The Griffin Warrior of Pylos and the Origins of Mycenaean Kingship

Sharon Stocker received a BA in History and Classics from Denison University and an MA and PhD from the University of Cincinnati’s graduate program in Aegean prehistory. She has worked on archaeological excavations in the United States and Greece and, since 1996, has directed excavations at Pylos and in Albania. Sharon has lived in Pylos since 2011, initially to direct a Cincinnati team collaborating with the Greek Ministry of Culture in improving touristic facilities at the Palace of Nestor. That collaboration resulted in the construction of a magnificent shelter that protects the remains of the Mycenaean palace. Stocker co-directed the team that discovered the unparalleled grave of the Griffin Warrior in 2015 and two previously unknown Mycenaean beehive tombs in 2018. She is coordinating efforts to bring exhibits of these finds to museums, including the National Museum of Athens and the Getty Villa Museum where it is on view June 25, 2025 through January 12, 2026.

Jack Davis began his university career as a student of Classics, but was attracted to the University of Cincinnati’s renowned program in the prehistory of the Aegean for graduate studies. He became involved in the university’s excavations at the archaeological site of Ayia Irini on the island of Kea. At present he serves as director of publications for a series of monographs reporting the results of those excavations. In the 1980s he applied new approaches to the study of ancient patterns of settlement and Greek landscapes, most recently to the area of Pylos and the landscapes of the ancient Greek colonial foundations at Dyrrachium and Apollonia in present-day Albania, the first projects to be launched in that country. In 1993, Davis accepted the endowed post of Carl Blegen Professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Cincinnati, and, since 2015, he has co-directed the team that discovered the grave of the Griffin Warrior and two Mycenaean beehive tombs.