The name is absent

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dwellings undergo regularly as social and kin ties change over time. When the need
arises for a new home in the community, it is common to subdivide and expand the
current dwelling of a relative or close friend rather than build a new one. This is
accomplished by erecting a more permanent wall somewhere near the middle of a home,
pushing out other walls, and adding a new doorway. However, Romani houses have also
come to be adorned with pillars that are used to hold up awnings and doorway overhangs,
whitewashed walls with blue accents, Greek flags and religious icons, and all manner of
Greek architectural particulars. Some homes even have clay shingles laid over the
corrugated metal sheets or plastic-dressed cardboard that usually make up the roofs of
Romani houses, others feature outdoor coffee tables fashioned from discarded pieces of
marble. However, perhaps the most symbolic mix of Greek elements into Romani
architecture occurs much more clandestinely.

In addition to pillaging building materials from construction sites, some Romani
men have begun stealing supplies and artifacts from archaeological excavations in and
around Athens. The materials they gather are highly sought after in Roma camps as they
provide their owners with a great deal of cultural capital. Of note, the value of the
material does not seem tied to its type (artifact versus modem tool or supply), age, or
aesthetic quality; rather, the Roma prize the fact that it was taken from an archaeological
site, only. When asked about this I was told that archaeological sites concentrate the
Greek identity: they contain material to which national discourses are connected; they
have an air of ancient authority and mystery; powerful, educated people seem to be in
charge of the sites and the materials within them; and, perhaps most importantly, the sites
are closed to outsiders and, significantly, even to ordinary individuals who have a claim

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