Alexander Mazarakis Ainian, of the University of Volos in Greece, spoke to the public Tuesday at the McClung Museum auditorium. The lecture, entitled “Architecture and Society in Early Iron Age Greece — a Reassessment of Evidence,” included material from Mazarakis Ainian’s past research along with recent developments and archaeological discoveries.

Along with being the chair for the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology at the University of Thessaly, Mazarakis Ainian is also a leading authority on the Greek Iron Age. He has written two books and numerous articles, along with making several important archaeological discoveries.

“He excavated a ninth-century metalworking site at Skala Oropou, near Athens, where he found evidence for the transition from bronze to iron working technology,” said Aleydis Van de Moortel, the secretary/treasurer for the Department of Classics.

Perhaps the most monumental discoveries of his career have been the excavations of two Greek temples: one on the Cycladic island of Kythnos and the other at Soros. The temple at Kythnos revealed an untouched inner shrine boasting more than 1,400 artifacts. The artifacts discovered included different metals and terra cotta figurines, and the Soros temple produced evidence for ancient Greek dining, all of which he discussed in his lecture.

“Such finds are extremely rare and have thrown new light on dedication and dining practices in Greek temples,” Van de Moortel said. “We are now finally finding out how these temples were used by the people.”

Mazarakis Ainian began the lecture by addressing topics from his thesis and book, “From Ruler’s Dwellings to Temples.” He went on to discuss the relationships between the arrangement of ancient Greek buildings and the organization of their societies. He produced mass amounts of evidence, differentiating between monumental temples, sanctuaries for divinities and heroes, as well as child burial grounds. Mazarakis Ainian’s speech was also accompanied with several images of fascinating artifacts including iron tools, lamps, drinking cups and a plaque-like object revealing one of the oldest inscriptions of a family name known to date.

Mazarakis Ainian packed a lot of information into a relatively short amount of time. It was apparent that he was passionate and dedicated to his field of work, especially since Greek Iron Age evidence is considered “flimsy” in the scientific world.

“It takes a lot of work to bring this type of evidence together,” Van de Moortel said.

After the lecture, he answered questions for audience members as they munched on refreshments at the reception.

The University of Tennessee is one of just five universities that Mazarakis Ainian will be speaking at this year, including New York University (Institute of Fine Arts), Columbia University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bryn Mawr College. He was brought to UT by the support of University Seminars Program of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation.

Mazarakis Ainian will also be lecturing on Oct. 27 in Hodges Library, room 213. He will be speaking about dedication practices and dining practices in Greek temples, respectively.