Finding aid for the Åke Åkerström papers, 1853-1991

Series I. Excavations at Larisa am Hermos, 1902-1940

Physical Description: 1.0 linear foot (3 boxes)

Scope and Content Note

The site of Larisa on the Hermos, near Buruncuk in western Turkey, was initially excavated by Lennart Kjellberg and Johannes Boehlau in 1902. The pair conducted further joint Swedish and German excavations at the site from 1932-1934. These excavations revealed structures from three main building phases, dating from the sixth through the fourth centuries B.C. Of special interest to scholars were the many fragments of architectural terracottas.

This series contains a limited amount of general documentation about Kjellberg's excavations and substantial visual documentation of the terracottas. Akerstrom received this material after Kjellberg died during the preparation of the final Larisa excavation report.

Box 1, Folder 1

Kjellberg field notes, reports and correspondence, 1902-1935, undated

General Physical Description note: 64 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Typescript copies of entries from Kjellberg's day books of the excavation, for the period from 31 Jan to 24 Apr 1902. The later excavations are represented here with reports on the 1932 season. Also included are financial reports and a small amount of correspondence between Kjellberg and Boehlau, Theodor Wiegand and Åkerström.

Box 1, Folder 2

Kjellberg publication materials, undated

General Physical Description note: 6 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Includes an unpublished forward to the excavation report and an early publication plan.

Box 1-3

Architectural terracottas from Larisa, circa 1940

Scope and Content Note

The architectural terracottas from Larisa constitute a large body of material, almost 500 fragments, and include elements of raking and lateral simas, geison revetment plaques, akroteria and waterspouts, bearing both painted and molded, figural and ornamental decoration. The Greek cities of Asia Minor employed a decorative system of roofing with more ornamentation than was standard on the mainland and the Larisa fragments, being amongst the earliest examples of this practice, have helped scholars understand the varying regional roofing styles used by the Greeks.

Kjellberg originally intended to publish this material himself and left a partial manuscript on his death in 1936. Kjellberg's son, Ernst, hoped to finish his father's work but died himself in 1938, at which point the responsibility for the material was handed over to Åke Åkerström. Åkerström revised and completed the manuscript and published Die architektonischen Terrakotten (Stockholm, 1940), as volume II in the excavation report, Larisa am Hermos. Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen 1902-1934.

Box 1-2

Documentation and notes

Scope and Content Note

The documentation of the terracottas preserved in the archive is almost entirely visual. The majority of the images are photographs, generally mounted, either individually or in groups, with occasional drawings added. Only a limited numbers of notes and measurements are included.

Box 1-2

Figural friezes

Box 1, Folder 3

II,

General Physical Description note: 45 items

Box 1, Folder 4-5

III,

General Physical Description note: 66 items

Box 1, Folder 6

IV,

General Physical Description note: 54 items

Box 1, Folder 7

V,

General Physical Description note: 23 items

Box 1, Folder 8

VI,

General Physical Description note: 12 items

Box 1, Folder 9-11

VII,

General Physical Description note: 156 items

Box 2, Folder 1-2

VIII,

General Physical Description note: 118 items

Box 2, Folder 3

IX,

General Physical Description note: 7 items

Box 2, Folder 4

X,

General Physical Description note: 3 items

Box 2, Folder 5

Ornamental friezes,

General Physical Description note: 40 items

Box 2, Folder 6

Akroteria,

General Physical Description note: 60 items

Box 2, Folder 7-8

Waterspouts,

General Physical Description note: 72 items

Box 3, Folder 1

High-relief figures,

General Physical Description note: 15 items

Box 3, Folder 2

Miscellaneous fragments,

General Physical Description note: 64 items

Box 3, Folder 3

Stockholm fragments,

General Physical Description note: 13 items

Scope and Content Note

Two sets of fragments, presumably from Larisa, donated to the Nationalmuseum by Lennart Kjellberg. This material was published in detail by Åkerström in Architektonische Terrakottaplaten in Stockholm (Lund, 1951).

Box 3, Folder 4

Proofs (?) of the published plates,

General Physical Description note: 76 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Heavily annotated, with reconstructions of missing elements sketched in.

