ABSTRACTS - The American School of Classical Studies at Athens

This presentation will develop the history of the organization of scientific research in the Rachi
Koutsogila site, as well as the benefits from the multifaceted collaboration, aiming at the study, protection
and promotion of an interesting archaeological site of Corinthia.
Joseph L. Rife, Associate Professor of Classics and Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, USA
Kenchreai during the Roman Era
Textual and archaeological evidence reveals that Kenchreai, the eastern port of Corinth, was one of most
important ports in southern Greece during the Roman Empire. Several ancient authors refer to the
religious and cultural diversity of the community. Excavations by American and Greek archaeologists both
around the harbor and to the north, on the Koutsongila Ridge, have revealed that the settlement was
prosperous and busy. This paper will summarize the historical and topographical development of
Kenchreai during the Roman Empire (1st-7th centuries A.D.), with special attention to the beginning of the
Roman port during the reign of Augustus, local religious cult, burial practices, private and public art, and
the end of the ancient port in the Early Byzantine period.
Dimitris Chatziangelou , Archaeologist, Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities
The Cave of Klenia
The cave of Klenia or Pan’s Cave has been a hub at the boundary between the Argolid and Corinthia for
more than five thousand years. With its large numbers of pottery, exceeding ten thousand sherds and
ranging from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Turkish Occupation, this cave has been a place of
dwelling, worship, a refuge, a stable, as well as a point of strategic importance, overlooking the mountain
crossings and the movement to and from the center of the Peloponnese. It oversees a great part of the
neighboring mountains, as well as the network of valleys and plateaus and this is why it has been at the
center of the diachronic interest to control the area.
Placed at the edge of Tenea and very close to Corinth and Mycenae, it holds a very important position to
be studied by archaeologists and historians, given that the current research shows that the cave never
ceased having a multi-dimensional function throughout its long history.
The cave’s dimensions, its successive halls and its spacious entrance have made it functional as a
habitation but also as a place of worship. The interventions made in its interior, with cutoffs, sawings and