Blegen

Blegen is a surname. The most prominent bearer is Carl Blegen (1901–1971), an American classical archaeologist who specialized in the Aegean Bronze Age. A professor at the University of Cincinnati, he conducted major fieldwork in Greece and directed excavations at sites such as Pylos, where the Palace of Nestor was investigated. The Pylos dig yielded a substantial corpus of Linear B tablets, making a significant contribution to the study of Mycenaean Greece and the administration of its palatial centers. Blegen's publications and field reports helped establish a framework for understanding Bronze Age Greece; the tablets and artifacts recovered under his leadership provided essential material for later decipherment and scholarly interpretation, even as Linear B was ultimately deciphered by Michael Ventris and colleagues in the 1950s.

Beyond fieldwork, Blegen is associated with the Blegen Library at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Named in his honor, the library serves as the institution's principal resource for archaeology and classical studies, housing extensive collections and supporting scholars from around the world.

His work helped anchor modern understanding of Mycenaean civilization and Bronze Age governance, architecture, and daily life.