Editing Mount Lykaion (section)

==Modern study==

After 1832, when Greece had gained independence from the [[Ottoman Empire]], European travelers and scholars began to systematically tour [[Sparta]] and the Peloponnese. [[Ernst Curtius]], [[Charles Beulé]], and [[Guillaume Blouet]] published scholarly studies of the area, and discussions of the region appeared in German and British travelogues as well.<ref>[http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/lykaion/ly-earlytrav.html ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307204145/http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/lykaion/ly-earlytrav.html |date=March 7, 2009 }}</ref> Many of these writers used [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] as their guide to the geography and sights of the region, but were also concerned to correlate modern Greek place-names with ancient evidence.

Beulé described the hippodrome and surrounding area, including large stones that he assumed formed had formed the seats of the judges and magistrates, and the remains of a building he called a temple to Pan, but which probably corresponds to the stoa of the modern excavations.<ref>Beulé, ''Études sur le Péloponè.'' Paris: Firmin Didot frères, 1855. pp. 159ff.</ref> The German writer Ross described the bathhouse and its ancient but still-visible cisterns, which site he noted the locals called the Skaphidia.<ref>
Ross, L. Reisen im Reiserouten durch Griechenland. 91 ff</ref>

Mt. Lykaion was initially excavated by the Greek Archaeological Service, first in 1897 by archaeologist K. Kontopoulos<ref>Kontopoulos, K. 1898. ''Praktika'', pp. 17–8</ref> and again in 1902 by K. Kourouniotes.<ref>Kourouniotes, K. 1903. ''Praktika'', pp. 50ff.</ref> Kontopoulos dug several trial trenches near the hippodrome and the altar. Kourouniotes's excavations of the altar and surrounding area (the ''temenos'') were particularly informative; he learned that the altar consisted of a raised mound of blackened earth as described by Pausanias.<ref name="Pausanias 8.38.7"/> Excavation of the earth of the altar yielded burnt stones, small animal (cow and pig) bones, tiny [[Potsherd|pottery fragments]], iron knives, clay figures, coins from [[Aegina]], a clay figure of a bird, and two small bronze [[Sacrificial tripod#Ancient Greece|tripods]]. Further trenches dug in the ''temenos'' produced several bronze figures, some iron objects, and roof tiles.<ref name="corinth.sas.upenn.edu">{{cite web |url=http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/lykaion/ly-project.html |title=Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project - Project Overview |website=corinth.sas.upenn.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922143404/http://corinth.sas.upenn.edu/lykaion/ly-project.html |archive-date=September 22, 2009}}</ref> In 1909 Kourouniotes excavated an area at the east of the mountain and beneath the summit, the site of the hippodrome, stadium, and bathhouse.<ref>Kourouniotes, K. 1909. Praktika, pp. 185–200</ref>

Since Kourouniotes's excavation, anthropologists and scholars of Arcadian religion have studied the site in terms of its development as a sanctuary,<ref>e.g. Jost, M. ''Sanctuaires et cults d'Arcadie'', 1985; Voyatzis, M. "The Role of Temple Building in Consolidating Arkadian communities," in ''Defining Ancient Arkadia'', T.H. Nieslen and J. Roy (eds.) 1999</ref> but there was no further systematic or scientific investigation until 1996, when Dr. David Gilman Romano of the University of Pennsylvania conducted a topographical and architectural survey of the site.<ref>Romano, D.G. 1997. "Topographical and Architectural Survey of the Sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion, Arcadia." ''AJA'' 101, p. 374.</ref> Romano continued his work with the Mt. Lykaion Excavation and Survey Project under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Arizona. A preliminary planning phase of cleaning and surveying took place in 2004 and 2005, and was followed by a five-year excavation program beginning in June 2006. A two-year period during which the findings will be studied is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2011.<ref name="corinth.sas.upenn.edu"/> As of 2023, the research was sponsored by the University of Arizona and the [[Greek Archaeological Service]] under the auspices of the [[American School of Classical Studies at Athens]] and the Ministry of Culture and Sports. <ref name="g180">{{cite web | title=Mt. Lykaion Excavation & Survey Project | website=Mt. Lykaion Excavation & Survey Project | date=2023-06-12 | url=https://www.lykaionexcavation.org/about/ | access-date=2024-06-09}}</ref>