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Document Details :

Title: Archaeology and the Origo Myths of the Greek Apoikai
Author(s): YNTEMA, Douwe
Journal: Ancient West & East
Volume: 10    Date: 2011   
Pages: 243-266
DOI: 10.2143/AWE.10.0.2141823

Abstract :
This paper deals with a crucial moment in the migration processes: the initial stages of the migrant settlements. It focuses on the character of ancient written sources on this subject and their relationship to the archaeological data. First, a very broad outline is given of the traditional views on this matter. These are based almost exclusively on the writings of ancient Greek authors. A short excursion into the field of post-antique colonisation raises the first doubts about the traditional paradigm. New data supplied by relatively recent archaeological excavations are adduced in order to generate new insights into this subject. These insights produce a new image of the Greek migrations of the 8th and early 7th centuries BC and suggest alternative explanations of the ancient Greek written sources. The case study concerns south-east Italy, but the insights gained from this migration area may well have a much wider significance.

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