A Cornell archaeological project in Greece has won a double dose of financial support from the citizens of a small Greek village and a major American archaeological foundation.

Residents of Malesina, a village in central Greece, have agreed to turn over a $50,000 parcel of property that will allow the university's excavations to continue at ancient Halai, said Cornell President Hunter Rawlings.

The property, a gift from the Malesina Town Council, is a seaside parcel in adjacent Theologos, on which a museum and storeroom will be built to house finds from the Halai acropolis.

In addition, Rawlings said, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory has awarded a $60,000 grant to the Cornell Halai and East Lokris Project (CHELP), directed by Classics Professor John E. Coleman, to finance this year's excavations at Halai. The institute is a major private foundation that provides grants for prehistoric projects in Greece. This is by far the largest grant CHELP has received from the foundation since it began excavations at Halai in 1990, according to Patricia S. Wren, senior staff member with CHELP and Cornell graduate student.

"Cornell is continuing to support the project with enthusiasm, and we're gratified by this endorsement of John Coleman's work," said Rawlings, a classicist with a keen interest in Greek archaeology. "This is a Cornell project that particularly deserves support."

Coleman, a Cornell archaeologist who has been working at Halai since 1987, said the property gift came about at the prompting of Malesina Mayor Loukas Karamintzos, a Malesina native and former New York City gynecologist.

The Greeks "have shown their appreciation for the excavations by providing Cornell an outpost in Greece for a long time to come," said Jeffrey Rusten, chair of the Department of Classics. "We're looking forward to keeping up the relationship."

Because antiquities have overfilled Greek museums, the Ministry of Culture has begun requiring foreign excavators to build permanent storage facilities for artifacts they unearth. The expense can be considerable for sites like Halai, which is located in the popular resort town of Theologos where property values are high. The gift parcel, just large enough for the museum/storeroom and an outdoor work and display area, will be landscaped to provide an attractive entryway to the town. The land and building eventually will be turned over to the Greek Archaeological Service, Coleman said.

Coleman and the classics department each have pledged $10,000 toward the overall project, which is expected to cost about $100,000, he said. Karamintzos has pledged municipal labor and an unspecified amount of municipal and private funds.

"It would have been impossible for us to go on without the property gift," Coleman said. "We're deeply grateful, not only for the chance to continue digging, but because the antiquities will be available to the public." The museum/storeroom site, on the Bay of Atalante, is just 300 meters from the Halai acropolis, where Coleman has uncovered occupation levels ranging from the Early Neolithic (circa 5900 B.C.) to Byzantine eras. Conspicuous on the acropolis are Archaic, Hellenistic and Roman remains, as well as a large Byzantine basilica dating to the sixth century A.D., within the ruins of which were found a mosaic of birds and a smaller, 12th-century chapel.

Artifacts from Halai, which was first excavated between 1911 and 1935 by Americans Hetty Goldman and Alice Walker- Kosmopoulis, are now stored in museums in Athens, Thebes and Lamia. Karamintzos plans to repatriate most of the items for the new museum/storeroom.

Cornell architectural students are being invited to draw up plans for the new building. No construction date has been set.

In addition to the property, the Malesina Town Council has voted to give CHELP use of a picturesque stone schoolhouse in Theologos, where artifacts newly recovered from the acropolis will undergo initial processing.

Greek enthusiasm for the Cornell project was amply demonstrated on a hot night last August when more than 100 area residents squeezed into the 50-seat Malesina Town Hall to view a slide show on the excavations.

Through his work at Halai, and previously at Elean Pylos in southern Greece, Coleman has become a pioneer in exploring life in smaller Greek cities, while most of his colleagues concentrate on richer palaces and temples made famous by myth and early writers.

"The backbone of the ancient Greek civilization is seen in smaller cities such as Halai," Coleman said.

With further digging, Coleman hopes that Halai will throw light on some of the current debates on Neolithic society, such as specialization in pottery production and the extent of trade, exchange and social organization.

Another mystery he hopes to explore is why the Neolithic population abandoned the low-lying acropolis circa 5300 B.C. He suspects it is because of a rising sea level that inundated the farm lands of these first sedentary people, who also brought the now-ubiquitous goat and sheep to Greece.

The acropolis lay deserted until approximately 600 B.C., when a fortified city was built with a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. The early Haliotes likely were fishermen, pirates and merchants who exploited the sea trade between Athens and the slave, grain and timber markets of northern Greece and the Black Sea colonies, Wren said.

Halai's outer city walls are now washed by waves of the bay, which is still dotted with fishing caiques and deep enough to accommodate sea-going vessels.

The sea, which has risen about six feet since 600 B.C., has salinated the earth of the acropolis to the extent that it is eroding exposed city walls. To help combat the erosion, the Greek Ministry of Culture is requiring Coleman to backfill all trenches.

By the time the backfilling project (begun in 1994) is completed, it will have been the largest and most costly of its kind in Greece, Coleman said.

A team of about 35 staffers, students and volunteers from around the United States will return to Halai for the seven- week excavation season, which begins June 17.

"It's fantastic that we'll be able to dig again this summer," Coleman said.

Students and volunteers interested in working on the project should contact Coleman at (607) 255-8335.