John Pendlebury excavated a number of ancient sites in the upland Plain of Lasithi in central Crete (Fig. 1) during the years 1936 – 1938. The prehistoric sites which he excavated were published in this annual before his death in World War II. This article describes the results of his excavations at three Iron Age settlements and their cemeteries in Lasithi.

The three sites – Agios Georgios Papoura, Donadhes, and Kolonna – are located along the northern edge of the Lasithi plain (Fig. 2). The finds from each excavation can be summarized as follows: I. Agios Georgios Papoura: Protogeometric to Archaic pottery from the settlement, and a nearby tomb of the Geometric period; II. Donadhes: a sixth century B.C. pottery deposit from an incompletely preserved building; III. Kolonna: two buildings, the first Archaic in date, and the second a weaving and dyeing establishment of the third century B.C., and a nearby tomb of the Archaic and Hellenistic periods.

One of the most exciting discoveries in Greek prehistory is a type of building of Early Helladic II date, discussed earlier by the present author and nicknamed “Corridor House.” The present study concerns itself with the relative chronology of seven of these, using two main criteria. One criterion concerns structural changes that can be ordered chronologically, namely the use of partial or complete “corridors” alongside a series of axially set rooms, with the more complete corridors, housing stairways, being later. A new structural criterion is whether the building used roof tiles. For instance, the lack of tiles, combined with the simple plan of the corridor house at Thebes, places it at the beginning of the development. Further, a restudy of the corridor house with an undeveloped plan at Akovitika has shown that it was without tiles, the tiles found near it actually belonging to a later building. Thus special roofing seems to have been introduced midway into the sequence. The second criterion makes use of recent publication on EH pottery. For instance, the style associated with the Theban building was Thebes Group A, earlier than the Lefkandi I style characteristic of the later corridor house on Aegina (The Weisses Haus). Clearly the Theban building is at the beginning of the development, with the later examples at Aegina and Lerna at the end. Other examples fall somewhere in between. Terms suggested for the architectural stages discernable are “rudimentary,” “transitional,” and “coalesced.”

This paper considers the recruitment of young archaeologists into the German military on Crete and its impact upon the development of archaeological agendas during the period of the Third Reich. It explores – as a case study – the archaeological activity of August Schörgendorfer, an Austrian archaeologist, on German-occupied Crete. Schörgendorfer enlisted as a Wehrmacht officer, was upgraded to a Kunstschutz officer through the intervention of Major General Julius Ringel, and in 1941–2 undertook illicit excavations at Knossos and in the Mesara. By presenting data collected through archival research and Schörgendorfer's previously unpublished photo album of Crete, I explore his ideological trajectories and his archaeological itineraries on the island under occupation. Integrating the latter with the recent historiography of Nazi-era archaeology illuminates undocumented aspects of the Wehrmacht’s archaeological research on the island. Facets of the cultural policies of the German Archaeological Institute and wider questions of archaeological ethics are informed by analysing the entanglement of archaeological institutions and archaeologists with the political turmoil of the era of World War II.

Modern perceptions of the ancient Piraeus have been monopolised by the urban image and function of the port as the naval stronghold of Classical Athens. Existing scholarship so far has tended to consider the post-Classical centuries, especially the era following the sack of the port in 86 bc by the Romans, as a period of decline. Such preconceptions, based on largely superficial readings of a few ancient literary texts and a near-total disregard of the material evidence, have created a distorted image of the Piraeus and its significance in the Roman period. Drawing upon textual sources as well as archaeological evidence, this paper explores the changing nature of urban settlement, maritime functions and the economy of the port from the time of its destruction in 86 bc to around the sixth century ad. Particular emphasis is placed on a re-examination of the existing evidence from rescue excavations conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service as they relate to the topography of the Roman port and its long-term evolution. This combined study offers a more complex picture of the infrastructure, urban image and operational capability of the port during the Roman period than was hitherto possible. It also permits a more balanced understanding of the port's function at local, regional and provincial levels, and thus enables comparisons with other Roman ports in the Aegean and the rest of the Mediterranean.

