Dora Katsonopoulou

Dora Katsonopoulou is a Greek archaeologist and adjunct professor at the University of Windsor, Canada. She is known for directing excavations that rediscovered the ancient city of Helike, a classical Greek city destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 373 BC. She serves as president of the Helike Society and director of the Helike Project. The discoveries also included remains of textile workshop complexes of the post-earthquake town of Helike, containing many coins, pottery, clay and metal objects.

Interdisciplinary research

Katsonopoulou's archaeological research has been published in major international peer-reviewed journals. Her collaborative work with geologists and micropaleontologists on the geological and archaeological evidence at Helike appeared in the Journal of Coastal Research in 2008 and Geoarchaeology in 2011. These studies documented evidence of settlements spanning from the Early Bronze Age to Late Antiquity and analyzed the seismic and coastal processes that affected the ancient city.

Recognition and media coverage

Katsonopoulou's work at Helike has received significant international media attention. The discovery has been featured in scientific documentaries including BBC Horizon's "Helike: The Real Atlantis" (2001), Discovery Channel's "Sunken City of Helike" (2023), and Channel 5's "Atlantis: The Discovery With Dan Snow" (2024). The project was also covered by The New York Times in 2000 and 2003,

In 2015, author Mark Adams featured Katsonopoulou's work in his New York Times bestselling book Meet Me in Atlantis: Across Three Continents in Search of the Legendary Sunken City, which explored various theories about the location of Atlantis.

Other archaeological work

Katsonopoulou participated in the excavations of Cornell University at the site of Halai, Lokris, Central Greece. She is also president of the Institute for Archaeology of Paros and the Cyclades, where she has organized international conferences on the archaeology of Paros and its famous marble quarries and sculptural traditions.

Publications

Books Katsonopoulou, Dora (2023). Ancient Aigialeia. Helike Society.

Edited volumes Katsonopoulou has edited 13 collective volumes on the archaeology of Helike and Aigialeia, and of Paros and the Cyclades.

Selected articles Katsonopoulou has published extensively in Greek and international journals and Conference proceedings. Her work includes contributions to major peer-reviewed journals in archaeology, geoarchaeology, and coastal research.