Bridging the GAP: The Gourimadi Archaeological Project, 2024-2025 Excavation Seasons

The Norwegian Institute at Athens is pleased to invite you to the lecture “Bridging the GAP: The Gourimadi Archaeological Project, 2024–2025 Excavation Seasons” by Dr. Žarko Tankosić (SFF Center for Early Sapiens Behavior – SapienCE, University of Bergen), Dr. Paschalis Zafeiriadis (The Norwegian Institute at Athens, University of Bergen), and Dr. Fanis Mavridis (Ephorate of Paleoanthropology and Speleology, Ministry of Culture) with contributions from Denitsa Nenova, Hüseyin Çınar Öztürk, and Aikaterini Psoma.

The lecture will present the most recent results from the ongoing systematic excavation project at Gourimadi in southern Euboea and will take place on Tuesday, 18 November 2025, at 7:00 p.m. (EET) at the Norwegian Institute at Athens, Tsami Karatasou 5, 11742 Athens. The lecture will also be streamed online via Zoom.

Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

To attend in person, please register via email at norwinst@uib.no

To attend via Zoom, please register via the relevant Zoom link.

Please feel free to circulate the information about this lecture widely.

Abstract

In 2018, the Norwegian Institute at Athens began archaeological field research at the site of Gourimadi, located near Karystos in southern Euboea. The site was discovered during an earlier survey project in the area and was identified as significant and worthy of future attention. This was concluded from the surface material that included large quantities of obsidian, comprising a substantial number of projectile points, ceramics indicating diachronic prehistoric deposits, and debris suggesting the likely existence of architectural remains. In addition, evidence pointed to potential metallurgical activities.

After the eighth excavation season, which ended in the summer of 2025, the results have exceeded expectations. A rich and complex habitation site has been uncovered, used over a period of approximately 2,000 years of Aegean prehistory. The finds include a 2-meter-deep cultural layer and exceptionally well-preserved architectural remains. Moreover, the research produced large quantities of movable finds, primarily ceramics and lithics, among which several hundred obsidian arrowheads represent an unusually large assemblage for at least this part of the Aegean. This talk presents the results of the team’s work at Gourimadi, with a focus on the last two excavation seasons.

Biography

Dr. Žarko Tankosić holds a BA in Archaeology from the University of Belgrade and an MA and PhD in Anthropology from Indiana University, Bloomington. From 2013 to 2021, he served as researcher and administrator at the Norwegian Institute at Athens, and since 2021 he has been Project Manager at the Center for Early Sapiens Behaviour (Centre of Excellence), Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies, and Religion, University of Bergen. He has extensive field experience, having participated in rescue excavations in the United States (Indiana) and directed or co-directed archaeological projects in Serbia, South Africa, and Greece. He currently serves as Project Director of the Gourimadi Archaeological Project in southern Euboea. Dr. Tankosić’s research focuses on the transition from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in the Aegean and the Balkans, with particular interest in the role of insular environments in shaping prehistoric societies and the archaeological manifestations of social differentiation in prehistory.

Dr. Paschalis Zafeiriadis (PhD, University of Cincinnati) is an archaeologist specializing in Aegean Prehistory, with a focus on the intra-site spatial organization of Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age communities. His research interests include theoretical archaeology, excavation methodology and stratigraphy, digital archaeology, and cave archaeology. He is a senior advisor and researcher at the Norwegian Institute at Athens and the University of Bergen and has taught extensively at New York University and its Study Abroad Program in Athens. With broad field experience across Greece as both field archaeologist and field and co-director, Dr. Zafeiriadis currently co-directs the Gourimadi Archaeological Project, a Neolithic–Early Bronze Age excavation near Karystos (Euboea) conducted by the Norwegian Institute at Athens.

Dr. Fanis Mavridis is an archaeologist with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Ephorate of Paleoanthropology and Speleology. He studied History and Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), where he also completed postgraduate studies (M.Phil.) in Aegean Prehistory. He later earned an MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy from the University of Sheffield and a PhD from NKUA on the Neolithic of the Aegean Islands, supported by a scholarship from the National Scholarship Foundation.

Dr. Mavridis has received multiple research awards and fellowships, including the Getty Research Exchange Fellowship for the Mediterranean Basin and the Middle East, during which he conducted postdoctoral research on the Neolithic of Anatolia. He regularly lectures on Aegean Prehistory in graduate and postgraduate seminars at the Department of History and Archaeology, NKUA. His research focuses on Aegean Prehistory, with particular interests in the Neolithic Aegean, the Bronze Age Cyclades, and cave and island archaeology. He has directed or participated in numerous systematic and rescue excavations across Attica, Euboea, and the Cyclades, and is a long-standing member of the Akrotiri excavation team. He is the author of three books and more than fifty scholarly articles.