A strong point of BCIN is that it covers articles from many European excavation reports, as well as private publications that are usually difficult to retrieve.
The Index (often known as the Princeton Index) records works of art in 17 different media types, without geographical limitations, produced from “apostolic” times to 1400 A. D. The original photographic archive was organized into a collection of more than 200,000 photographs with textual data and a subject file providing a thematic index to the photographs. The online version indexes over 26,000 subjects in Christian Art and includes bibliography for each work of art. Much of the textual material has been put online, however, there are few images available at present.
Art Index indexes and abstracts articles from 400 selected periodicals published worldwide in English and European languages from 1929 to the present with some full-text coverage. In addition to articles, Art Index indexes single reproductions of works of art that appear in the periodicals. Subjects cover art, architecture and decorative arts in all periods of art.
The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals indexes more than 2,000 periodicals published worldwide and in all periods on architecture, archaeology, city planning, and historic preservation. Coverage is from the 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present.
(BHA) Bibliography of the History of Art
Covering European art from late antiquity (ca. 300 A. D.), the Bibliography of the History of Art indexes and abstracts art-related books, conference proceedings and dissertations, exhibition and dealer's catalogs, and articles from more than 2,500 periodicals published since 1973.
This is the online database of L'Annee philologique, the premier index for classics scholarship, and is updated with each new volume published.
Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina
This database includes complete texts, minus the prefaces and critical apparatus, of the Latin works in the Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana which are Latin works from the Roman Republic, the Imperial period, and Late Antiquity.
Web Resources
Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World
(http://www.egiklopedia.gr/index_en.html)
An original electronic project dealing with the collection, recording, documentation, presentation and promotion of the historic data regarding the presence of Hellenism all over the world, throughout the centuries. The first part deals with the Hellenic presence in Asia Minor.
Perseus Digital Library
The mother of all classical sites, this collection contains extensive and diverse resources including primary and secondary texts, site plans, digital images, and maps. The site has several individual databases, including a vase catalogue, a site index, and a database of texts and translations, both Greek and Latin. The databases document a wide range of objects: over 1,500 vases, over 1,800 sculptures and sculptural groups, over 1,200 coins, over 100 gems, and thousands of buildings from nearly 100 sites.
The Beazley Archive
The Archive consists of photographs, notes, drawings, books and impressions from engraved gems and photographs of Athenian vases, the largest archive of this class in the world. The entries are taken from the notes made by Sir John Beazley and compiled into an archive originally held at the Ashmolean in Oxford. The online site contains several databases comprising nearly 70,000 records and 30,000 images. The images include many of Beazley’s original drawings. The Pottery Database of the Archive contains information on 67,659Athenian figure-decorated vases of the 7th-4th centuries BC and includes 17,871 images.
TOCS-IN (Tables of Contents of Journals of Interest to Classicists)
(http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/amphoras/tocs.html)
TOCS-IN provides the tables of contents of a selection of Classics, Near Eastern Studies, and Religion journals. The project began to archive current tables of contents in 1992, and now contains ca 160 journals, and over 23,000 articles. The journals are chosen by academics at the University of Toronto. Look here for current bibliography.
Diotima (Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World)
(http://www.stoa.org/diotima/)
The database serves as an interdisciplinary resource for anyone interested in gender issues in the ancient Mediterranean. The site provides course materials, bibliographies, and links to online articles, book reviews, databases, and images. The site is part of the peer-reviewed Stoa Consortium.
Classics Collections (Limited Area Search of the Ancient and Medieval Internet)
(http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/cm/classics/)
Classics Collections uses a limited area search engine to find sites on classical studies. Sites included provide access to classics texts, as well as materials in the fields that support classics including archaeology. Classics Collections is maintained by Blake Landor, librarian at the University of Florida.
Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library - Archaeology Resources
(www.lib.virginia.edu/fine-arts/online_res/artancient.html)
The library has compiled a short list of sites for Ancient and Medieval Art and Archaeology and provided links to important meta sites for further exploration, including links to electronic journals in Ancient Art.
UVA Library Classics Page (www.lib.virginia.edu/subjects/classics/)
This page maintained by George Crafts, the Classics librarian is updated frequently to include new online resources for textual and cultural resources useful to classicists.
Reference Resources
The Oxford Classical Dictionary (FA REF DE5 .O9 1996)
Now in its third edition, the Oxford Dictionary is indispensable as a starting place for any subject in classical culture. These scholarly entries are brief, but packed with authoritative information and a summary bibliography to lead the scholar forward into a new topic. The third edition includes 6, 250 contributions by 364 scholars and notably includes essays on more diverse topics, such as gender and the history of women.
The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (FA REF DE5 .O92 1998)
This is a general encyclopedia about Greek and Roman civilization written by some of the world’s leading classical scholars. The material in this one-volume work includes many of the same subjects as The Oxford Classical Dictionary, but it is written in a more readable essay format.
The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (FA REF DF521 .O97 1991)
This authoritative three-volume set was written under the auspices of Dumbarton Oaks and includes articles written by distinguished Byzantinists. The work is a selective dictionary in the Oxford tradition and is limited to 5,000 signed entries, each accompanied by a short bibliography, on various subjects in Byzantine history, art, culture, and religion from the 4th to the 15th century A. D. A useful feature of the dictionary is the list of the standard bibliographic abbreviations used in Byzantine scholarship.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites (FA REF DF59 .P7) and (www.perseus.tufts.edu)
This is a one-volume resource covering Classical Greek and Roman sites known by 1976. The information has now been included as a searchable database on the Perseus site. The encyclopedia is particularly valuable for locating information on lost sites and the history of ancient cities.
