In the twelfth instalment of the Peopling the Past video series, Dr. Chelsea Gardner discusses the ancient site of Tainaron at the southern tip of the Peloponnese, including the mythical entrance to the underworld located there and the people who travelled to the site in search of sanctuary.
Chelsea A.M. Gardner is Associate Professor of Ancient History in the Department of History & Classics at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her field research focuses on the history, archaeology, and epigraphy of ancient Lakonia, specifically on the Mani peninsula, where she is co-director of the CARTography Project (Cataloguing Ancient Routes and Travellers). She is interested in identities, travel, landscapes, and religious space, particularly in remote regions of the ancient Mediterranean. You may recognize her voice as the host of the Peopling the Past podcast, and she has been involved in other digital humanities pedagogy projects including Women in Antiquity, From Stone to Screen, and as a WikiScholar for Wiki Education. She appeared in the 2016 National Geographic documentary “The Greeks” and in the PBS Learning Series The Greek Guide to Greatness.
Interested in learning more? Check out these resources by Dr. Gardner:
2021 Gardner, C.A.M. “The ‘Oracle of the Dead’ at Ancient Tainaron: Reconsidering the Literary and Archaeological Evidence”, Hesperia 90. 339-358. (For a copy of this article, please email Dr. Gardner)
2019 Seifried, R.M., and C.A.M. Gardner. “Reconstructing Historical Journeys with Least-Cost Analysis: Colonel William Leake in the Mani Peninsula, Greece”, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 24. 391-411. (For a copy of this article, please email Dr. Gardner)
Further Readings
Cummer, W. 1978. “The Sanctuary of Poseidon, Lakonia.” AM 93: 35–43.
Moschou, L. 1975. “Τοπογραφικά Μάνης: ῾Η πόλις Ταίναρον.” In Ἀρχαιολογικά Ἀνάλεκτα ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν 8 (2): 160-77.
Moschou, L. 1975. “Topographie du Magne: à propos de la région du Ténare Κιστέρνες- Άγιοι Ασώματοι”. Praktika des Peloponnesiaka; Congrès de Sparte; 1st Peloponnesian Congress, ii. p. 45-54.
Schumacher, R. W. 1993. “Three related sanctuaries of Poseidon: Geraistos, Kalaureia and Tainaron.” In Greek Sanctuaries: New Approaches, edited by N. Marinatos and R. Hägg, 62-87. London: Routledge.
Tsouli, M. 2000 [2010]. “Αρχαιολογικός Χώρος Ταινάρου”. ArchDelt 65. Meros B (Chronika): 546-552.
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