R. Angus K. Smith

Professor, Greek Archaeology

BA (Dartmouth), MPhil (Cambridge), MA, PhD (Bryn Mawr)

Phone: 905 688 5550 x3798
Fax: 905 984 4589
Emailrsmith@brocku.ca

Fall 2023 Teaching

CLAS 1P91: Discovering Ancient Greece,
CLAS 2P32: Introduction to Archaeology

Winter 2024 Teaching

CLAS 2P34: Cities and Sanctuaries of the Ancient World,
CLAS 4P20: Archaeology of Technology

As a specialist in the archaeology, art, and culture of Bronze Age Greece, my research focuses on achieving a better understanding of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations of the Aegean. I am particularly interested in pottery analysis, mortuary archaeology, and issues of identity in the Bronze Age Aegean. I have conducted archaeological fieldwork in the Mediterranean as far west as Spain and as far east as Israel, but my focus is on Greece, where I am currently an associate director of excavations at the Minoan town of Gournia on Crete. I also co-directed the excavations of the Mycenaean cemetery of Ayia Sotira near Ancient Nemea, and worked for many years at the Minoan site of Mochlos on Crete. I currently serve as the President of the Canadian Institute in Greece as well as the Niagara Peninsula Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.

2022. Smith, R.A.K. “Foundation Feasts in the Minoan Palace at Gournia, Crete.” In J.M.A. Murphy and J.E. Morrison, eds. Kleronomia: Legacy and Inheritance. Studies on the Aegean Bronze Age in Honor of Jeffrey S. Soles (INSTAP Academic Press), pp. 137-147.

2020. Smith, R.A.K. with M.K. Dabney and J.C. Wright. “The Mycenaean Cemetery at Ayia Sotira, Nemea,” in J.M.A. Murphy (ed.) Death in Late Bronze Age Greece: Variations on a Theme (Oxford University Press), pp. 90-108.

2020. Smith, R.A.K. “The Power of the Dead: The Late Minoan III Cemeteries of Mochlos and Myrsini,” in J.M.A. Murphy (ed.) Death in Late Bronze Age Greece: Variations on a Theme (Oxford University Press), pp. 283-301

2019. Smith, R.A.K. “Death on the Isthmus: Late Minoan III Tombs of the Mirabello Bay and Ierapetra Areas,” in K. Chalikias and E. Oddo (eds.) Exploring a Terra Incognita on Crete: Recent Research on Bronze Age Habitation in the Southern Ierapetra Isthmus. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press, pp. 111-129.

2017. Smith, R.A.K., M.K. Dabney, E. Pappi, S. Triantaphyllou, and J.C. Wright. Ayia Sotira: A Mycenaean Chamber Tomb Cemetery in the Nemea Valley, Greece. Philadelphia: INSTAP Academic Press.

2015. With Watrous, L.V. et al. “Excavations at Gournia: 2010-2012,” Hesperia, the Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 84.3, pp. 397-465.

2014. With M.K. Dabney, G. Kotzamani, A. Livarda, G. Tsartsidou, and J.D. Wright “Plant Use in Mycenaean Mortuary Practice,” in G. Touchais, R. Laffineur, and F. Rougemont (eds.) PHYSIS: L’environnement naturel et la relation homme-milieu dans le monde égéen protohistorique. 14e Rencontre Égéenne Internationale. Aegaeum 37 (Peeters: Leuven – Liege), pp. 265-270.

2014. With M.K. Dabney “The Life of a Tomb: Investigating the Use, Reuse and Reconstruction of Mycenaean Chamber Tombs at Ayia Sotira (Nemea),” Meditations on the Diversity of the Built Environment in the Aegean Basin: A Colloquium in Memory of Frederick E. Winter, Publications of the Canadian Institute in Greece, No. 8. (Athens: Canadian Institute in Greece), pp. 145-160.

2014. With E. Pappi, M. Dabney, S. Triantaphyllou, and J. Wright, “Ayia Sotira Cemetery Excavations, Ancient Nemea: 2006-2008,” in Corinthia and the Northeast Peloponnesus: Topography and History from Prehistoric Times until the End of Antiquity, Proceedings of a Conference Held on March 26-29, 2009 in Loutraki, Greece (Athens: Deutsches Archäologisches Intitut), pp. 363-370.

2012. With P. Karkanas, M.K. Dabney, and J.C. Wright.  “The geoarchaeology of Mycenaean chamber tombs,” Journal of Archaeological Science 39, pp. 2722-2732.