This article presents new excavation results from three oval or apsidal houses discovered at the site of Maydos-Kilisetepe (ancient Madytos), which is located near the coast of the Hellespont on the Gallipoli peninsula. The houses date to the late eighth to early sixth century bc. The material from Maydos is evaluated in comparison with the nearby site of Troy (Ilion) and situated within the wider context of developments in the north-eastern Aegean region during the Late Geometric to Early Archaic periods. From the mid-eighth to the mid-seventh century, a cultural koine existed in the north-eastern Aegean, shown by the strong similarities in material culture among the sites in the region. Troy was most probably a large regional centre, while Maydos functioned as a smaller settlement within this network. The power and influence of this koine declined or was replaced in the mid-seventh century, when there was a sudden influx of Ionian-style ceramics at Maydos, around the same time that Troy experienced a destruction. The patterns of cultural interactions changed with the establishment of Greek (primarily Ionian and Athenian) colonies on both sides of the Hellespont during the second half of the seventh to the early sixth century.

Lieu de trouvaille et date. Le cratère à représentation de char qui fait l'objet de cette étude a été trouvé au cours de notre huitième campagne de fouilles parmi les ruines d'une habitation, au pied de l'acropole nord-est du tell. Il y a là dans les couches du Ier niveau les vestiges d'un quartier datant des XVe–XIIIe siècles. L'une des maisons était habitée par un artisan qui semble avoir pratiqué le métier d'orfèvre, à en juger par la balance de précision, le jeu de poids et le moule que nous avons retrouvé dans son habitation. C'est à lui aussi qu'appartenait peut-être le cratère dont les fragments ont été recueillis au même endroit. La profondeur à laquelle ils furent rencontrés et le contexte archéologique permettent d'attribuer ce vase au XIVe siècle avant notre ère. Sa hauteur est de 46cm, le plus grand diamètre de la panse est de 37cm. 5, fig. 1.

Earlier accounts of the traces of Xerxes' canal are discussed and the results of a new survey of the remains presented.

Sailing into Astakos Bay, which the Navy calls Dragomesti Bay, along the S.E. coast of the Krithote Peninsula, one passes the little Church of H. Nikolaos, and then a yawning black cave-mouth in the precipice of limestone 500 ft. above (Pl. 23a), about one hour's walk from Astakos. The lowest entrance is visible above a carob tree, and nothing was discovered in the lowest cave, tested at M (see section, Fig. 1a). We climbed up a ladder to a pleasant platform in the open where there was a terracotta or so. Another ladder, with a sheer drop below and a nice fig-tree alongside (Pl. 23b), led to the real entrance. I went first; the ladder broke, but I clutched the fig-tree. The foreman had hysterics, which was our only casualty, except one malingerer on the last day, who attributed his (alleged) fever to the miasma of the Neolithic dead.

When Pendlebury wrote his book The Archaeology of Crete (1939) so few sites of the earlier Minoan periods had been recognized in the parts of Crete west of Mt. Ida that he was led to suggest that this region, over a third of the island in area, was virtually unsettled before L.M. III times. Some years earlier Marinatos had commented upon the fact that, whereas there was evidence of occupation in the west of Crete both during Neolithic times and at the end of the Late Minoan period, hardly any relics assignable to the Middle Minoan period had been identified there. Since then many more caves with traces of Neolithic or Early Minoan occupation have been noted in western Crete, especially during the last few years owing to the researches of M. Paul Faure. At the same time a number of open settlements have been identified, with evidence of occupation during the flourishing period of the Minoan civilization between M.M. I and L.M. I.

Notable among these are a couple of sites in the extreme south-west corner of Crete (A. 1, 2), ‘literally at the back of beyond’, as Pendlebury described it. The first of these by the Monastery of Khrisoskalitissa (Virgin of the Golden Stairs) was noted by Pendlebury, who claimed to have found L.M. I sherds there. But much of the pottery recovered by us in 1963 from this and the site at ‘Thrimbokambos’ (A. 2) further south appears to be rather M.M., and some of it M.M. I or earlier (E.M. II) in character.

This article concerns the plague of 746–747, which took the lives of many in the Byzantine empire, especially in Constantinople. After discussing the main sources (i.e. the patriarch Nikephoros, Theodore the Stoudite, and Theophanes), mention is made of the possible influences which the plague had on developments in the iconoclastic controversy during the reign of Constantine V (741–75). The persecution of iconophile monks as well as attacks against the Holy (e.g., churches, icons, holy relics etc.) is placed in a more general psychological context which is at least partly explained by the plague. Finally, a brief reference is made to the Life of Leo of Katania which may reflect iconoclastic opinion on the matters given above.

