Bonnier, Anton

anton.bonnier@antiken.uu.se

Project: Landscapes, Land Use and Connectivity in Ancient Attica, ca. 700–100 BCE

My research is primarily engaged with ancient landscapes, ancient economic history and human-environment interactions, from the Archaic and until the Roman period in mainland Greece. As part of my research, I work with both archaeological and written sources and I commonly use geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial analyses for much of my work.

I received my PhD at Stockholm university in 2010. My PhD-thesis was concerned with landscapes, settlement patterns and networks of interaction around the Corinthian Gulf between ca. 600 and 300 BC. I have been based at Uppsala university since 2015 and until 2020 I was employed within the Domesticated Landscapes of the Peloponnese-project. The project was carried out at the department of Archaeology and Ancient History but incorporated researchers within multiple disciplines in order to examine human-environment interactions in the ancient Peloponnese. My role within the project was to conduct research on socio-environmental dynamics during the historical periods (ca. 700 BC until AD 300). I was also responsible for the development of the project GIS.

For much of my career I have also been highly involved archaeological field research and I have participated in multiple surveys and excavations in the Mediterranean region. After finishing my PhD I have also co-directed two field projects in Greece: an intensive field survey in the municipality of Makrakomi between 2010 and 2016 and an excavation project at ancient Kalaureia between 2015 and 2021. 

In 2021 I was awarded a new grant from the Swedish Research Council for a project on land use and connectivity in ancient Attica. The project will examine the development of agricultural economies and changes in cultivation strategies in the hinterland of ancient Athens between ca. 700 and 100 BC, particularly in relation to an increasing frequency of grain imports in this period. The project aims to provide a clearer picture on land use dynamics and trade in Attica until the Roman conquest, using new multidisciplinary methods rooted in historical ecology. 

Bonnier, A. T. Emanuelsson-Paulson, D. Mylona and A. Penttinen, 2021. “The Kalaureia Excavation Project. A preliminary report of the work carried out in Area L between 2015 and 2018”, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 14, 28-54

Bonnier, A. and M. Finné. 2021. “Peloponnesian land-use dynamics and climate variability in the first millennium BCE.” In Climate Change and Ancient Societies in Europe and the Near East. Diversity in Collapse and Resilience (Palgrave Studies in Ancient Economies), eds. P. Erdkamp, J. G. Manning and K. Verboven, Palgrave Macmillan. 227–300. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-81103-7_9

Weiberg, E., I. Unkel, K. Kouli, K. Holmgren, P. Avramidis, A. Bonnier, F. Dibble, M. Finné, A. Izdebski, C. Katrantsiotis, S.R. Stocker, M. Andwinge, K. Baika, M. Boyd, & C. Heymann. 2016. “The Socio-Environmental History of the Peloponnese during the Holocene: Towards an Integrated Understanding of the Past.” Quaternary Science Reviews 136: 40–65. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.042.

Bonnier, A. 2016. “Harbours and Hinterland Networks by the Corinthian Gulf, from the Archaic to the Early Hellenistic Period.” In Ancient Ports. The Geography of Connections. Proceedings of an International Conference at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, 23–25 September 2010 (Boreas 34), eds. K. Höghammar, B. Alroth, and A. Lindhagen Uppsala, 65–94. ISBN: 978 91 554 9609 8.

Bonnier, A. 2014. Coastal Hinterlands: Site Patterns, Microregions and Coast-Inland Interconnections by the Corinthian Gulf, c.600-300 BC. BAR International Series 2614. Oxford: Archaeopress. ISBN: 978 1 4073 1245 3

Papakonstantinou, M-F., A. Penttinen, G. N. Tsokas, P. I. Tsourlos, A. Stampolidis, I. Fikos, G. Tassis, K. Psarogianni, L. Stavrogiannis, A. Bonnier, M. Nilsson & H. Boman, ‘The Makrakomi Archaeological Landscapes Project (MALP). A preliminary report on investigations carried out in 2010–2012’, Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 6: 211–260. doi: 10.30549/opathrom-06-08.

Bonnier, A. 2010. Harbours and Hinterlands: Landscape, site patterns and coast-hinterland interconnections, c. 600-300 B.C. (Avhandling) Stockholm University, Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies. ISBN: 978 91 7155 999

Wijngaarden, G.J., A. Sotiriou, V. Stissi, A. Bonnier & L. Erisman. 2010. ’The Zakynthos Archaeology Project. Preliminary report on the 2009 season’. Pharos: Journal of the Netherlands Institute at Athens 17(2): 65-82. doi: 10.2143/PHA.17.2.2162463.

Bonnier, A. 2008. “Epineia kai Limenes: The Relationship between Harbours and Cities in Ancient Greek Texts.” Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome 1: 47–61. doi:10.30549/opathrom-01-04.