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Diana Buitron-Oliver excavation records from Kourion, Cyprus
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Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]3260 South Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104-6324
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
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Archaeologist and curator Diana Buitron was born in 1946 in Ecuador to an Ecuadoran father and American mother and grew up in Peru, Venezuela, and France. In 1969 she graduated from Smith College with a degree in art history. She went on to receive a master’s degree in fine arts and a doctorate in Greek and Roman art and archaeology from New York University. Her doctoral thesis was titled, “Douris: A Master-Painter of Athenian Red-Figure Vases” and was published in book form in 1995. Diana spoke many languages including English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Modern Greek. She participated in excavations in places such as Carthage in Tunisia and Morgantina in Sicily. In 1979 Diana married Andrew Oliver and in 1980 they settled in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Diana’s passion and primary focus of her work would be in Greek art. After completing her PhD Diana went on to work for the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore from 1977 to 1984. It was while at this institution she began work on an archaeological project at the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates near the ruins of the ancient city of Kourion on Cyprus. The excavation lasted from the late 1970s to the early 1980s and resulted in the 1996 publication, The Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates at Kourion: Excavations in the Archaic Precinct.
After departing the Walters Art Museum Diana went on to be an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and mount many exhibitions, as well as produce numerous publications. At the National Gallery in Washington D.C. Diana worked as guest curator and produced two major exhibitions devoted to Greek art, “The Human Figure in Early Greek Art” in 1987-1988 and “The Greek Miracle: Classical Sculpture from the Dawn of Democracy, the Fifth Century B.C.” in 1992-1993. Both were huge successes and the latter went on to be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition Diana co-curated “The Odyssey and Ancient Art” at Bard College in 1992. Diana produced catalogues of these exhibitions. She also organized scholarly symposia and edited the papers for publication, including “New Perspectives in Early Greek Art” (National Gallery of Art, 1991) and “The Interpretation of Architectural Sculpture in Greece and Rome” (National Gallery of Art, 1997).
Diana Buitron-Oliver died April 29, 2002 in Washington D.C. Following her death her husband Andrew donated her book collection on Mediterranean archaeology, classics, and art to the Melvin Gelman Library at George Washington University to support their growing Classics and Archaeology programs. He donated her papers to the University of Pennsylvania Museum. Diana is remembered for her passion for Greek art, and her love of travel, writing, and teaching. Washington Post staff writer called Dr. Buitron-Oliver a “scholar in serene command of her field”.
This collection consists of the papers of Diana-Buitron Oliver from her excavation of the Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates at Kourion in Cyprus. The Sanctuary dates from the Classical and Roman periods. The papers cover Buitron-Oliver’s efforts before, during, and after the excavation was completed, during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Financial and administrative matters are included as well. Dr. Buitron-Oliver resumed the work of excavation that was started by George McFadden for the University of Pennsylvania Museum in the years from 1934 until 1954. The excavation ended when McFadden died suddenly in a drowning accident.
The sanctuary is located near the ancient town of Kourion, near the modern town of Episkopi. In the sanctuary Apollo was worshiped as god of the woodlands, and the site was considered one of the main religious centers of Cyprus. People worshipped Apollo at Kourion from the 8th to the 4th centuries A.D. The site has undergone many alterations and extensions in different periods. Originally the site contained a temple, a circular monument, and a formalized Archaic Altar and Precinct. During the Roman period the site was changed to include an area which may have been used as a display space for votives. Terracotta figurines and pottery were found buried in the votive pit. The city is believed to have been destroyed in an earthquake in A.D. 365.
Diana Buitron-Oliver’s excavations sought to clarify the architectural arrangement of the Archaic Precinct, the nature of the cult, and the date when the sanctuary first functioned. The records relating to her excavation are arranged into the following series: Correspondence, Grant Proposals, Accounts, Field Notes, Plans and Drawings, and Reports and Summaries, and Photographs.
The Correspondence begins in the mid 1970s and lasts until the early 1990s. It is arranged chronologically into two major groups, Cyprus and Cyprus Staff, with additional distinct files for certain individuals and topics. The letters reveal much information relating to Buitron-Oliver’s dealings with the Walters Art Gallery and other project supporters, preparations for each dig season, and correspondence with those who worked on the dig or conducted work related to it.
The Grant Proposals and Accounts series are arranged chronologically. Grant Proposals primarily relate to the National Endowment for the Humanities applications and related materials from the late 1970s until 1991. Accounts consist of various budget expenses for the excavation from 1978 up until 1988, including issues related to supplies and residence on Cyprus.
The Field Notes series, 1978-1986, is the largest in the collection. Extensive notes, registries, drawings, and reports can be found in this series. The folders have been arranged chronologically; where dates are not apparent they are arranged by subject or grid area. Objects are the main focus of the field notes. There are also seventeen field notebooks containing excavation data, mostly notes on pottery and terracotta.
Plans and Drawings are arranged primarily by subject. This series consists of maps of Kourion, Episkopi and the Archaic Precinct, and drawings of objects. A number of items from this section have been moved to oversize materials. The Reports and Summaries series is arranged chronologically and topically. The series contains Buitron-Oliver’s reports about the excavation, as well as other publications, lectures, and/or symposiums. The series also includes correspondence regarding some of the publications.
Photographs (mostly in the form of black-and-white negatives and color slides) document life and work at the site, as well as a large number of finds from the excavation.
People
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Karla A. Irwin
- Finding Aid Date
- 2011
- Use Restrictions
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Although many items from the archives are in the public domain, copyright may be retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. The user is fully responsible for compliance with relevant copyright law.[Item name]. Box [Box number]. Diana Buitron-Oliver excavation records from Kourion, Cyprus. Penn Museum Archives. Accessed [Date accessed].
Collection Inventory
The Correspondence begins in the mid 1970s and lasts until the early 1990s. It is arranged chronologically into two major groups, Cyprus and Cyprus Staff, with additional distinct files for certain individuals and topics. The letters reveal much information relating to Buitron-Oliver’s dealings with the Walters Art Gallery and other project supporters, preparations for each dig season, and correspondence with those who worked on the dig or conducted work related to it.
One item.
The series of Grant Proposals and Accounts are arranged chronologically. Grant Proposals primarily relate to the National Endowment for the Humanities applications and related materials from the late 1970s until 1991.
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Plans and Drawings are arranged primarily by subject. This series consists of maps of Kourion, Episkopi and the Archaic Precinct, and drawings of objects.
Accounts consist of various budget expenses for the excavation from 1978 up until 1988, including issues related to supplies and the residences on Cyprus.
The Field Notes Series is the largest series in the collection. Extensive notes, registries, drawings, and reports can be found in this series. The folders have been arranged chronologically and where dates are not apparent by dig subject or grid area. Objects are the main focus of the field notes. There are also seventeen field notebooks contained in this series. Many of these notebooks contain notes on pottery and terracotta.
The Reports and Summaries series is arranged chronologically, or by subject area when dates are not apparent or there is a distinct subject area warranting its’ own folder. This series contains Dr. Buitron-Oliver’s notes and research about the excavation that was used for her publications, lectures, and/or symposiums. There is some correspondence in this series that relates to people she worked with or advised on publications, etc.
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