1. The Building

The Archaeological Museum of Chaeronea was built in 1903-1907, and the construction cost was met by the Archaeological Society at Athens; it was erected immediately adjacent to the -nowadays restored- funerary monument of the so-called Lion of Chaeronea. It was established to shelter the finds from the first excavations conducted by the Archaeological Society at Athens. In the 1903-1907 period, under the supervision of archaeologist Georgios Sotiriades, the Society excavated the site of the communal tomb (polyandrion) of the Macedonians fallen in the 338 BC battle, as well as at a series of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age sites in the river valley of Boeotian Cephissus. Because of the extensive damage it suffered in the 1981 earthquakes, it closed its doors to the public in 1995, in order to undergo extensive restoration and re-organize its galleries. The project was funded by the Regional Operational Programme for Continental Greece of the Third Community Support Framework. The re- organization of the galleries (a subproject to the above) was conducted directly by the 9th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities in the period 2004-2009.

2. The galleries: permanent exhibition

2.1. Entrance Hall

The museum comprises three galleries (entrance hall and two rooms), with exhibits spanning a period from Prehistoric times to the Early Christian Era. The exhibits in the display cases come to life with the help of rich textual and visual material (explanatory texts, annotations, maps, sketches, pictures, chronologies, charts) and modern technologies (video projection).

The entrance hall is dedicated to the history of ancient Chaeronea and its wider region, where some of the most decisive battles of Antiquity were fought, like those of 338 and 86 BC. Among the most important finds in this room are weapons, pottery and minor artefacts, originating from the tomb of the Macedonians killed in the 338 BC battle, as well as in the polyandrion where all of the 300 fallen Thebans of the Sacred Band were buried. Over the polyandrion, the Thebans erected the Lion Monument in remembrance of their brave fight in defence of a vanishing world. This thematic unit is complemented by an inscribed base from one of the two trophies set up by Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix in the area of Chaeronea to commemorate his victory over the army of Mithridates VI, king of Pontus, in 86 BC.

2.2 Gallery A

Gallery Α to the left of the entrance hall contains Prehistoric finds from northern Boeotia.

The exhibition’s first display case (Permanent settlement) contains the model of a small house, dating to the Middle Neolithic era (5800-5300 BC); this is one of the few house models to have survived intact from this period. This exhibit speaks eloquently of the changes that took place during the so-called ‘Neolithic Revolution’. Humans gradually abandoned the hunter-gatherer stage and adopted a productive lifestyle by domesticating animals, cultivating the earth and forming permanent settlements. The next display case (New Life, New Tools) contains artefacts that offer insight on the everyday activities of Neolithic humans, while display case no. 3 (Symbols and Meanings) comprises artefacts related to their spiritual and ideological concerns.

The Bronze Age (3300 - 1100 BC) is represented by five thematic units corresponding to an equal number of display cases. Display cases 4 and 5 (Securing, processing, consuming and storing foodstuffs; ritual banquets of the Bronze Age and their vessels) pertain to specific subjects like agriculture, fishing, dietary habits, cooking utensils, food storage and consumption and ritual dinners. Emphasis is given to domestic crafts (display case no. 6: Manufacturing activities: from domestic crafts to palatial production) and trade (display case no. 8: Trade in the Bronze Age), while one of the most important exhibits in this room is a treasure of bronze tools from Orchomenus, dated to c. 1200 BC; these were probably assembled by a metalworker to be melt down and recast (display case no. 7: Metalworking: man’s great innovation).

2.3 Gallery B

In gallery Β visitors are introduced to historic times. Display case no. 9 (Northern Boeotia in early historic times) contains Geometric pottery (900-750/700 BC), originating from the sites of Orchomenus, Vranezi and Mavroneri Davleias. The features of the early historic society in northern Boeotia can be traced with the help of the pottery unearthed in the area’s cemeteries. Thanks to these, we have established that during the early historic period the local inhabitants were not cut off from the developments occurring in neighbouring areas. Ideas, trends and currents from other known centres of civilization in Antiquity (Attica, Corinth, Thessaly, and Euboea) influenced local artists, who adapted these to the needs and particular tastes of their local clientele.

The exhibits (pottery and figurines) in display case no. 10 (The ultimate voyage) originate exclusively from the necropolises of northern Boeotia. This section deals with the extremely sensitive and emotional issue of death, focusing on the diachronic evolution of burial customs and practices in the area of northern Boeotia, and the significance of the multi-faceted information that can be gleaned from burials.

Display case no. 11 (Sanctuaries and Cults) contains finds from an apothetes of a rural sanctuary in the area of Giftisa Orchomenou. Outstanding among the finds is a clay loom weight of the 5th cent. BC, bearing the inscription ΕΥΡΥΝΟΜΑ, which reinforces the identification of the structure, in whose apothetes it was unearthed, as a sanctuary dedicated to the Charites. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Eurynome was the mother of the Charites, whose cult was quite prominent in Orchomenus.

Display case no. 12 (Cultic practices: libations and votive offerings) includes artefacts related to cultic practices, while display case no. 14 (Domestic life) features finds originating from rescue excavations conducted in the necropolises of northern Boeotia in recent years, which outline the everyday life of men, women and children.

Display case no. 15 contains part of the numismatic collection of the Chaeronea Museum, comprising coins unearthed in excavations in northern Boeotia (Chaeronea, Orchomenus, Livadia, Aghios Vlasios). The earliest coin in the exhibition was minted at Aegina and is dated to the 5th cent. BC, while the latest one is a phollis from a Constantinople mint, issued in 976-1030/1035 AD. Both coins were discovered at Livadia.

Finally, the exhibition’s collection of sculptures contains finds representative of the evolution of Greek sculpture from the Archaic period to Late Antiquity.

Outstanding among these are: a kouros, probably made by a Parian workshop and found in Orchomenus (550-540 BC); part of a funerary stele from Chaeronea, dated to the late 5th-early 4th cent. BC and probably crafted by a Thespian workshop; and a sphere bearing bas-relief bust depicting Helios and Selene from Livadia, dating from the late 1st cent. BC - early 1st cent. AD.

The centre of the room is dominated by a statue of Cybele from Livadia, the work of an Athenian sculptor, according to the inscription on its pedestal. It is a Roman copy (2nd cent. AD) of the celebrated statue of Cybele, the work of Agoracritus, that was set up in the Metroon of the Athenian Agora.