This paper presents the collections history and typological characteristics of a small collection of Laconian lead figurines from the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia currently held in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The collection, which first belonged to Ramsay Traquair, serves as a case study for the applicability of the traditional lead figurine typology to decontextualised artefacts, demonstrating its limitations for assigning precise and accurate dates based on style without the benefit of stratigraphic and contextual evidence. The paper further attests to the value of comprehensively analysing small museum and gallery collections in order to gain more individualised understandings of the figurines within the large Laconian corpus than could be afforded upon excavation. Thus, this study helps to elucidate some of the limitations to the means by which we interpret Laconian material culture as well as to nuance our understanding of Laconian lead figurines by demonstrating the varied capability of the typology and published comparanda in dating and stylistic description.

This article argues that Ionia, located in the central part of western Anatolia, was one of key areas of metallurgical innovation in the Aegean during the transitional period from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age. Recent evidence from this region challenges the established narrative that envisions a rather consistent diffusion of iron technologies from Cyprus arriving predominantly via the western part of the Aegean region. This contribution provides a new understanding of the spread of iron technologies in the Aegean by paying particular attention to the social context of technological change and by stressing the need for regional approaches within the Aegean. Crucially, it reassesses the latest evidence from central western Anatolia, and contextualises it within the key cultural, social and technological axes of continuity and change between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age. This study complements the recent methodological discussions related to the integration of bronze and iron technologies that foreground regional perspectives and pay attention to local knowledge-scapes.

Aegean Archaeology is one of the oldest branches of prehistoric archaeological scholarship, and many important settlements and cemeteries, such as those at Mycenae, were excavated before the development of more advanced recording techniques that we take for granted today. Nevertheless, the significance of these legacy data as a source of knowledge means we must still find ways to integrate them into our interpretations, despite their limitations. To derive the most robust results possible, it is important to understand exactly what types of impact these earlier recording strategies may have had on our perception of their findings. Yet this type of investigation is rare, meaning that in many cases we know more about the repercussions of taphonomy and the social practices of past societies on the archaeological record than those caused by the actions of our own predecessors. In preparation for a holistic study of all aspects of the use of metals at the Late Bronze Age site of Mycenae, this paper details the exploration of the recording processes in place during the 1939 excavation season. This has been identified as an ideal case study for examining recording strategies because its organisational structure gave each trench supervisor a great deal of individual freedom. Concentrating on their consequences for metal artefacts in particular, each stage of the recording process, in the field, in the museum and in publications, is discussed, as is the aftermath of the Second World War.