A detailed programme of sample collection and laboratory analysis was undertaken at Agrileza, an ore-dressing installation in the Laurion. The site consists of three compounds with associated washeries (Agrileza A, B, and C), some excavated partially, others in full, in the late 1970s and early 1980s and dating to the last quarter of the 4th cent. BC. The particular functions of some of the rooms in compound C are tentatively put forward. The main part of the paper is concerned with the nature, composition, and particle size distribution of the tailings recovered both from washeries A and C and from elsewhere in compound C. The silver-to-lead ratios and particle size distribution of the tailings may suggest that the series of basins and channels making up each washery served not merely as a water purification device, but as a means of trapping ore that had escaped the first washing, for the purpose of dressing it further.

Thus far, much of the analysis of Roman and Late Antique Knossos has been based on the material culture produced through research excavations such as the Villa Dionysus and the Unexplored Mansion. Such excavations provide a tantalizing view of select aspects of the community and city and are essential for an understanding of the chronology of much of the material culture. However, these excavations cannot provide a complete picture of the character and diachronic range of the entire city. To do so, it is necessary to turn to the hitherto unpublished rescue excavations undertaken in dispersed locations of the valley. These range from the many graves located on the slopes of the surrounding hills, to monumental architectural remains in the area to the east of the Villa Dionysus, and to mundane features such as cisterns and roads in the modern village. In this paper, within the context of the published Roman material and with a focus on mosaics and ceramics, the evidence of the rescue material is used to develop a better perception of the city and all its residents, including the layout in terms of administrative, residential, and industrial areas from the first to the seventh century ad.

Μέχρι σήμερα ένα μεγάλο μέρος της εξέτασης της Κνωσού κατά τη ρωμαϊκή περίοδο και την ύστερη αρχαιότητα έχει βασιστεί στα υλικά κατάλοιπα από συστηματικές ανασκαφές, όπως στην Έπαυλη του Διονύσου και την Ανευξερεύνητη Οικία. Αυτές οι ανασκαφές παρουσιάςουν μία δελεαστική όψη επιλεκτικών εκφάνσεων της κοινότητας και της πόλης. Επιπλέον είναι σημαντικές για την κατανόηση της χρονολόγησης ενός μεγάλου μέρους των υλικών καταλοίπων. Ωστόσο, δεν μπορούν να παρουσιάσουν μία συνολική εικόνα του χαρακτήρα και της διαχρονικής αλληλουχίας όλης της πόλης. Για να γίνει κάτι τέτοιο είναι απαραίτητο να στρέψουμε την προσοχή μας στο μέχρι σήμερα αδημοσίευτο υλικό των σωστικών ανασκαφών που έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί σε διάφορες θέσεις στην πεδιάδα. Αυτές οι ανασκαφές ποικίλλουν: από τους πολλούς τάφους στις πλαγιές των γειτονικών λόφων, στα μνημειακά αρχιτεκτονικά κατάλοιπα στην περιοχή ανατολικά της Έπαυλης του Διονύσου και τα κοινότοπα στοιχεία, όπως δεξαμενές και δρόμοι στο σύγχρονο χωριό. Στο άρθρο αυτό, μέσα στο πλαίσιο του δημοσνευμένου ρωμαϊκού υλικού και με έμφαση στα ψηφιδωτά και την κεραμεική, τα δεδομένα από το υλικό των σωστικών ανασκαφών χρησιμοποιούνται για την καλύτερη κατανόηση της πόλης και όλων των κατοίκων της συμπεριλαμβανομένης της διάρθρωσής της ως προς τις περιοχές διοίκησης, κατοίκησης και βιοτεχνικής παραγωγής από τον πρώτο μέχρι τον έβδομο αιώνα μετά Χριστόν.

As part of a wider investigation of landscape change in the late Classical and Hellenistic Peloponnese, this paper reviews the written and archaeological evidence for the Lakedaimonian Perioikoi and the extent of Spartan-dominated territory. While the north-western perioikic poleis were lost mainly in or soon after 369 BC, some survived under Megalopolitan control. The Thyreatis was probably Spartan until 338, but there is no evidence that the southern Parnon coast was removed until the late third or early second century. Of Spartan core territory, Sellasia was lost finally in 222, Geronthrai then or later, but other poleis probably remained Spartan. Those of the Malea and Tainaron peninsulas were probably lost mainly in 195 BC. The resulting catalogue of settlements forming part of the Lakedaimonian state at different dates lays the foundation for further historical studies.

All ground cereal and pulse plant material from the site of Akrotiri, Thera was studied through a binocular stereoscope microscope in order to detect its nature and its processing stage. The presence of various processed crops was detected, such as barley, wheat and probably legume flour. The very rare occurrence of these finds from archaeological sites forces us to define them and prepare an appropriate methodology of research.

John Pendlebury excavated a number of ancient sites in the upland Plain of Lasithi in central Crete (Fig. 1) during the years 1936 – 1938. The prehistoric sites which he excavated were published in this annual before his death in World War II. This article describes the results of his excavations at three Iron Age settlements and their cemeteries in Lasithi.

