This paper presents the results from the pilot analytical study of the Aegean Late–Final Neolithic/Anatolian Middle–Late Chalcolithic (c. 5500–3200/3000 BC) pottery from the Kastro-Tigani settlement, located in south-east Samos (east Aegean). In addition to Crete, the region of the insular eastern Aegean has produced the earliest evidence for Neolithic habitation. The archaeological traces at Kastro-Tigani are so far the earliest known on Samos, being partly contemporary with the recently discovered Middle–Late Chalcolithic layers at the Heraion, lying in close proximity to the former site, and at the Agriomernos cave (Megalo Seitani) in the north-west part of the island. The re-evaluation of the ceramic assemblage from Kastro-Tigani has led to the laboratory analysis of 34 samples, using a combination of thin-section petrography and Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy, in order to determine provenance and establish reference groups for the earliest local production on Samos. This first compositional characterisation of the pottery contributes new data in a relatively under-studied region and provides grounds for comparison with analytical results from the Heraion, with the aim to investigate possible relations between the sites. Hence, the identification of different strategies in pottery production, reflected in the overall distinct fabric and chemical groups, further indicates the practice of several production units and the exploitation of various raw material sources at the Pythagoreion/Chora plain. Isolated examples of possible imported ceramic vessels, as well as exotica (e.g. obsidian, acrolithic and Kilia figurines, ring-shaped features, marble vessels, kratiriskoi) are highlighted as markers of macro-scale interaction in the context of Aegean early maritime connectivity.

This article presents a Late Helladic IIIC Early deposit of pottery and small finds deriving from rescue excavations at the Kokotsika plot in Kastro/Palaia, within the modern city of Volos. It is the first systematically published deposit from that site, providing data on stratigraphy, small finds, pottery typology, decoration, fabrics and use-wear patterns, supplemented with detailed statistics. A particular feature of the recovered assemblage is the comparatively high frequency of Handmade Burnished Ware, as well as the presence of Grey Ware, both seen as products of people deriving from the Italian peninsula. The presented deposit provides valuable new data both for the site of Kastro/Palaia, as well as for the region of coastal Thessaly. The revealed remains and stratigraphy might be related to the structures exposed in nearby plots by earlier excavation campaigns of D. Theocharis. The deposit documents most likely a slightly later stage of Late Helladic IIIC Early compared to what is present at the abandonment deposits at Dimini and Pefkakia. As such it provides new clues for the reconstruction of regional history, confirming earlier views that Kastro/Palaia attracted people who left other habitation sites in the area.

This paper investigates the transformative effects on technology of state collapse and related major cultural transitions in the period 1200–1000 BC (Late Bronze to Iron Age). It documents and assesses a notably large, preserved metal artefact assemblage (mainly bronze) from one of the best-known Mediterranean sites of the period. This is the large mountaintop town of Karphi, recently confirmed through excavation as occupied solely at the Bronze–Iron transition. Few other contemporary Aegean settlements sharing these characteristics of size, complexity and single-period occupation have been excavated, producing a lack of comparably informative metals assemblages. This contextual interpretative study considers in-depth knowledge of the archaeology of the site and its landscape alongside the results (published and discussed in Archaeometry in 2021) of surface HH-XRF testing on the whole assemblage. The latter is preserved in similar condition throughout, offering opportunities for broad internal alloy composition profiling by the latter method, as well as limited general compositional comparison with other assemblages from the contemporary Mediterranean. Comparisons of an interregional nature are attempted through typological, technological and contextual study of the Karphi material. In considering using this range of evidence, and considering how procurement, manufacturing technology and consumption processes around bulk metals and metal artefacts changed following state collapse, the analysis dwells on and highlights signs of locally centred, agent-driven shifts in contact, cultural and economic networks. On the basis of the full range of evidence addressed, it argues that Lasithian groups made specific, informed choices about manufacture and consumption without relying on specialised manufacture and supply from other points within Crete.

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.

Mandra, on the uninhabited islet of Despotiko in the middle of the Aegean Sea, is well known to the archaeological community, owing to the discovery there in 2001 of an extensive sanctuary of Apollo. Twenty-two edifices have come to light so far, and the systematic excavation continues to elucidate the long history of the site. The Early Iron Age marked the earliest activity there, traces of which offer fertile grounds for reconsidering life in the Cyclades at the time. The richest evidence for this period is offered by a secondary deposition, detected near two Early Iron Age buildings, which revealed thousands of clay sherds, extending from the late ninth/early eighth to the late sixth century BC, quantities of animal bones, and more than 60 metal objects. This article focuses on a small group of Early Iron Age terracotta animal figurines from this deposition. Critically analysing both their association with ritual and the polarity of ritual and profane, an attempt is made to unravel the lifecycle of these figurines, treating them as agents of activity. Their function and meaning are interwoven with the activities operating at the site during the Early Iron Age, at least two centuries before the foundation of the Archaic temenos.

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 paper discusses gilded wreaths from the Greek world, which were sometimes buried in graves in the period between the fourth century BC and Roman times. It is based upon a study undertaken by the author for her doctoral thesis. A categorisation into seven types is proposed, based on first-hand study of some 170 wreaths. Some of the wreaths studied are presented here and a detailed description of one representative example of each type with contextual information is set out in the Appendix. It is not clear whether gilded wreaths were worn in life, but their main use seems to have been funerary. Most were intended for the head, and some ideas as to how the various types may have been worn are proposed. Suggestions as to the probable origin of each of the various types are made, with caveats. The author was able to analyse many wreaths, enabling her to draw some conclusions as to the materials used; the results most relevant to the seven specimens described in the Appendix are set out in the two tables. There follows a discussion of the gilding technique used, which in most cases involved an application of a clay coating and adhesive beneath the gold. Some items with similarities to gilded wreaths are then discussed to set them in context: gold wreaths, terracotta jewellery and single leaves. The paper reviews the four main uses with which wreaths are associated in ancient Greece, all connected (religious purposes; on death; at the symposium and banquets; and to honour victorious athletes and other outstanding persons) before offering some explanations as to why gilded wreaths may have been buried in graves.

