Christos Tsountas

Christos Tsountas
Χρήστος Τσούντας
Photographed in 1879
Born	1857 Eastern Rumelia, Ottoman Empire
Died	June 9, 1934(1934-06-09) (aged 76–77)
Nationality	Greek
Known for	Study and naming of Cycladic culture
Awards	Order of the Redeemer (Silver Cross and Gold Cross) Order of the Red Eagle (4th class)
Academic background
Education	Royal College of Technology, Hannover University of Munich University of Jena
Influences	Heinrich Brunn Constantine Paparrigopoulos Panagiotis Stamatakis
Academic work
Discipline	Archaeology
Sub-discipline	Greek prehistory
Institutions	Greek Archaeological Service University of Athens University of Thessaloniki
Notable students	Christos Karouzos Semni Karouzou George Mylonas
Signature

Christos Tsountas (Greek: Χρήστος Τσούντας; 1857 – 9 June 1934) was a Greek classical archaeologist. He is considered a pioneer of Greek archaeology and has been called "the first and most eminent Greek prehistorian".^[1]

Born in Stenimachos in Thrace in 1857, Tsountas received his university education in Germany, at the universities of Hannover, Munich and Jena. After a brief period working as a teacher, he was hired by the Archaeological Society of Athens as an archaeological official in 1882, and joined the Greek Archaeological Service the following year. He was most active as a field archaeologist in the early decades of his life, carrying out the first archaeological survey of Thessaly, excavating several Mycenaean tombs in Laconia, and carrying out the first formal excavations of the citadel of Mycenae. In the late 1890s, his discoveries in the Cyclades generated the first evidence of Cycladic culture, to which Tsountas gave its name.

Tsountas became a professor of the University of Athens in 1904, from which point he largely retired from practical archaeological work. He published several monographs and textbooks on prehistoric archaeology, including works which became standard works in the field. He moved to the University of Thessaloniki between 1925 and 1926, and died in 1934.