Boeotia Project, Volume II: The city of Thespiai. Survey at a complex urban site

Few major Classical cities have disappeared so completely from view, over the centuries, as Thespiai in Central Greece. Only the technique of intensive field survey, carefully adapted to a large urban site and reinforced by historical investigation, has made it possible to recover from oblivion much of its life of seven millennia. The work of the Boeotia Project took place during the years 1985 and 1986. The 1985 field season proceeded in two stages: from 14 July to 5 August, a team from the University of Cambridge operated in the rural territory to the west and north of ancient Thespiai, halting its coverage as soon as it reached the apparent edge of the built-up city area; then, from 6 to 28 August, a team from the University of Bradford took over, with the more intensive survey of the city itself. This team covered approximately half of the urban area that year, and completed their task in the 1986 season.