The three sites – Agios Georgios Papoura, Donadhes, and Kolonna – are located along the northern edge of the Lasithi plain (Fig. 2). The finds from each excavation can be summarized as follows: I. Agios Georgios Papoura: Protogeometric to Archaic pottery from the settlement, and a nearby tomb of the Geometric period; II. Donadhes: a sixth century B.C. pottery deposit from an incompletely preserved building; III. Kolonna: two buildings, the first Archaic in date, and the second a weaving and dyeing establishment of the third century B.C., and a nearby tomb of the Archaic and Hellenistic periods.

The term Fikellura has been retained in this article, as being more neutral than Samian, which has a definite territorial significance. Further, Samian is wanted for the earlier Orientalising wares, presumably of local manufacture, of which much is now coming to light in the excavation of the Heraion in Samos. On the other hand, in speaking of the earlier white-ground pottery, I have used the term ‘Rhodian,’ since it is the least cumbersome of the various unsatisfactory names so far given to that class, and since I do not understand Professor Rumpf's division of it into Camiros and Euphorbos groups.

Between 1930 and 1932, Sylvia Benton conducted excavations in a cave situated on the northwest side of the Bay of Polis in northern Ithaca. Her work was important because of the finds which indicated an almost continuous history of the Cave's use from the Early Bronze Age to Hellenistic times. Reconsideration and reclassification of that pottery which Benton called Protogeometric does indeed indicate a continuity of use from LH IIIC throughout the Dark Ages to at least MG II, that is from the late Twelfth to early Eighth Centuries B.C. Refinements to the classification and chronology of this unbroken sequence of ceramic material can be made on the basis of comparison with stratified deposits from other sites, especially in Messenia. In sum, comparative material from surrounding regions, especially Achaea, Aetolia, and elsewhere on Ithaca, suggests that the island in the Dark Ages belonged to a west Greek koiné with a shared ceramic tradition.

Some years ago in an article offered in honour of my friend, Dr. Jírí Neustupný, I described three settlements on small off-shore islands round the coasts of South Greece, where some of the native population appear to have taken refuge during the period of the Slav invasions in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. (Fig. 1). In August 1969, when I was in Galaxidhi on the west side of the bay of Itea, Mrs. Lois Ventris told me about a group of islets there with traces of similar occupation. These island refuge settlements of the period of the Slav invasions are of some interest in themselves, and they open the door to what might be a fruitful line of inquiry as regards the problem of the Slav occupation of South Greece.

There are seven islets in all in the bay of Itea, and of these I was able to visit the three nearest to Galaxidhi, namely (1) Panayia, (2) Ayios Yeoryios, and (3) Apsifia (Figs. 2, 3). These three islands all had traces of habitation in the late Roman or early Byzantine period, including pottery assignable to the sixth or early seventh centuries A.D.: notably, fragments of amphorae with straight and wavy grooved decoration (Plate 14d, 4–6), and rims of dishes of fine red (Late Roman B) ware imported from North Africa. These rims (nos. 6–8, 12) belong to dishes of a type (Ant. 802) found in the Late Phase of the Late Roman period at Antioch, lasting from about the middle of the sixth century A.D. into the seventh. I recovered one or two fragments of clay lamps from (1) Panayia (Plate 14d, 1–2), but saw none on the other two islands which I visited. Some of the Roman pottery from (1) Panayia and (2) Ayios Yeoryios appears to date from a time before the Slav invasions. There are also traces of medieval or later occupation here.

Two small blue frit monkey figurines inscribed with the cartouche of Amenhotep II have been found in Late Bronze Age contexts at Mycenae and Tiryns in Mainland Greece. The questions of the findspot of the Mycenae figurine and of an Egyptian or a Syrian origin for the Tiryns figurine are addressed. The usefulness of the two figurines for chronological studies and possible explanations for their purpose and presence in Mainland Greece are also addressed. Other occurrences of monkey figurines, amulets, and representations in the Bronze Age Aegean are included for comparative purposes.

This paper gives a preliminary account of the structural and small finds from the excavations of 1985–1988 in the cemetery of Orthe Petra at Eleutherna. Discussion concerns particularly the funerary pyres in trenches with stone lining, the tomb enclosures, pithos-burials and the larger built tombs which date from protogeometric at least to the archaic period. Preliminary comparisons are made with similar customs in other regions as well as Crete, trade links are discussed between Eleutherna and the other cities of Crete, the rest of Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean, revealed particularly by the small finds.

Excavations of neolithic sites in the Aegean are summarized. The essential characteristics of the Aegean Neolithic are discussed with particular reference to settlements: a series of ‘cultural units’ resulting from this discussion are analysed, and their chronology compared.

In the No-man's land between Aegean and Euphrates we find in the second millennium B.C. a monster unknown in earlier times. Without antecedents it succeeded in penetrating the homeland of monsters, Mesopotamia, where it became so thoroughly acclimatised as to outnumber within a few centuries all but the most vigorous native breeds. It also played an important part in the religious imagery of Minoan Crete and in the decorative art of Mycene, whilst occasionally penetrating Egypt and Anatolia. Its appearance suggests an aptitude to insinuate itself: the leonine body ends, not in the blunt head of the great cat, but in a tapering bird's head; and the threat of the formidable beak is masked by a graceful crest.