2012. With M. Dabney, “Children and Adornment in Mycenaean Funerary Ritual at Ayia Sotira, Nemea,” in M.-L. Nosch and R. Laffineur (eds.) KOSMOS: 13th International Aegean Conference, held at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-23 April 2010, pp. 441-446.

2011. With Jeffrey S. Soles et al. Mochlos IIC. Period IV. The Mycenaean Settlement and Cemetery: The Human Remains and Other Finds (INSTAP Academic Press).

2011. With W. Gauss, M. Lindblom and J.C. Wright (eds.) Our Cups are Full: Pottery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age (Oxford, U.K.: Archaeopress).

2010. Mochlos IIB: The Late Minoan III Settlement and Cemetery. The Pottery. INSTAP Academic Press.

2023. “The Life and Death of a Tomb: The Excavation of the Mycenaean Cemetery at Ayia Sotira in the Nemea Valley, Greece.” Paper presented to the Stanford Society of the Archaeological Institute of America. Invited.

2022. “The Neopalatial Pottery of Gournia: New Evidence from the Gournia Excavation Project. Paper presented the Institute of Aegean Prehistory Study Center for East Crete Lecture Series. Online. Invited.

2022. “From Quarry to Kore: the Technology of an Archaic Greek Masterpiece.” Paper presented at Kore 670: Up Close and Personal with the Ancient Greek World, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. Invited.

2022. “The Life and Death of a Tomb: The Excavation of the Mycenaean Cemetery at Ayia Sotira in the Nemea Valley, Greece.” Paper presented to the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology at the University at Buffalo. Online. Invited.

2021. “The Life and Death of Tombs: The Excavation of the Mycenaean Cemetery at Ayia Sotira in the Nemea Valley, Greece.” Paper presented to the Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies. Online. Invited.

2020. “New Evidence from Late Minoan I Pottery Deposits at Gournia.” Paper presented at Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. Refereed.

2019. “Death on the Isthmus: Mortuary Rituals in the Minoan Town of Gournia, Crete.” Paper for Archaeological Institute of America, Central Pennsylvania (State Park) Chapter, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA.

2018. “The Archaeology of Feasts: Banqueting at the Minoan Site of Gournia on Crete.” Paper for Brock University Humanities Research Institute Annual Symposium, St. Catharines, ON.

2018. With S. Triantaphyllou. “Remembering the Dead: Memory and Mortuary Ritual at the Mycenaean Cemetery of Ayia Sotira, Nemea.” ΜΝΗΜΗ / MNEME: Past and Memory in the Aegean Bronze Age. 17th International Aegean Conference, University of Udine and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Venice and Udine, Italy.

2018. Co-organizer (with Susan Allen, Mireille Lee, and Robert Schon) of Power and Place in the Prehistoric Aegean and Beyond: a Symposium to Honor James C. Wright, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, U.S.A.

2018. “Empty Cups and Empty Bowls: an Early Neopalatial Feasting Deposit from Gournia.” Paper presented at Power and Place in the Prehistoric Aegean and Beyond: a Symposium to Honor James C. Wright, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, U.S.A.

2018. “Ritual Feasting in the Early Neopalatial Period: Middle Minoan III Pottery from the Gournia Palace.” Paper presented at Archaeological Institute of America 119th Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.

2017. Co-organizer (with Brendan Burke) of session “Regional approaches to Identity and Meaning in Greek Landscapes: Current work of the Canadian Institute in Greece,” at Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON.

2016. With M.K. Dabney and J.C. Wright “Using Archaeological Science to Reconstruct Mycenaean Burial Practices.” Paper presented at From Maple to Olive: A Colloquium to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Canadian Institute in Greece, Athens, Greece.

2016. “Death on the Isthmus: Late Minoan III Tombs of the Mirabello Bay and Ierapetra Areas.” Paper presented at Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.

2016. “Death in a Minoan Town: Mortuary Rituals at Bronze Age Gournia.” Paper for the Brock University Archaeological Society’s 27th Annual Symposium, Brock University.

2016. “Breaking Ground: Foundation Feasts in the Minoan Palace at Gournia, Crete.” Paper for the Ottawa Chapter of the Friends of the Canadian Institute in, the Ottawa Society of the American Institute of Archaeology, and the Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa.

President, Niagara Peninsula Chapter, Archaeological Institute of America

Past President and Chair of Personnel Committee, Canadian Institute in Greece

Brock University Representative to the Managing Committee, Member of Survey and Excavation Committee, American School of Classical Studies at Athens