Series II. Research and publications, 1904-1987, undated

Physical Description: 5.6 linear feet (12 boxes)

Scope and Content Note

Åke Åkerström's research materials and publications comprise this series. Both the research and publication material show the breadth of Åkerström's interests, ranging from Bronze Age Greece to Roman Italy and beyond. It should also be noted that some of the materials included here originally came to Åkerström from Lennart Kjellberg and perhaps from Axel Persson. Åkerström's research materials make up the largest portion of his papers. These include general archaeological research materials, such as his photographic archive of sites and antiquities and his extensive note file, as well as more specific research on selected topics. The limited publication material found here relates primarily to the images for his books and articles.

Box 4-13, 17

Research materials, 1904-1984, undated

Box 4-7, 17

Photographic archive, 1928-1947, undated

Scope and Content Note

The majority of the images are photographs or postcards, mounted several to a board, but there is also a sampling of loose photographs and postcards, and an occasional drawing. Many of the photographs have identifying information on the board. The images are organized by medium and culture. The majority of the photographs are undated; only a few have dates along with Åkerström's captions.

Box 4-6, 17

Site views, architecture and architectural sculpture, 1928-1947, undated

Box 4-5, 17

Etruria, 1928-1947, undated

Scope and Content Note

Includes images of maps and plans of Etruria and Etruscan sites, tomb plans and elevations. Also included are images of artifacts: architectural elements, pottery, metalwork, painting, terracottas, sculpture. There is strong coverage of Etruscan tomb architecture, reflecting Åkerström's dissertation. Many of the mounting boards found here were reused from work at Berbati and still carry Berbati negative numbers and captions on the verso.

Box 4-5

Photographs, 1928-1947, undated

General Physical Description note: 209 items

Box 17, Folder 1

Negatives, undated

General Physical Description note: 30 frames

Box 6, Folder 1-4

Greece, 1936, undated

General Physical Description note: 71 items

Scope and Content Note

The sites documented include the major sites of Athens, Delos, Delphi, Olympia, as well as smaller sites like Aegina, Asine, Bassai, Isthmia, Kalauria, Knossos, Livadia, Mycenae, Mystra, Nauplion, Perachora, Pylos, Rhodes, Sparta, Sunion and Tiryns. Also included are early excavation photographs of Asine and Rhodes, which may have come from the Persson material (See Series IV).

Box 6, Folder 5-8

Magna Grecia and Roman Italy, 1931-1936, undated

General Physical Description note: 63 items

Scope and Content Note

The Greek sites in Italy documented here include Agrigento, Selinus, Segesta and Paestum. The major Roman sites of the city of Rome and Pompeii are included, as well as smaller sites like Alatri, Elba, Frascati, Naples, Nemi, Rieti, Subiaco and Tivoli. Also included are two clippings with photographs of the Nemi ships.

Box 6, Folder 9

Turkey, undated

General Physical Description note: 11 items

Scope and Content Note

The sites documented include Istanbul, Izmir, Pamukkale, Belevi and Pergamon.

Box 6, Folder 10

Great Britain, undated

General Physical Description note: 14 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes images of the Roman remains at Chedworth and Bath, as well as later monuments in Salisbury and Caerleon.

Box 6, Folder 11

Miscellaneous and unidentified sites, 1928-1931, undated

General Physical Description note: 6 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes panorama of excavations at Cyrene in 1928.

Box 7, Folder 1-4

Sculpture, 1936, undated

General Physical Description note: 131 items

Scope and Content Note

Greek, Hellenistic and Roman works.

Box 7, Folder 5-6

Vase-painting, undated

General Physical Description note: 62 items

Scope and Content Note

Primarily Attic black-figure and red-figure pottery, but also includes Geometric and Cypriot wares.

Box 7, Folder 7

Mosaics, stucco and metalwork, undated

General Physical Description note: 8 items

Box 8-10

Note file, undated

General Physical Description note: 4523 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Extensive note file constructed from slips of paper cut or folded to a standard size; the file retains Åkerström's arrangement by topic. Those topics, based on both topographical and typological divisions, reflect Åkerström's wide-ranging research interests. The file covers the standard Greek, Roman and Etruscan cultures, but also includes Mycenaean, Cypriot and Hallstatt culture. Artistic media covered in the file include general art, architecture, sculpture, vase-painting and terracottas, as well as broad topics such as religion, topography and history. The slips carry notes, bibliography and drawings of artifacts. The extensive coverage of Caeretan hydriae and Klazomenian sarcophagi found here is related to Åkerström's work on the architectural terracottas in Asia Minor.