The development of amphora production in Colchis is examined, from its beginnings in the mid-4th cent. BC under the influence of vessels from Sinope. The emergence of amphora production should be seen as the result of Hellenic influence upon the economy and upon craftsmen of the E littoral of the Black Sea. Throughout the Classical period one type of Colchian amphora existed, which underwent drastic change in the course of time. Three successive variants may be discerned. The earliest, from the mid-4th to 3rd cent. BC, retains similarities with the Sinopean prototypes. In the late 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, substantial changes in morphology and dimensions take place. In the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD the third variant, with a rib under the rim, appears. Petrographic analysis shows that the vessels were made within one extensive region, Colchis, but at a variety of centres. They were produced in state-owned and private workshops, employing both Greek and local craftsmen. The Greek workshops (or those which had links with Greek potters) were the main exporters of amphorae to the northern Black Sea coastal region from the 4th cent, BC to 1st cent. AD.

The statistical evaluation of NAA data for 250 Mycenaean potsherds from the Peloponnese (Achaea, Ayios Stephanos, Chora Ano Englianos, Nichoria, Olympia-Kolosakos, Peristeria, Palaiokastro and Platanos-Renia) resulted in twelve chemical groups defining the composition of pottery from the different regions. Earlier groupings of pottery from Ayios Stephanos and Nichoria were confirmed and chemical profiles were also produced for pottery from western Messenia and the north-east Peloponnese.

The north-east Peloponnesian groups are chemically very similar to Argolid pottery groups, such that the provenance of a group of early (LH I/II) pottery identified in this study, and of this chemical type, remains uncertain. This aside, the groups' chemical profiles are quite distinct from those representative of other areas of mainland Greece and Crete.

This article makes use of recently published graves to offer the first synthetic analysis of the typology and topography of Spartan burials that is founded on archaeological evidence. Our knowledge of Spartan burial practices has long been based almost entirely on textual sources – excavations conducted in Sparta between 1906 and 1994 uncovered fewer than 20 pre-Roman graves. The absence of pre-Roman cemeteries led scholars to conclude that, as long as the Lycurgan customs were in effect, all burials in Sparta were intracommunal and that few tombs had been found because they had been destroyed by later building activity. Burial practices have, as a result, been seen as one of many ways in which Sparta was an outlier. The aforementioned recently published graves offer a different picture of Spartan burial practices. It is now clear that there was at least one extracommunal cemetery in the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. What would normally be described as extramural burials did, therefore, take place, but intracommunal burials of adults continued to be made in Sparta throughout the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods. Those burials were concentrated along important roads and on the slopes of hills. The emergent understanding of Spartan burial practices takes on added significance when placed in a wider context. Burial practices in Sparta align closely with those found in Argos and Corinth. Indeed, burial practices in Sparta, rather than being exceptional, are notably similar to those of its most important Peloponnesian neighbours; a key issue is that in all three poleis intracommunal burials continued to take place through the Hellenistic period. The finding that adults were buried both extracommunally and intracommunally in Sparta, Argos and Corinth after the Geometric period calls into question the standard narrative of the development of Greek burial practices in the post-Mycenaean period.

Fragments of a large Black-Glazed Cup with part of an incised inscription are published. A date c. 590—570 is suggested. A second, slightly earlier cup from the Menelaion is included. The inscription refers to the cult of Zeus Messapeus attested in the sources. Discussion centres on the location of the cult-place and the origin of the cult. It is suggested that it derives from the region of Messapia in South Italy where the Spartan colony of Taras was situated.

A set of notes found in the Ashmolean Museum Archives, unknown until now, and written by Sir Arthur Evans, has provided the basis for this paper. In them, Evans made annotated drawings of the most important objects recovered from the Temple Repositories of the Palace at Knossos, as well as of the Repositories themselves. Some ideas and issues developed in Evans's subsequent publications can be traced in their first forms in these notes. It is very significant that next to each drawing Evans wrote a figure, evidently the total of similar objects—something he did not do to such an extent in the publications. The section dealing with the sealings may reveal their actual number, as well as a certain confusion between the actual impressed surfaces and the sealings themselves. Reproductions of Evans's pages, transcriptions, and the author's comments on important points make up the bulk of the article. A more complete and enlarged corpus of the objects is now feasible; here an abbreviated catalogue of the newly identified objects is appended.

