Manolis Andronikos: Greece's National Archaeologist

Abstract

This paper explores five themes through a close examination of a single individual, Manolis Andronikos, known ‘Greece's National Archaeologist.' The five themes explored are: the process of creating a territorial state; the essential role of the outside powers; construction of an infrastructure; combining a monarchy with participatory government; and finally, overcoming regionalism to encourage centralization. The paper is an exploration of identity by examining how Manolis Andronikos's discovery of unpillaged tombs at the village of Vergina transformed Greek identity by incorporating Northern Greece, specifically Macedonia, into the national consciousness. Andronikos concluded that the archaeological artifacts in at least one tomb [e.g., human bones in a solid gold larnax (box)], belonged to Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, from the 4th century BCE. This purpose of the essay is not prove or disprove the validity of the claim; rather, it is to examine the impact of Andronikos's archaeological work and how he, as a person, scientist, and historian, transformed modern Greek identity by interpreting the evidence, and in so doing, linked the modern nation-state of Greece to its ancient and glorious past.