Box 11

Map of Greece, undated

General Physical Description note: 1 item

Scope and Content Note

Oversize map of Greece at 1:400,000 constructed from smaller map segments.

Box 12-13, 17

Topical research materials, 1904-1984, undated

Box 12, Folder 1

Antiquities in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, undated

General Physical Description note: 29 items

Scope and Content Note

Photographs of sculpture and vases attached to inventory cards.

Box 12, Folder 2

Cypriot inscriptions, undated

General Physical Description note: 7 photographs

Box 12, Folder 3-6

Greek Geometric and Orientalizing pottery, undated

General Physical Description note: 511 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Contents of a loose-leaf notebook assembled by Åkerström; includes research notes and drawings.

Box 12, Folder 7-8

Klazomenian vases, 1904, undated

General Physical Description note: 85 items

Scope and Content Note

Contents of a loose-leaf notebook assembled by Åkerström, including mounted photographs, notes and manuscripts. Part of the material, especially the mounted photographs, appears to have been created by Åkerström. However, other material found here including a brief manuscript and a letter, comes from Lennart Kjellberg, a portion of whose scholarly estate came to Åkerström in connection with the Larisa material (See Series I). Also included are notes and photographs of Klazomenian sarcophagi.

Box 12, 17

Mycenaean pottery, 1972-1974, undated

Box 12, Folder 9

Notes and research, 1972-1974, undated

General Physical Description note: 10 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes heavily annotated copies of articles on the chronology of Late Helladic pottery by Oliver Dickinson, paste-ups for figures in unidentified publication (?) and photocopies of tomb plans.

Box 17, Folder 2

Negatives, undated

General Physical Description note: 5 frames

Box 12, Folder 10

Mycenaean pottery in Egypt, 1977-1984,

General Physical Description note: 9 items

Scope and Content Note

Materials documenting Åkerström's exchanges with Vronwy Hankey regarding Mycenaean pottery found in Egypt; includes offprints, copies of talks given by Hankey, and a letter from Hankey to Åkerström.

Box 13, Folder 1

Urartian bronzes from Altin Tepe, undated

General Physical Description note: 19 photographs, 7 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Photographs, notes, and drawing.

Box 13, Folder 2

Miscellaneous research, 1929-1973

General Physical Description note: 20 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes material on the tumulus at Belevi, lion imagery in Homer, Persian history, photographic documentation of unidentified metal finds, notes from a trip to Yugoslavia.

Box 13, 17-18

Publications and writings, circa 1940-1987, undated

Box 13, 17-18

Der geometrische Stil in Italien, circa 1940-1943

Scope and Content Note

Images, primarily copy photography, of pottery and metalwork; associated with Åkerström's research for Der geometrische Stil in Italien (Lund, 1943).

Box 13, Folder 3

Photographs,

General Physical Description note: 9 items

Box 17, Folder 3

Negatives,

General Physical Description note: 29 items

Box 18, Folder 1

Glass negatives,

General Physical Description note: 37 items

Box 13, 17-18

Architektonische Terrakottaplatten in Stockholm, circa 1947-1951

Scope and Content Note

Images related to the figures in the publication and to research for Architektonische Terrakottaplatten in Stockholm (Lund, 1951).

Box 13, Folder 4

Photographs,

General Physical Description note: 3 items

Box 17, Folder 4

Negatives,

General Physical Description note: 87 items

Box 18, Folder 2

Glass negatives,

General Physical Description note: 5 items

Box 13, Folder 5

Die architektonischen Terracotten Kleinasiens, circa 1965-1967

General Physical Description note: 62 items

Scope and Content Note

Multiple copies of selected plates including terracottas from Larisa am Hermos, Gordion and Akalan from Die architektonischen Terracotten Kleinasiens (Lund, 1966); also includes early version of map.

Box 13, Folder 6

"More Canaanite jars from Greece," circa 1974-1975

General Physical Description note: 12 items

Scope and Content Note

Production materials for the illustrations in the article published in Opuscula Atheniensia 11 (1975): 185-192, including photographs of pottery at varying exposures, as well as mechanicals.

Box 13, Folder 7-8

Berbati II: The Pictorial Pottery, 1985-1987, undated

Scope and Content Note

Materials related to the preparation and publication of Berbati II: The Pictorial Pottery (Stockholm, 1987)

Box 13, Folder 7

Notes and preliminary drafts, 1987, undated

General Physical Description note: 113 leaves

Box 13, Folder 8

Correspondence with Berit Wells, 1985

General Physical Description note: 6 leaves

Box 13, Folder 9

Linear B inscriptions at Knossos, undated

General Physical Description note: 17 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Unpublished (?) typescript.

