This brief introduction presents the structure and contents of the current issue of Archaeology in Greece, linking the various contributions to events or very recent discoveries that were reported in the press in the period immediately before the completion of this issue. It also offers an overview (not meant to be exhaustive) of archaeological activity in Greece over the past 12 months, focusing on major exhibitions and new museum openings, important academic conferences and recent publications.

This article, based on an oral presentation by the author at its Annual General Meeting in February 2018, summarizes the activities of the British School at Athens with a focus on the calendar year 2017. It describes – selectively and concisely – research by award holders, BSA-sponsored fieldwork in 2017 at six locations (Olynthos, Koutroulou Magoula, Prosilio, Kythera, Dhaskalio-Keros and Knossos), research and events associated with the Fitch Laboratory and the Knossos Research Centre, plus other activities of the BSA in Greece and the UK, including seminars, conferences and workshops.

Newsround’ offers a platform for new data which do not appear within the specialist contributions of this year's Archaeological Reports but which nevertheless warrant emphasis, either as a result of their particular characteristics or for the contribution they make to broader archaeological narratives. This section is not intended to be exhaustive, but is designed, rather, to highlight recent discoveries in a way which complements digital content made available through Archaeology in Greece Online (https://chronique.efa.gr). The very varied nature of this material has meant that, for the most part, it has proved preferable to organize this section chronologically, although dedicated sections are provided for the inclusion of both marine archaeology and archaeological survey.

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.

This contribution offers a brief survey of funerary archaeology undertaken in the central and southern Aegean over the course of the last 25 years. Major construction projects and salvage and systematic excavations have brought to light some 1,700 new Late Bronze Age tombs (i.e. 27% of the extant corpus). Despite these discoveries, however, very few tombs have received a final publication and few of these projects are context driven. New data are and will continue to be desirable – but it is the quality of the recording of these data, our research questions and the careful application of new methodologies, during and after excavation, that will open up new interpretative avenues and debates. With the number of secure archaeological contexts dwindling fast, not least because of the constant threat of looting, developing new approaches (for example understanding site formation and episodes of use) is crucial if we are to recover as much as possible and advance our knowledge of the multivalent roles played by burials within ancient societies.

Over the course of the last 15 years numerous sanctuaries have been excavated in Attica. Some of these cult places provide us with additional information on important Athenian state cults, such as the cult of Athena Pallenis, while others offer new information about deme or rural cults. Eleven sanctuaries are presented in this article, along with the quarry that provided the building material for the Sanctuary of Artemis Brauronia. These range from extensive sanctuaries with numerous buildings, to humble open-air shrines with no permanent structures other than a peribolos wall. They mostly date to the Archaic and Classical periods, although some appear to have operated from the Geometric period. Only two of the sanctuaries are Roman. Finds from these cult places attest to the dedication of offerings and/or communal feasting. Unfortunately, it is not possible to identify the deities worshipped at all of the sanctuaries presented.

This paper discusses material culture in western Thessaly from the eight to the fifth century BC. The focus of the paper is on the recently investigated settlement at Philia, where a number of apsidal buildings have been unearthed, dating to the sixth and fifth centuries BC; their layout and organization reveal central planning. Comparison of the architecture and contents of the Philia houses to those from other Thessalian sites reveals the existence of shared traditions in the region, in terms of both the architecture (apsidal buildings) and pottery (grey wares), with a long history from the ninth to the fifth century BC.

This article offers an overview of the habitation history of the basin of Ioannina Epirus, from the Early Iron Age to the Roman period. The numerous settlements in this region experienced continuous, often uninterrupted, habitation from the Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic or even Roman Imperial period. The foundation of fortified settlements/acropoleis in the late fourth to early third century BC should no longer be interpreted as a result of a synoecism, since unfortified villages continued to flourish. From the Augustan period onwards, Romans seem to have settled in the area, although it is also possible that the local population adopted Roman habits.

This overview discusses the recent scholarly literature on Greek terracottas of the first millennium BC. Figurative terracottas, once seen as meaningless trinkets, are now given their full meaning through rigorous study and anthropological approaches. Perhaps the most explicit and universal source on the piety of a great number of people, they now contribute decisively to the archaeology of religion, particularly in the field of votive and funerary practices. At the same time, research on figurative terracottas, renewed by a technological approach, reveals a craft that is surprisingly modern in its manufacturing and distribution processes.

This article, covering the roughly decade-long ‘Greek crisis’ (2008–2018), uses official statistics in order to examine the effects the prolonged recession has had on archaeology in Greece. As the data show, although revenues from museums and archaeological sites have risen considerably (a side effect of ‘crisis tourism’, among other factors), state spending on archaeological research is insufficient. Furthermore, the steady collapse of the state apparatus during this long decade has seriously affected archaeology and the ways it is practised in the country, ultimately leading to the loss of an entire generation of Greek archaeologists.