Wellesley College
Department of Classical Studies
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481
(781) 283-2632
bburns@wellesley.edu
Profile
Bryan E. Burns is a Professor of Classical Studies and an Archaeologist leading an excavation in central Greece, studying cultural interaction and trade in the ancient Mediterranean, pursuing digital technology in teaching and research.
His teaching and research focus on the archaeology of Greece, from the Bronze Age through the Classical periods. He is interested in how Ancient Greek societies made connections across and through time. He wrote a book that studied the significance of objects and materials that traveled from Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean to Greece. These works of ivory, glass, rare stones, and precious metals became symbols of local power as well as foreign origins. Though the excavations at Eleon, he is now studying how overlapping trade networks enabled people to claim connections with various sources of power, and how those resources changed over time.
Together with colleagues, he has recently published an open-access report on their excavations from 2011-2018 (AJA 2020), and he has co-edited a volume of specialized studies (Mouseion 2021). The project involves students in every aspect of the fieldwork experience, which is largely about careful documentation, includes many hours of physical labor, and sometimes features very exciting moments of discovery.
Selected Publications
B. Burke, B. Burns, A. Charm, C. MacKay (2021). Chapter One: Ancient Eleon in Boeotia: An overview in the Greek-Canadian Excavations. Mouseion Journal of the Classical Association of Canada 18(1): 8-30.
B. Burke, B. Burns (2021). Introduction: Finding Eleon. Mouseion Journal of the Classical Association of Canada 19(1):1-7.
B. Burke, D. Athanasoulis, Z. Bonias, B. Burns (2021). Fieldwork of the Canadian Institute in Greece in 2018. Mouseion Journal of the Classical Association of Canada 18(2): 255-284.
B. Burns, B. Burke (2019). Memorializing the First Mycenaeans at Eleon. In book: Past and Memory in the Aegean Bronze Age (pp.269-276).
B. Burke, B. Burns, V. Aravantinos, S. Lupack, L. Fappas (2016). The Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project 2007-2010- The Intensive Surface Survey Eleon. Mouseion Journal of the Classical Association of Canada.
B. Burke, B. Burns, A. Charami (2017). Mycenaean Eleon and Eastern Boeotia during the Bronze Age. Athens 10-11.