Old Lands

"In this bold and experimental work, Christopher Witmore brilliantly renews and transforms the genre of chorography. A book that defies categorization, it is part history, part travel diary, part reflection on the present, and part theoretical reflection on archaeology and how archaeology ought to be conducted. Over the course of twenty-seven segments, the reader is taken on a journey across the Peloponnese making you feel as if you are witnessing these lands alongside him. Written in lyrical and erudite prose, Old Lands calls for nothing less than a complete reconceptualization of the ontology of space and time. This provocative book is destined to be discussed for some time, and deserves to be read widely in the discipline of archaeology and beyond." - Levi R. Bryant, Collin College, USA

"Written in exquisite prose that blends lyricism and acuity, Witmore's work turns traditional topography on its head. His Peloponnese is one where karst and sight-line manifest themselves in myth and ritual; where Pausanias and an aqueduct can open up a marvelous world of wonder. His descriptions tumble off the page like water flowing down a winter rhevma. The best book in recent Greek archaeology." - Jeremy McInerney, University of Pennsylvania, USA

"In this bold and experimental work, Christopher Witmore brilliantly renews and transforms the genre of chorography. A book that defies categorization, it is part history, part travel diary, part reflection on the present, and part theoretical reflection on archaeology and how archaeology ought to be conducted. Over the course of twenty-seven segments, the reader is taken on a journey across the Peloponnese making you feel as if you are witnessing these lands alongside him. Written in lyrical and erudite prose, Old Lands calls for nothing less than a complete reconceptualization of the ontology of space and time. This provocative book is destined to be discussed for some time, and deserves to be read widely in the discipline of archaeology and beyond." - Levi R. Bryant, Collin College, USA

"Written in exquisite prose that blends lyricism and acuity, Witmore's work turns traditional topography on its head. His Peloponnese is one where karst and sight-line manifest themselves in myth and ritual; where Pausanias and an aqueduct can open up a marvelous world of wonder. His descriptions tumble off the page like water flowing down a winter rhevma. The best book in recent Greek archaeology." - Jeremy McInerney, University of Pennsylvania, USA