The Petrota chert source, in Greek Thrace, was exploited in the Middle Palaeolithic and again in the Neolithic and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age. An extensive scatter of products of that exploitation today surrounds the source. The site was systematically surveyed between 1998 and 2010. The present paper is devoted exclusively to the issue of the chronology of the Middle Palaeolithic component. The best, though still imperfect, indicator of chronology is the presence in the scatter of bifacially flaked leaf-points. A review of the literature on the chronostratigraphy of such artefacts in Europe, from Thuringia to Crimea, shows that they had a long career. They first appeared about 200,000 years ago and were still manufactured about 45,000 years ago. On the basis of various considerations, it is suggested that the leaf-points of Petrota and, accordingly, the Palaeolithic component at the site, belong to an advanced stage of that long period, probably dating between roughly 100,000 and 45/40,000 years ago.

This paper details the characterisation of four obsidian artefacts from the Mesolithic site of Livari Skiadi, one of only a handful of such pre-Neolithic sites on Crete. Elemental analysis using EDXRF sources the raw materials to Sta Nychia on Melos; in concert with other data, it can be suggested that this was the preferred Melian source for Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene populations. The Livari material represents the earliest Melian obsidian on Crete and by implication the first evidence of its inhabitants' connections to the Cycladic islands. When located within a broader review of Melian obsidian use in the Upper Palaeolithic – Mesolithic Aegean, it can be shown that the main consumers of these raw materials were island-based groups with immediate access to waterways that led to the Cyclades. It is suggested that distinctions between island and mainland toolkits (technical and raw material choices) may have been the product of seasonal, and environmental influences, rather than reflecting the products of different populations. Finally, certain datasets, including Livari, suggest the procurement of obsidian via intermediaries. These exchanges are viewed in avowedly social terms, with gift-giving a fundamental manner through which inter-group relations were created and maintained, whereby the circulation of obsidian can be viewed as one of those mechanisms through which Mesolithic Aegean cultural traditions came to be produced and reproduced.

A series of radiocarbon dates for Early Bronze Age contexts from the excavations at Kouphovouno are published for the first time. By adopting a Bayesian modelling approach, the 14C estimates allow greater precision in arriving at an absolute chronology for the period. The opportunity is taken to place these dates as part of the more general development of the Early Bronze period. The sequence for mainland Greece is compared with the recently revised dating of the Early Cycladic period. The new data support a lower chronology than that advocated in recent publications.

This article focuses on some central supporting walls one can see in certain buildings at Early Minoan Hagia Triadha, Fournou Korifi (Myrtos) and Vasiliki. The walls, which have Π-, C-, and L- shapes, have been viewed as central ceiling/roof supports. But that interpretation is only a partial one, for it does not explain the walls' ‘enclosing’ shapes. The solution I argue for here is that a ladder was set in each, providing access to the roof in single-storeyed buildings, as at Hagia Triadha, or to a second floor, as at Vasiliki. My investigation attempts to clarify one of the unique characteristics of Early Minoan architecture as well as how that form may have been adapted to provide access in buildings with more than a single storey.

Minoanisation – the process by which Cretan ways of doing things spread throughout the Aegean – is a major focus of study in the Middle and Late Bronze Age Cycladic islands, but debate about the primary causes of the phenomenon has been concerned chiefly with its Late Bronze Age phases. In this article, the author considers the earliest phase of Minoanisation at Ayia Irini on Kea, Period V. The ceramic assemblage is considered holistically, including local and imported as well as Minoanising and non-Minoanising pottery. The Keian assemblage is compared with recently published discussions of Phase C at Akrotiri on Thera and City II-iii at Phylakopi on Melos. New, non-Minoanising features of the Keian assemblage in Period V, particularly in the form of new shapes and increased importation of Melian and/or Theran pottery, suggest that Melian and/or Theran communities engaged in new production and exchange strategies at this time. It is likely that these new intra-Cycladic relationships played an important role in changing local tastes and practices at Ayia Irini, spurring the adoption of new Minoanising as well as non-Minoanising forms of material culture and practice.

