In 1985, Duane W. Roller (Wilfrid Laurier University) undertook a topographic survey of the site of Grimadha on the northern slope of Mt. Soros (in antiquity called Mt. Kerykion), long associated with the Classical and Hellenistic city of Tanagra. The project was completed in a single season with the permission of the 9th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of Boeotia.
The primary aim of the 1985 survey was to produce a topographic map of the site, trace the course of its perimeter wall, and document surviving architectural remains and surface features. Earlier investigations had been limited, focusing mainly on the city’s cemeteries, despite its known location and reputation in antiquity for its attractive urban plan. The fragmentary city wall follows an irregular circuit shaped by the steep terrain, with remains that include a prominent tower, damaged by the construction of an aqueduct in the 1950s, and the site’s only standing gate. Although none of the city’s interior structures stand more than about 1.5 meters above the surface, the highest concentration of remains occurs in the southern part of the city, where streets and avenues are still visible. Most buildings are too fragmentary to identify, but this area likely contained the city’s theatre. Further work carried out more recently by the Netherlands Institute in Athens has since confirmed many of the results of the 1985 project.
Select Bibliography
Roller, D.W. 1987. “Tanagra Survey Project 1985: The Site of Grimadha.” The Annual of the British School at Athens 82: 213-232.
Roller, D.W. 1989. “Recent investigations at Grimádha (Tanagra).” 129-163. In Boeotia Antiqua I: Papers on Recent Work in Boiotian Archaeology and History. J.M. Fossey ed. McGill University Monographs in Classical Archaeology and History 7. Amsterdam: Brill.
Roller, D.W. 1989. Tanagran Studies 1: Sources and Documents on Tanagra in Boiotia. McGill University Monographs in Classical Archaeology and History 9. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben.
Roller, D.W. 1989. Tanagran Studies 2: The Prosopography of Tanagra in Boiotia. McGill University Monographs in Classical Archaeology and History 9. Amsterdam: J.C. Gieben.
More on the project can be found here: https://portal.cig-icg.gr/node/119
