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Interpreting Imperfect Data: The Case of the Sanctuaries of  Thessaly

Although not famous for sanctuaries with large temples unlike its Greek neighbours to the south, there is archaeological, epigraphic, and literary evidence for roughly a hundred sanctuaries in the Northern Greek region of Thessaly. These sanctuaries are diverse in nature, ranging from precincts with large peripteral temples, nature shrines, and intentionally archaizing spaces. The data, however, is far from perfect as the majority of these sanctuaries were recovered in rescue excavations or from archaeological work from the first half of the 20th century. This lecture will provide a survey of the archaeological and textual evidence for sanctuaries in Thessaly (as well as the caveats involved) and the potential interpretive frameworks that can be applied to the imperfect data from this region.