Basic Biographical Information
Homer Thompson (1906–2000) is best known for his formative contribution to the excavation of the civic center of ancient Athens. He was born in Ontario and raised in British Columbia, the son of classically minded parents. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Classics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, in 1925 and 1927, respectively, and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1929. That same year he collaborated with the Greek archaeologist Konstantinos Kourouniotes on an investigation of the Athenian Pnyx. On the recommendation of Benjamin Dean Meritt, Thompson was appointed one of the first two fellows of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens’ excavations in the Athenian Agora, in 1931. At the Agora he met and married another fellow, Dorothy Burr, a prominent archaeologist in her own right.
Major Accomplishments
From 1933 to 1947 Thompson held the position of Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsFurther Reading
Bibliography of Homer Thompson. 1982. Hesperia Supplements, Volume 20: Studies in Athenian architecture, sculpture and topography presented to Homer A. Thompson: vii-xii.
Dyson, S. L. 1998. Ancient marbles to American shores. Classical archaeology in the United States. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Martin, D. 2000. Homer Thompson dies at 93; led excavation of the Agora. New York Times, 13 May 2000.
Mauzy, C. 2006. Agora excavations, 1931–2006: a pictorial history. Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
McCredie, J. R. 2002. Homer Armstrong Thompson: 7 September 1906–7 May 2000. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 146: 411–14.
Meritt, L. S. 1984. History of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1939–1980. Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
Rotroff, S. I. 2001. Homer Armstrong Thompson, 1906–2000. American Journal of Archaeology 105: 99–100.
Wertime, R. A. 1988. The ingenious Homer Thompson. Archaeology 41(6): 36–43.
Wiseman, J. 2000. An American presence in Greece. Archaeology 53(4): 8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Diffendale, D.P. (2014). Thompson, Homer. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_933
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_933
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0426-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0465-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law