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Public Archaeology: The Palaeolithic Lesbos Project now has a website!

Since 2012, the University of Crete has been conducting the Palaeolithic Lesbos Project in collaboration with other universities and research institutions in Greece and abroad. Under the direction of Prehistoric Archaeology Professor Nena Galanidou, the Project investigates early settlement in the Aegean region, with the participation of scientists specializing in archaeology, geoarchaeology, archaeometry, geosciences, palaeoclimatology, and palaeogeography.

This year, the Palaeolithic Lesbos Project completes ten years of uninterrupted research and has recently acquired its very own website. The new bilingual website will provide a valuable tool for communicating Palaeolithic archaeology to the public far and wide. In addition to providing significant educational and informational material on the research being carried out in the area, the new website takes visitors on a virtual journey through the region. It introduces them to the Palaeolithic period, with constant updates on Palaeolithic research developments domestically and internationally.

Focusing on the ongoing excavation of Rodafnidia, an open-air site of the Lower Palaeolithic in the Kalloni Gulf strategically located near the thermal springs of Lisvori, the Project investigates prehistoric human activity on the island of Lesbos over the last half a million years! Excavations of the Lisvori olive grove subsoil have brought to light exceptional tools of the Acheulean tradition. Palaeolithic Lesbos adds another piece to the incomplete puzzle that is the Lower Palaeolithic world as we know it, at the very point where Asia meets Europe: the north-eastern Aegean region.

Professor Nena Galanidou is the first academic to introduce the subject of Public Archaeology as a core discipline of archaeological higher education in Greece. Indeed, she has recently published a chapter titled “Re-inventing Public Archaeology in Greece”, which summarizes the modern Greek experience in Public Archaeology through initiatives that contribute to the mobilization of civil society and the cultivation of an inclusive, participatory approach to protecting and promoting archaeological heritage.

Click on the following link to visit the website and embark on a journey to the enchanting world of Palaeolithic research: https://www.palaeolithiclesbos.org

  • “Palaeolithic Lesbos adds another piece to the incomplete puzzle that is the Lower Palaeolithic world as we know it, at the very point where Asia meets Europe: the north-eastern Aegean region.”