[W]hile pretending to throw some light upon classical authors by careful observation of the manners of the present day, romantic travellers succeeded in fact in accommodating reality to their dreams … by creating for themselves and for their readers carefully edited portraits of modern Greece that transformed the present into the living image of the past (Saïd 2005: 291).

Thirty years ago archaeological field survey promised to reshape radically our understanding of the countryside (Keller and Rupp 1983: 1–5). Traditional archaeological approaches to cities and monuments were increasingly seen to be extensions of textual research, and research on the rural landscape was envisaged as a way to access the other side of the traditional urban-rural dichotomy (though see the comments in Alcock 2007: 671–72). Some scholars estimated that, in the Classical period, the vast majority of Greek poleis had populations of less than 3,000 and territories no more than a few hours” walk from the urban core. Given that, they asked, does it make sense to divide elements of Greek life into “city” and “country”? In a sense, the study of landscapes was seen as a way to redress perceived imbalances between this urban-rural division and the picture painted by the ancient sources of Roman Greece as a pale reflection of its Classical brilliance. In the years since, landscape studies have grown to include much more than archaeological field survey, but this tension between textual and archaeological narratives remains at the heart of understandings of rural Roman Greece.

First investigated archaeologically in 1963, it is only with the recent publication of the 2006–2008 excavations that the nature of the Early Bronze Age sanctuary and settlement on Keros is becoming clear. Further investigations – a survey in 2012–2013 and excavations in 2016–2018 – have expanded our knowledge of the sanctuary. This paper sets out the interdisciplinary nature of the research on Keros, highlighting the contribution of a panoply of environmental techniques built into the project methodology from its inception, with all sampling taking place during the excavation itself. In addition, compositional and microscopic analyses of materials such as ceramics, metals and marble contribute to understanding their manufacture and provenance. Finally, taphonomic analyses include micromorphological and soil-chemistry studies, both of which are the largest of their kind yet undertaken in the Aegean. The reflexive contribution of all these specialisms to the ongoing study and publication of the site is described.

Much progress has been made in the study of the emporion of the port-city of Delos (Map 9) in recent years, with new excavations and preparations towards their publication, reassessments of previously excavated material as well as analyses of the history, religion, art and architecture of Delos in the Late Hellenistic and Roman periods. Home of the Sanctuary of Apollo since the Archaic period, Delos commanded a huge cult network that intertwined religious with economic and political activities due to its advantageous geographical position at the centre of the Aegean world. The latest research has focused on these religious, political and economic networks (for example Constantakopoulou 2007; Chankowski 2008; Collar 2013; Migeotte 2014; Raptopoulos 2014; Le Quéré 2015), while the important contribution of Véronique Chankowski on the economy of the island in the Hellenistic period awaits publication (see Chankowski 2011). Delos prospered in the Late Hellenistic period, when the Roman authorities granted the port of Delos duty-free status, and when the island reverted to Athenian control in 167 BC, turning it into a commercial base that connected the eastern and western Mediterranean. This report concentrates on recent developments in research on Hellenistic and Roman Delos.