One of a number of enigmatic depictions in the Aegean iconography of the second millennium bce is the structure painted on the south wall of the Miniature Frieze from the West House at Akrotiri, Thera. This structure covers the slope of a hill and consists of two vertical blue bands on its western edge and four horizontal blue bands, all with features indicating masonry construction. Five rows of black triangles alternate with the horizontal bands. Each triangle has a round opening in its base. Unique in Aegean iconography, it has been interpreted as a dovecote, a shipshed, a storage space, a rock-cut structure with triangular niches, a geological formation and even a stretch of land with terraces and a vineyard. In one very brief reference it has been identified with an apiary.

In line with contemporary rules of perspective, certain details suggest this structure could represent an apiary on a terraced area, protected on its western edge by a wall to windward. The triangular elements must depict the vertical-type fixed-comb woven beehives, which were in use until quite recently in Greece. A road leading from the apiary and connecting the settlement with the tripartite building at the top of the hill completes the elements needed for organised beekeeping. Similarly, there is a trapezoidal expanse of blue to the east of it which probably depicts a pond, another essential element of beekeeping. Both the extent of the area covered by the installation and the prominence of beekeeping products (indicated by chemical analysis and references on Linear B tablets) raise questions about the management of the apiary and the function of the building at the top of the hill.

This article presents new excavation results from three oval or apsidal houses discovered at the site of Maydos-Kilisetepe (ancient Madytos), which is located near the coast of the Hellespont on the Gallipoli peninsula. The houses date to the late eighth to early sixth century bc. The material from Maydos is evaluated in comparison with the nearby site of Troy (Ilion) and situated within the wider context of developments in the north-eastern Aegean region during the Late Geometric to Early Archaic periods. From the mid-eighth to the mid-seventh century, a cultural koine existed in the north-eastern Aegean, shown by the strong similarities in material culture among the sites in the region. Troy was most probably a large regional centre, while Maydos functioned as a smaller settlement within this network. The power and influence of this koine declined or was replaced in the mid-seventh century, when there was a sudden influx of Ionian-style ceramics at Maydos, around the same time that Troy experienced a destruction. The patterns of cultural interactions changed with the establishment of Greek (primarily Ionian and Athenian) colonies on both sides of the Hellespont during the second half of the seventh to the early sixth century.

The Return of Hephaistos to Olympus was a popular scene in Attic vase-painting from the beginning of the sixth century through the end of the fifth century bce, and it is found occasionally on other forms of pottery as well. According to myth, Hephaistos was lame, and this disability is sometimes depicted on painted pottery, almost always in scenes of his Return. The most well-known example is the François Vase, which is often the only vase cited when discussing instances of Hephaistos's lameness on Athenian pottery. Although three other Attic vases are occasionally cited as showing the disability, one of which does not show his Return, but instead the Birth of Athena, there are actually quite a number more Attic vases that depict his lameness than have previously been recognised. In this paper I present seven new Attic examples that clearly display his lameness, and consider both the different ways in which his disability is rendered and how they relate to the various epithets associated with him For example, he is often associated with the epithet ‘clubfoot’, and while there was an established iconography of clubfoot Corinthian komasts, the god's disability is never rendered in this manner on Attic vases. Instead, he is depicted in ways more similar to other epithets associated with him. Most notably, four vases represent the disability in a fashion that seems to be connected with Hephaistos's most common Homeric epithet, ἀμφιγυήεις, or ‘with both feet crooked’.

This article deals with the finds from a cist grave which is located in the bed of the River Xerias at Argos. The grave was in use during the fourth century bc for multiple burials, a usual practice for Argive cemeteries. The burials are presented in chronological order based on the interpretation of the excavation data and the chronology of the pottery. The finds from the grave reveal hitherto unknown burial practices at Argos; however, our limited knowledge on the cemeteries of the Late Classical period impedes assessment of them. The study of the vases from the tomb illuminates the otherwise unknown makeup of the local workshops in the fourth century bc, where influences from abroad coexist harmoniously alongside experimentation and novelty.