Box 13, Folder 10

Miscellaneous writings, undated

General Physical Description note: 5 items

Scope and Content Note

Unidentified fragments of manuscripts.

Series III. Miscellaneous professional papers, 1927-1991

Physical Description: 3.5 linear feet (1 box, 2 flatfile folders)

Scope and Content Note

This series contains a variety of Åkerström's miscellaneous professional papers. The largest and most significant element in this series is the group of reports and minutes related to the workings of the Swedish Institute in Athens during the time Åkerström was director.

Box 14, Folder 1-2

Swedish Institute in Athens, 1951-1958

General Physical Description note: 139 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Various institutional reports and minutes of meetings from Åkerström's time as Director.

Oversize FF1**-FF2**

Plans for a Yugoslavian legation building in Athens, 1938

General Physical Description note: 15 items

Scope and Content Note

Reprographic copies of plans for the construction or renovation of a building for the Yugoslavian legation in Athens.

Box 14, Folder 3

Photographs of colleagues, 1957, undated

General Physical Description note: 4 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes Martin Nilsson, Ludwig Curtius and Carl Blegen.

Box 14, Folder 4-5

Various printed matter, 1927-1991

General Physical Description note: 6 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes newspaper clippings and fascicles of serials and newsletters on archaeological topics.

Series IV. Axel W. Persson papers, 1853-1941, undated

Physical Description: 1.5 linear feet (3 boxes)

Scope and Content Note

Axel W. Persson (1888-1951) was a pioneering Swedish classical archaeologist. Serving as Professor of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University from 1924-1951, after a mid-career shift from Greek philology, Persson trained a generation of Swedish archaeologists, including Einar Gjerstad and Åke Åkerström. Persson excavated at Asine, Dendra, Midea and Berbati in Greece and at Milas and Labraunda in Turkey.

This series contains a small collection of Axel W. Persson's papers, which had come into the possession of Åke Åkerström. Included here are several manuscripts and typescripts, as well as photographic documentation of Persson's excavations at Dendra and Berbati. The manuscripts and typescripts, which are arranged chronologically, appear to represent both lectures delivered by Persson and published articles. The bracketed English translations of titles are taken from the dealer's inventory.

Box 15-16

Publications and writings, 1853-1857, 1903-1941, undated

Box 15, Folder 1

"Inscriptions de Carie," circa 1903-1922

General Physical Description note: 80 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Drafts of sections of text, as well as notes and research, for article on the inscriptions from Mylasa, published in BCH 46 (1922): 394-426. Also includes brief manuscript on cults of Mylasa, as well as two signatures removed from A. Hellwig, Das Asylrecht der Naturvölker (Berlin, 1903) and annotated.

Box 15, Folder 2

"Stat och industri i Egypten," 1923 Oct 30

General Physical Description note: 1 clipping

Scope and Content Note

Article published in Svenska Dagbladet no. 295.

Box 15, Folder 3

"Industria i det romerska riket," circa 1923

General Physical Description note: 20 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript of lecture or article, possibly published as "Stat och industri i det romerska riket" in Svenska Dagbladet Oct 31, 192, no. 296.

Box 15, Folder 4

Ur antikens liv och kultur, circa 1927

General Physical Description note: 72 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Paste-ups of the figures and captions for Ur antikens liv och kultur (Stockholm, 1927).

Box 15, Folder 5

"Grekiska sagor i belysning av fynd från Dendra" [Greek sagas and myths reflected in finds at Dendra], circa 1928

General Physical Description note: 26 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript of lecture or early draft of article published as "Grekiska sagor och myter i belysning av fynd från Dendrá, " Rig 11 (1928): 59-76.

Box 15, Folder 6

"Kostis Palamás," 1929

General Physical Description note: 16 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Typescript of unpublished (?) article.

Box 15, Folder 7

Hantverk och industri under antiken, 1929

General Physical Description note: 20 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Incomplete set of corrected proofs and one page of notes.

Box 15, Folder 8

"Die spätmykenische Inschrift aus Asine," 1932

General Physical Description note: 2 items

Scope and Content Note

Set of proofs and photograph of inscription with transliteration; for article published in Corolla archaeologica principi heredetario regni Sueciae Gustavo Adolfo dedicata (Lund, 1932): 208-215.