This paper offers an overview of a number of fragments of Hellenistic braziers collected during several seasons of excavations in the Agora of Nea Paphos, Cyprus. Its primary aim is to demonstrate their presumably local production and the production of examples manufactured outside of Cyprus during the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods by using a methodology that combines the macroscopic analysis of fabrics and typological study. Special attention is given to what this collection tells us about some of the human practices in the city between the third century BCE and the Early Roman period. This study seeks to obtain data that will help to address gaps in the material culture of Hellenistic Nea Paphos and deepen the understanding of the broader process of Hellenisation.

The expression λιμὴν κλειστός appears 29 times in ancient Greek literary sources; however, it has prompted four different interpretations and three possible English translations. As a contribution to the ongoing discussion of the expression's meaning, this paper analyses its appearances in Strabo's Geography; this work, with its nine references, is, in fact, the source in which it appears second most often. In particular, focus will be placed upon two issues: the extent to which the expression is employed consistently in the Geography and its possible origin; and what meaning(s) – if any – can be assigned to it. To gain further insight into the expression's meaning(s), the aforementioned cases of ‘closed harbours’ will be compared with the available archaeological and geomorphological evidence.

The excavated part of the building known as the Villa Dionysos consists of a peristyle court with rooms on three sides. The rooms have fine mosaic floors, found in a remarkable state of preservation. The excavator, Michael Gough, believed that the building was an isolated structure intended for the practice of Dionysiac cult, and he interpreted his finds in the light of this conviction. After his last season of work in 1971, his views were expressed in a short report (Catling 1972, 21–2). Gough died in 1973 having published no further details of his four seasons of work on the site and, except for some diaries and photographs, many of the records are lost. The pottery from his excavations was, however, fully published in 1983 by John Hayes, and the mosaics were published by Rebecca Sweetman in 2013. Further study of the site, together with the pottery evidence, indicates that the peristyle and its associated rooms were the public reception area of an elaborately decorated Roman domus of the second century AD, and that adjacent buildings to the south may have been the private quarters of this house. A large cistern, connected to the aqueduct, provided a copious water supply. The Dionysiac imagery of the mosaics, together with the extraordinary range of imported wine amphorae found on the premises, suggest that the owner may have prospered through the wine trade.

Drawing upon the mapping of ceramic distribution patterns, this article analyses the dynamics of the settlement pattern of the Late Roman hinterland of the Skouriotissa copper mine, the largest in Cyprus, and its relationship to the nearest city, Soli. This article contextualises the hinterland in relation to the copper-producing landscapes of Cyprus to the east and south, and supra-regionally in relation to the cities on the south coast of Asia Minor as well as chronologically and geographically in relation to the Early Roman ceramic zones defined by previous research. Although the regional coherence of the Hellenistic to Early Roman period is to some extent intact in the Late Roman period, the analysis suggests that the Late Roman hinterland of Skouriotissa demonstrates some organisational peculiarities for which an explanation is sought in the extraordinary resources of the region.

Little evidence has survived of the long-distance communication networks established by the Byzantines and Venetians in the medieval period. We know only of a chain of beacons established by Leo the Mathematician in the ninth century, an inscription found in the Peloponnese and a Venetian network in the central Aegean. This article reappraises the existing evidence and introduces new data following a study recently undertaken by the author of the topography of Negroponte (modern Euboea) and the medieval towers of Greece. Making extensive use of early cartographic sources, toponymic studies, and satellite imagery and telemetry, it identifies 142 tower and beacon sites on the island alone, and demonstrates, utilising archaeological evidence, how complex messages could be sent between towers. The research also uncovers a new term – the pyrgari, which appears to apply to a circular beacon tower. Combining this new evidence and the topographic study, the article then delineates, using GIS mapping, four Middle Byzantine and Venetian long-distance communication networks. The paper concludes by proposing a theoretical framework for the tower based on its role in communication and defence. Such work potentially helps us to understand in a more nuanced way the administrative and military organisation of the Byzantine themata and the Venetian Empire. The methodology also has potential for application in other regions: in essence it looks at the landscape not as a collection of nodes – bishoprics, cities and fortresses – but as a network of connections.

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.

Lisa French (1931–2021) was the first woman to be appointed as Director of the British School at Athens, from 1989–1994. Most of her adult life and career were devoted to the site of Mycenae, where she excavated with her father, Professor Alan Wace, in the 1950s and after his death in 1957 with Lord William Taylour. Thereafter, she continued studying and publishing the results of the excavations and studying and publishing on Mycenae and Mycenaean material culture more generally for the rest of her life. In 2013 she donated the Mycenae archive, containing records of all the British excavations at Mycenae, to the Faculty of Classics at Cambridge. She married David French in 1959, by whom she had two daughters. Her marriage led to her combining her work at Mycenae with playing an important part in French's excavations and, after he became Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, in effect taking responsibility for running the Institute from 1968 until 1976. The organisational experience this gave her proved invaluable when, after their divorce, she took up the wardenship of Ashburne Hall at Manchester University and later still when she became Director of the British School at Athens. Lisa was best known for her work on the Mycenaean terracotta figurines, which were originally the subject of her PhD thesis at University College London, and on the stratigraphically based chronology and typology of Mycenaean ceramic production, particularly that of Late Helladic III. Over the years, she successfully initiated successive generations of students of Mycenaean archaeology into the mysteries of its pottery.