This article may seem to some to be unnecessarily precise in the dating of later Claudian and Neronian ceramic assemblages at Knossos. The aim is to address the fact that various scholars have dated their material to the reign of Claudius, when one can proffer a counterargument that we should place the assemblages in question in the time of Nero. In short, the period under discussion barely covers ad 50–60, and it may seem impossible to attempt a closer chronology without the aid of numismatic evidence. Nevertheless, if related material from south-central Crete is to be securely anchored, such a study must be undertaken.

Five Knossian deposits and two from elsewhere in Crete, usually dated to about the middle of the first century ad, are treated here and are assigned to the reign of Nero. It is to be hoped that such a revision will bring the archaeological evidence from north and south-central Crete into better agreement, and it may even be of use to scholars working elsewhere in the Roman world.

Modern perceptions of the ancient Piraeus have been monopolised by the urban image and function of the port as the naval stronghold of Classical Athens. Existing scholarship so far has tended to consider the post-Classical centuries, especially the era following the sack of the port in 86 bc by the Romans, as a period of decline. Such preconceptions, based on largely superficial readings of a few ancient literary texts and a near-total disregard of the material evidence, have created a distorted image of the Piraeus and its significance in the Roman period. Drawing upon textual sources as well as archaeological evidence, this paper explores the changing nature of urban settlement, maritime functions and the economy of the port from the time of its destruction in 86 bc to around the sixth century ad. Particular emphasis is placed on a re-examination of the existing evidence from rescue excavations conducted by the Greek Archaeological Service as they relate to the topography of the Roman port and its long-term evolution. This combined study offers a more complex picture of the infrastructure, urban image and operational capability of the port during the Roman period than was hitherto possible. It also permits a more balanced understanding of the port's function at local, regional and provincial levels, and thus enables comparisons with other Roman ports in the Aegean and the rest of the Mediterranean.

This article provides a short report on a survey of the region to the east of the ancient city of Butrint, in south-west Albania. Centred on the modern villages of Mursi and Xarra, the field survey provides information on over 80 sites (including standing monuments). Previous surveys close to Butrint have brought to light the impact of Roman Imperial colonisation on its hinterland. This new survey confirms that the density of Imperial Roman sites extends well to the east of Butrint. As in the previous surveys, pre-Roman and post-Roman sites are remarkably scarce. As a result, taking the results of the Butrint Foundation's archaeological excavations in Butrint to show the urban history of the place from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman period, the authors challenge the central theme of urban continuity and impact upon Mediterranean landscapes posited by Horden and Purcell, in The Corrupting Sea (2000). Instead, the hinterland of Butrint, on the evidence of this and previous field surveys, appears to have had intense engagement with the town in the Early Roman period following the creation of the Roman colony. Significant engagement with Butrint continued in Late Antiquity, but subsequently in the Byzantine period, as before the creation of the colony, the relationship between the town and its hinterland was limited and has left a modest impact upon the archaeological record.

Minos Kalokairinos is renowned for his discovery of the Minoan palace of Knossos. However, his pioneering investigations of the topography and monuments of Greek and Roman Knossos, as laid out especially in his Cretan Archaeological Journal, have largely been overlooked. In the Journal, Kalokairinos offers invaluable information on the changing archaeological landscape of Knossos in the second half of the nineteenth century. This enables the identification of several unknown or lost monuments, including major structures, inscriptions and sculptures, and allows the location of the context of discovery to be assigned to specific parts of the ancient city. Additionally, the Journal offers glimpses into the collection of Knossian antiquities and their export beyond the island. Antiquities from the site ended up in Athens, and as far afield as Egypt and western Europe, and have hitherto been considered as unprovenanced. They are here identified as Knossian and are traced to their specific context of discovery, with considerable implications for our understanding of the topography, the monuments and the epigraphic record of the ancient city.