Pelikáta hill might best be described as a spur of Mt. Exogé, which lies immediately to the west of it; but it is also joined on the south to the central peak of the island (Mt. Anogé) by a narrow ridge on which stands the main street of Stavrós village. Elsewhere it is detached (Pl. 2), and its sides fall in irregular gradations, broken further by terraces, to Afáles bay on the north, Phríkes bay on the east and Pólis bay on the south. From the summit all three bays are visible and any one of them can be reached in a short half-hour. In addition to its command of the three bays, Pelikáta has to-day, and presumably had in the past, a supply of first-rate drinking-water, reached at a depth of a few metres below the surface; and a small level space on the actual summit.

The significance of Greek chevron and pendent semicircle skyphoi to the dating of I, IIA, IIB, and III at Veii, and thus the dating of the early Iron Age in Central Italy, is discussed. A survey of examples of chevron skyphoi from Greece defines and dates the various probable centres of manufacture: Athens, Corinth, Cyclades, Euboea, Crete, Rhodes, East Greece, Argolid. The Veii chevron skyphoi are assigned to their probable places of origin, and a later date argued for them (IIA 780–730, IIB 750–710). The pendent semicircle skyphoi from Veii are described. The chronology and typology of the psc skyphoi in general are discussed. It is argued that the major production centres of the psc skyphoi had shifted to the east by the late Geometric period.

Whilst archon, in 493/2 B.C., Themistokles began his constructions at Peiraeus, which he got finished in 479/8 (Thuc. I. 93.3). On the latter occasion he persuaded (ἔπεισε) the demos: on the former he evidently acted in virtue of the archon's powers. What powers?

The classical archon's functions were mainly two: to conduct certain public festivals, and to see to such lawsuits as pertained to the family. Not unimportant functions, at least not unimportant in the archaic state: when his discretion in his own court was still considerable, the man who could, e.g., dispose of heiresses had much power and enjoyed much confidence. But not by any means enough to account for his known importance.

The material for the present study was collected during 1963 and 1964, on various expeditions to eastern Arcadia. My original intention was to survey the whole province with regard to its prehistoric occupation; this, however, proved too great a task in the time available, and I was able to cover little more than the highland plains around the Classical cities of Tegea, Mantinea, and Orchomenos. The following work will therefore be mainly concerned with that area, which constitutes eastern Arcadia, although I have also listed the evidence for prehistoric habitation over the remainder of the province as well. I have taken the province to cover the area as described by Pausanias, rather than the present-day administrative unit. This is not an exhaustive survey, even of the area most intensively covered; rather it should be seen as a preliminary work, which will, it is hoped, stimulate interest in further field-work and perhaps excavation in this neglected area of the Peloponnese.

Scores of Neolithic sites have been excavated in west Macedonia since the 1990s, yet the majority are relatively short-lived installations, lacking high-resolution stratigraphies and sequences of radiocarbon dates. Megalo Nisi Galanis, a large mound in the Kitrini Limni basin, near modern Kozani, is a rare exception to that pattern. Systematically surveyed and excavated in 1987–9 and 1993, this site covers a large part of the Neolithic period in a stratified, radiocarbon-dated sequence capped in places by thin deposits of the Early Bronze Age. We present here the critical details of that sequence and relate them to evidence from other, recently excavated sites in west Macedonia. Megalo Nisi Galanis was first settled in the Early Neolithic (late seventh millennium bc), was intensively occupied until the early phases of the Final Neolithic (around 4500 bc), and continued to be inhabited, albeit sparely or intermittently, until the transition from the Early to the Middle Bronze Age, about 1800 bc. By the end of occupation, the mound covered more than eight hectares and rose up to five metres above the surrounding landscape. We attend closely to features of that landscape that are likely to have played an important role in the history of occupation of the site and Kitrini Limni in the course of the Holocene.