One of the most exciting discoveries in Greek prehistory is a type of building of Early Helladic II date, discussed earlier by the present author and nicknamed “Corridor House.” The present study concerns itself with the relative chronology of seven of these, using two main criteria. One criterion concerns structural changes that can be ordered chronologically, namely the use of partial or complete “corridors” alongside a series of axially set rooms, with the more complete corridors, housing stairways, being later. A new structural criterion is whether the building used roof tiles. For instance, the lack of tiles, combined with the simple plan of the corridor house at Thebes, places it at the beginning of the development. Further, a restudy of the corridor house with an undeveloped plan at Akovitika has shown that it was without tiles, the tiles found near it actually belonging to a later building. Thus special roofing seems to have been introduced midway into the sequence. The second criterion makes use of recent publication on EH pottery. For instance, the style associated with the Theban building was Thebes Group A, earlier than the Lefkandi I style characteristic of the later corridor house on Aegina (The Weisses Haus). Clearly the Theban building is at the beginning of the development, with the later examples at Aegina and Lerna at the end. Other examples fall somewhere in between. Terms suggested for the architectural stages discernable are “rudimentary,” “transitional,” and “coalesced.”

Factors which determine the siting of Mycenaean cemeteries are discussed. These include relationship to roads; a prominent position, especially for some of the more imposing monuments; relationship to the ‘sacred landscape’. Within cemeteries clusters of graves occur. The small total number of these, it is suggested, represent political alliance groups rather than families. Further research is necessary before arriving at more definite conclusions.

This article is a sequel to that published in BSA 76. Our aim is to compare the structure of the Late Minoan tholos tomb with that of the five Mycenaean tombs already considered. It was possible to examine three tombs in Crete which are well preserved, namely, the tombs at Achladia and Stylos complete to the top of the vault, and the tomb at Apodoulou which has been partly restored. In the event Apodoulou proved unsuitable for analysis because of the amount of restoration. In date these Cretan vaulted tombs start later than the Mycenaean series and are generally placed in LM IIIA–B. That is to say, these tombs are later than the tholoi at Dimini and Marathon and approximately contemporary with the Tomb of the Genii and the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae. It seems most probable that the technique of constructing tholos tombs was introduced to Crete from the mainland; it was argued in the earlier paper that the circular Mesara type tombs were not vaulted in the manner of the Mycenaean tholos tombs.

The publication of any Late Minoan IIIB and C pottery from Crete hardly requires apology even when the context of the pottery is as unsatisfactory as that to be considered in this article. For we know far too little about the latter phases of Minoan history and this deficiency will only be made good when more material has been made available. Certainly a more thorough examination of Mainland and Cretan relations in this period is required than that which will be attempted below, though it may well be that the time is not yet ripe for firm or convincing conclusions to be formed. In particular the late Mycenaean IIIB and early IIIC phases of pottery require clearer definition. When this has been done, several of the suggestions in this article, based on comparisons with Mainland pottery, may require amendment.

The pottery to be the subject of this study was found in a box numbered Gamma 67 in a store-room of Heraklion Museum in which was housed material from the old excavations at Zakro, Ayia Triadha, Palaikastro, Knossos, and elsewhere. It is predominantly advanced L.M. III in character but includes a few L.M. I sherds, some L.M. II/IIIA, and a considerable amount of Geometric. Unfortunately the box has no label stating the provenance of its contents but there are other helpful indications.

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.

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.

Sailing into Astakos Bay, which the Navy calls Dragomesti Bay, along the S.E. coast of the Krithote Peninsula, one passes the little Church of H. Nikolaos, and then a yawning black cave-mouth in the precipice of limestone 500 ft. above (Pl. 23a), about one hour's walk from Astakos. The lowest entrance is visible above a carob tree, and nothing was discovered in the lowest cave, tested at M (see section, Fig. 1a). We climbed up a ladder to a pleasant platform in the open where there was a terracotta or so. Another ladder, with a sheer drop below and a nice fig-tree alongside (Pl. 23b), led to the real entrance. I went first; the ladder broke, but I clutched the fig-tree. The foreman had hysterics, which was our only casualty, except one malingerer on the last day, who attributed his (alleged) fever to the miasma of the Neolithic dead.

This article concerns the plague of 746–747, which took the lives of many in the Byzantine empire, especially in Constantinople. After discussing the main sources (i.e. the patriarch Nikephoros, Theodore the Stoudite, and Theophanes), mention is made of the possible influences which the plague had on developments in the iconoclastic controversy during the reign of Constantine V (741–75). The persecution of iconophile monks as well as attacks against the Holy (e.g., churches, icons, holy relics etc.) is placed in a more general psychological context which is at least partly explained by the plague. Finally, a brief reference is made to the Life of Leo of Katania which may reflect iconoclastic opinion on the matters given above.