Does Archaeology in Greece have a purpose? Is it more than a convenient way of logging fortuitous finds? From a newcomer's viewpoint, AG may look hard to put into focus. Why does new information about landscapes and material culture matter? After all, don't we already know a great deal about the remote past of Greece? Aren't museums already full of attractive and interesting things? Do we need more of the same?

Sometimes it pays to play devil's advocate: to stand back, observe what is going on and to take stock. If we want to have a short answer to the above questions, we need go no further than the Newsround section of AG. This year, David Smith bookends the section with key developments that have at least regional, arguably global significance. At one end, we have new data on the presence of early hominids in the Aegean and, at the other end, the report of a 16th -century Spanish galleon from the era of Philip II and the first evidence of a Minoan shipwreck across the Aegean from Crete itself.

In a year when financial crisis and EU turmoil have gripped Greece and dominated international press coverage, one might be forgiven for assuming that there would be slow progress in archaeological research and heritage management. It has certainly been a tumultuous year, and heartfelt thanks are due to colleagues, especially those in the Archaeological Service, who have gone the extra mile to deliver their own work and to help others in the face of mounting pressures. In 2014 alone, the Central Archaeological Council dealt with 1,477 cases in 42 sittings, and its 2015 target is set to exceed this. Yet as I take stock of what has been achieved in publication, fieldwork, study and public communication, I am struck by the wealth of new information available and in many forms. Individual finds, continuing research programmes and a number of landmark conferences and exhibitions have contributed to real and significant advances in knowledge. There is much to report, and even more to see on the ground for readers inspired (as we hope) to spend time in Greece.

The very positive reception granted to last year's inaugural ‘Newsround’, and the clear demand for an authoritative annual brief of current work in Greece, has ensured its return as a regular feature. As last year, this section is not intended to be exhaustive, but is designed to draw attention to those discoveries which do not appear elsewhere within Archaeological Reports but which nevertheless deserve to be highlighted in a manner which complements those more specialized contributions within the current volume and that content available digitally through AGOnline/Chronique des fouilles en ligne (www.chronique.efa.gr). Again, the very varied nature of this material has meant that, for the most part, it has proved preferable to organize this section chronologically (Palaeolithic through to Early Modern), rather than thematically.

Over the past year the School has delivered a rich and varied research programme combining a range of projects in antiquity, spanning the Palaeolithic to Byzantine periods, science-based archaeology to epigraphy (including the work of the Fitch Laboratory and the Knossos Research Centre), with research in sectors from the fine arts to history and the social sciences (see Map 2).

At Knossos, new investigation in the suburb of Gypsadhes, directed by Ioanna Serpetsedaki (23rd EPCA), Eleni Hatzaki (Cincinnati), Amy Bogaard (Oxford) and Gianna Ayala (Sheffield), forms part of Oxford University's ERC-funded project Agricultural Origins of Urban Civilisation. The Gypsadhes excavation features large-scale bioarchaeological research, aimed at providing the fine-grained information necessary to reconstruct the Knossian economy through time.

Archaeology in Greece has a long history of reporting epigraphic discoveries, and in recent years the print versions have highlighted a number of finds which have added little by little to our understanding of the history and topography of ancient Athens, including many of the reports now available online (see, for example, inscriptions helping to identify the Sanctuary of Apollo Pythios [ID4053] and of Zeus Meilichios [Map 3, no. 1; ID4557], or new voting sherds from the Athenian procedure of ostracism [Map 3, no. 5; ID1877]). Archaeology in Greece Online tags epigraphic material within its reports, allowing the reader to search for inscriptions as a keyword and also by region (such as Attica). This review of recent Athenian epigraphic developments focuses on major finds of the last decade, in particular focusing on discoveries reported in periodicals and publications from Greece, which some may find difficult to access, and is of course a personal and only a small selection of the voluminous literature on the subject (for more thorough coverage readers are pointed to SEG, the superb annual review of all epigraphy-related publications).