Reallexikon fur Antike und Christentum (FA REF BR95 .R4 1950)
The Reallexikon is a multi-volume German-language set whose publication is up to volume nineteen (Itinerarium – Kannibalismus) which was published in 2001. The entries are long scholarly articles replete with extensive bibliography, and they cover all facets of Antiquity through the Christian period. For example, all known works of an ancient author are given along with his biography and textual variations. Excavation sites also include plans. The extensive historical lists for biographical entries or of iconography motifs are most helpful.
Der Neue Pauly: Enzyklopadie der Antike (FA REF DE5 .N48 1996)
The new Pauly is the child publication of the venerable Pauly-Wissowa Real-Encyklopadie der Antike whose many volumes, though dated, still grace the shelves of humanities libraries. The publication has only reached volume fifteen (La-Ot), so the older version must be used for the latter part of the alphabet. Articles in Pauly are thorough and signed by leading scholars. They include aspects of themes, variant terms, illustrations of art and iconography, and extensive authoritative bibliographies.
LIMC Lexicon Iconongraphicum Mythologiae Classicae (FA REF N7760.L49 1981)
LIMC is a multi-volume dictionary of the Iconography of Classical Mythology (A-Z). The entries are not written in Latin, thankfully, but in the language of the author. They are detailed scholarly articles often including variations on a theme. For example, under the over-arching entry for Dionysos: one finds Bacchus, Dionysos (in Peripheria orientalis), Dionysos/Fuflens, etc. Each volume has 2 parts with text and images The Appendix entries can extend into the next volume, making a search frustrating. Perseverance with LIMC will reward the scholar with an extensive list of iconography examples and often provide images with which to make comparison of motifs.
Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens (FA REF NA280 .T68 1971)
Originally published in 1971 by the Deutsches Archaiologisches Institut in Athens, Travlos is still used as a primary reference book for plans of ancient Athens and photographs of its monuments. It must now, however, be supplemented by The City Beneath the City, the catalogue of the new Metro excavation finds, as well as the most current guide to the Athenian Agora.
Nash, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome (FA REF NA310 .N28 1968)
A companion work in content to Travlos, Nash contains hundreds of photographs of buildings from ancient Rome. A word of caution: the entries are arranged alphabetically by the Latin term for the building.
Lexikon Topigraphicum Urbis Romae, 5 vols. (FA REF DG63 .L49 1993)
This five volume set published in 1993 updates the work of Nash in providing a history of the Roman buildings of the city of Rome. It includes more extensive signed entries with bibliographies, plans, and illustrations. Entries are in the language of the author.
Other Treasures
CVA Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum (FA JOURNALS NK4640.C6)
The Corpus is a continuing publication effort that began in 1930 to photograph and document the Attic figure-decorated pottery found in collections, public and private, throughout the world. There are currently 292 fascicules from many countries in the series.
Carpenter, A Summary Guide to Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum (FA REF NK4640 .C6Z9 2000)
Though not part of the CVA series, Tom Carpenter’s guide is helpful in that it arranges the fascicules alphabetically by country.
Pompei : pitture e mosaici (FA OVERSIZE ND2575 .P75 1990)
This is a ten-volume monumental work recording all the paintings and decoration found in the buildings of Pompeii over the centuries of its excavation history. The volumes are organized by “Regia”, the subdivisions within the street grid of the ancient city. The entries for each building (insula) are signed scholarly articles with excellent photographs and a short bibliography. The text is in Italian.
Excavation Reports
The student of Classical Archaeology should become familiar with the standard publications of the archaeological ministries and societies of the country in which he/she works. These reports will provide the most up-to-date information on recent finds. A few of the most important journals are:
American Journal of Archaeology (AJA) (FA-JOURNALS CC1.A6)
Annual of the British School of Athens (FA-JOURNALS DF11.B6)
Archaiologike Hetaireia Praktika (FA-JOURNALS DF11.H3)
Archaiologikon Deltion (FA-JOURNALS DF10.A75)
Archaeologia Classica (FA-JOURNALS DG11.A7)
British School at Athens. Archaeological Reports (ALD-STKS DF10.A6) Occasionally contains archaeological reports from other regions, such as Turkey, Albania, etc.
Bulletin de correspondance hellenique (ALD-STKS DF10.B9)
E-Journals
Archaeology is one field that has taken advantage of the electronic journal. A sampling can be found below; for a broader range try the search engines for classical archaeology.
American Journal of Archaeology (http://www.ajaonline.org)
Bryn Mawr Classical Review (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/)
Didaskalia (http://didaskalia.net)
Electronic Antiquity (scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ElAnt/)
Histos (http://www.dur.ac.uk/Classics/histos/)
E-Images and Sites
A plethora of images of classical archaeology can be found on the hundreds of sites devoted to the subject. Use the Perseus Library for the best images of objects in all media as well as for archaeological sites. Use Beazley Archive for any in-depth study of pottery, but there are copyright restrictions. Google Image Search is effective for locating views of an excavation, as are the Ministry of Culture web sites in most Mediterranean countries like Greece and Turkey.
Athenian Agora (www.attalos.com)
Byzantine Resources (www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/ivison/)
Foundation of the Hellenic World (www.fhw.gr/)
Hellenic Ministry of Culture (www.culture.gr/)
Pompeii Forum Project (www.iath.virginia.edu/pompeii/page-1.html)
Contact the Librarian: Lucie Stylianopoulos | 924.6604 | lws4n@virginia.edu
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