Box 15, Folder 9

"En bestigning av Parnassen [The ascent of Parnassus], 1932

General Physical Description note: 7 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Typescript of article published in Jorden Runt 4 (1932): 218-224.

Box 15, Folder 10

"Bild, liknelse och legend i det förhistoriska Grekland" [Image, metaphor and myth in prehistoric Greece], 1934 Jan 29

General Physical Description note: 25 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript of a lecture (?).

Box 15, Folder 11

"Grekisk helg" [Greek holidays], 1934

General Physical Description note: 6 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Typescript of article published in Julafton 1934: 17-22.

Box 15, Folder 12-13

Med hacka och med spade, 1853-1857, 1929-1934

Box 15, Folder 12

Plates, circa 1934

General Physical Description note: 23 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Paste-ups with captions for Plates 1-22 and 25-48.

Box 15, Folder 13

Research on Johan Hedenborg, 1853-1857, 1929

General Physical Description note: 80 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Research conducted circa 1929 on Johan Hedenborg, the Swedish naturalist, traveller and antiquarian; includes notes and photocopies of Hedenborg's correspondence.

Box 15, Folder 14

Asine, 1938 Jan

General Physical Description note: 31 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Untitled typescript of a lecture.

Box 15, Folder 15

Asine: results of the Swedish excavations 1922-1930, circa 1938

General Physical Description note: 54 items

Scope and Content Note

Figure proofs of finds from the excavation.

Box 15, Folder 16

"Iatros och medicus," circa 1940

General Physical Description note: 12 items

Scope and Content Note

Figure proofs for article published in Lychnos 1940: 166-199.

Box 15, Folder 17

"Mythology and archaeological discoveries," circa 1941

General Physical Description note: 3 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript describing course taught by Åkerström at Berkeley during his year as the Sather Professor.

Box 15, Folder 18

"Asine," undated

General Physical Description note: 13 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript of unidentified article (?).

Box 15, Folder 19

"Tre veckor i Asien, ett litet resebrev" [Three weeks in Asia], undated

General Physical Description note: 95 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Three drafts of typescript of unpublished (?) article.

Box 15, Folder 20

"Grekisk sång och saga som historisk källa" [Greek song and saga as historical sources], undated

General Physical Description note: 17 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript of lecture (?).

Box 15, Folder 21

"Griechische Sagen im Licht der Geschichte," undated

General Physical Description note: 10 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript of a lecture (?).

Box 15, Folder 22

"Greklands förhistoriska kulturer i belysning av de stora utgrävningarna" [Prehistoric Greek cultures reflected in the great excavations], undated

General Physical Description note: 23 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript of lecture.

Box 15, Folder 23

"Den kretisk-mykenska kulturen" [Cretan-Mycenaean culture], undated

General Physical Description note: 8 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript.

Box 15, Folder 24

"Det antika ödesdramat," undated

General Physical Description note: 8 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Typescript.

Box 15, Folder 25

"Frammende religioner i det romerska riket," undated

General Physical Description note: 17 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Manuscript.

Box 16, Folder 1

Survey of ancient art in Italy, undated

General Physical Description note: 188 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Untitled manuscript.

Box 16, Folder 2

Dendra, undated

General Physical Description note: 7 leaves

Scope and Content Note

Untitled typescript.

Box 16, Folder 3

Miscellaneous untitled manuscripts, undated

General Physical Description note: 45 leaves

Box 16, Folder 4

Miscellaneous untitled typescripts and proofs, undated

General Physical Description note: 61 leaves

Box 16, 18, 19

Photographic documentation of excavations and artifacts, 1927-1935, undated

Box 16, 18, 19

Dendra, 1927

Box 16, Folder 5

Photographs,

General Physical Description note: 50 items

Box 18, Folder 3

Glass negatives,

General Physical Description note: 11 items

Box 19

Damaged glass negatives,

General Physical Description note: 4 items

Box 16, Folder 6

Berbati, 1935

General Physical Description note: 4 photographs

Box 16, Folder 7

Miscellaneous photographs of antiquities, undated

General Physical Description note: 17 items

Box 16, Folder 8

Miscellaneous material, 1927-1934, undated

General Physical Description note: 7 items

Scope and Content Note

Includes a lecture attendance list and clippings, as well as unidentified notes and images.

Container List