Numerous archaeological finds have come to light in the Piraeus in the last 15 years. These finds enrich our knowledge of the deme's city planning, domestic architecture, water system, quarries, ports and walls in the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Since Klaus-Valtin von Eickstedt's (1991) seminal study on the Hippodamian development of the Piraeus, which was based on excavation data for houses and roads, more evidence has become available. Numerous new domestic complexes have been excavated on the Akte (ID1718, ID4907, ID4908, ID4909, ID4935, ID4981, ID4982, ID4983, ID4984, ID4985; ADelt 56-59 [2001-2004] B1: 441-42) and on the rest of the peninsula (ID4877, ID4910, ID4914, ID4915, ID4932). New roads and sections of roads already included in Höpfner and Schwandner 1994 (fig. 14) have been revealed in several areas (ID1718, ID2438, ID4907, ID4908, ID4909, ID4921, ID4935, ID4937; ADelt 56-59 [2001-2004] B1: 442). Amongst these is the road that ran between the Long Stoa and the walls of the Piraeus (ID4937). Additionally, a horos stone, marking the limits of the Emporion and its adjacent road, was found in Akte Miaouli. The inscription had been built into the wall of a small rubble structure; the date of the structure has not been identified, but it is thought to postdate the Classical period (ID4935).

Over the past ten years, the regions of Euboea, Phokis and Lokris have yielded epigraphic material that is not only abundant, but also very varied – whether viewed in chronological, thematic or archaeological terms. All three regions have, for example, produced new manumission records, including the very first for the island of Euboea. The use of inscriptions has made crucial contributions to the identification of several Euboean sanctuaries, such as that of Apollo Selinaios, in the territory of Histiaia, that of Artemis Amarysia, near Amarynthos, and Apollo Delios at Zarex. The sanctuary located at the top of the acropolis of Eretria is now understood to be a sanctuary of Athena, thanks to an inscribed statuette of a lion.

The region of Phokis in particular has yielded very diverse epigraphy. Once again, inscriptions associated with sanctuaries stand out, with, for example, a dedication to Pan and the Nymphs from a cave on Mount Parnassos, inscriptions from the oracular sanctuary of Apollo at Abai and from two sanctuaries of Artemis at Antikyra. Scholars working on Roman Phokis will welcome the publication of several new inscriptions, particularly a document from Elateia mentioning an Aetolarch, an honorific inscription from Antikyra, which provides the first occurrence in central Greece for a dekaprotos and, from Ambryssos, a statue base commemorating the emperor Gallienus.

In 2011 the École française d'Athènes celebrated the centenary of its activities on Thasos (Muller and Mulliez 2012). Apart from the publication of a modern Greek translation of the second edition of the Guide de Thasos (Grandjean and Salviat 2000; 2012), the centenary was the occasion for the publication of a number of thematic studies, based on past archaeological research (Muller 2011; Picard 2011; Marc 2012). More generally, current research on Thasos focuses on all aspects of archaeology, including excavation and field survey (mainly within the ancient urban area), as well as study of archaeological material kept in the museum's collections. This work benefits from the unfailing support of the Ephoreia of Antiquities in Kavala.

In keeping with the new format of Archaeological Reports, this contribution takes a thematic approach. It seeks to draw wider attention to some of the diverse new primary research that has taken place since 2000 on Minoan (here glossed as Proto- and Neopalatial) extra-urban sanctuaries. For many years, discussion of these sites has largely involved synthesis. No example of a Minoan extra-urban sanctuary has ever progressed all the way from systematic excavation to full publication. Some of the best reported examples, such as the Psychro Cave (Watrous 1996) or the peak sanctuary of Petsophas (Rutkowski 1991), were excavated at the beginning of the 20th century. Until the period covered by this review, there were only one or two cases where sites excavated more recently had benefited from extended preliminary publications. This has meant that synthetic treatments have been highly dependent, in the majority of cases, on extremely brief notices of excavations or on scholars' impressions from simply visiting sites. The last 15 years have witnessed a marked change of pace. New sites have been discovered and excavated, extensive studies of old material have been produced and, most importantly, the first comprehensive studies of some of the assemblages of objects from these sites have come into the public domain. As a result, this is an opportune time to highlight a dynamically evolving field of research.

Prospective students of Greek sculpture are daunted by the fact that they have to tackle a bibliography in several languages that stretches back to the 19th century and must often employ methods that are deemed old-fashioned. The development of style is, nevertheless, giving way now to the study of materials and techniques, as well as the historical perspectives underlying the production of sculpture at any given period. An additional difficulty is the fact that new material that comes to light is not always easily available for study, and even old material can remain out of bounds due to bureaucratic barriers. Current research tends to concentrate on the detection of polychromy on marble sculptures, a process which is best undertaken in the conservation departments of museums. 3D scanning is another expensive method which is currently being developed in various research directions.

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.