This is the first of three articles dealing with the settlement pottery of post-Minoan Knossos, dating from the tenth to the second century B.C., and coming from the British School's excavations of 1951–61. The most prolific source of this pottery is the major excavation on both sides of the Royal Road, directed by M. S. F. Hood in 1957–61. Here the post-Minoan overlay was in places over five metres deep, and good house-deposits were recovered of the Protogeometric, late Classical, and Hellenistic periods; there is also an excellent well-deposit of late Archaic times. For the other periods, the site produced only thin and scrappy rubbish-deposits, not associated with any contemporary architecture, and therefore less well stratified. But many of the gaps in the Royal Road sequence are more effectively filled by a number of well-deposits from minor excavations on the periphery of the town. Consequently, with the sole exception of the sixth century B.C. (which is still very meagrely represented), it is now possible to get a reasonably clear picture of the domestic pottery at every stage in the life of Hellenic Knossos.

Since Schliemann's earliest excavations almost seventy years ago the problem of dating the successive layers of remains at Troy has constantly engaged the serious attention of the interested archaeological world. At first it was hardly more than a subject for speculation, since in the early ‘seventies’ little comparative material was available from other sites and the internal evidence was insufficient for safe chronological conclusions. Schliemann himself thought that the ‘burnt layer,’ first called Troy III, and later equated with the final phase of Troy II, represented the ruins of the citadel of Priam; but his discovery in 1890, at a much higher level in a stratum of Troy VI, of considerable numbers of Mycenaean potsherds made a revision of this dating imperative. It was, however, left to Professor Dörpfeld, after Schliemann's death, to ascertain definitely in two further campaigns of excavation, in 1893 and 1894, that the Sixth and the Seventh layers were those of settlements coeval with the Mycenaean Age, and that they could therefore safely be assigned to the second half of the second millenium B.C. Professor Dörpfeld also put forward the view, which met with general acceptance, that Troy VI was the Homeric stronghold besieged and captured by the Achaeans under the leadership of their sovereign Agamemnon.

Evidence for the Ptolemaic occupation of the Cycladic island of Keos in the 3rd century B.C. is both contentious and exiguous. A recent archaeological surface survey of both the territory and the polis-centre of Koressos (Ptolemaic Arsinoe, apparently the principal Egyptian foothold on the island) invites a review of relevant historical and epigraphical evidence, old and new. Contrary to some opinion, all the available evidence implies that the later Hellenistic period was not a time of material prosperity for Koressos. It is suggested that its incorporation into the Ptolemaic empire may have contributed to its demise as a city-state, and to its eventual transformation into a minor adjunct of the neighbouring polis of Ioulis.

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.

The practice of acclaiming the Emperors with certain set forms of words is mentioned by the Byzantine chroniclers in their account of the court ceremonies. Both Constantine Porphyrogenitus and the writer of the handbook which goes under the name of Codinus Curopalata give the proceedings in some detail, whereby we learn the names of the court officials, their gorgeous robes, and symbols of office, the various sections of the Imperial guard and the solemn pageantry enacted by them on state occasions, and can easily imagine the pomp, tiresome perhaps, but certainly impressive, that surrounded the Eastern Throne.

This is a report on the excavations undertaken in 2007 at the site of Praisos in eastern Crete. Three trenches were opened just next to the so-called Andreion or Almond Tree House on the NW slopes of the First Acropolis, excavated by R.C. Bosanquet in 1901. The upper layers of two of these trenches (A-200 and A-300) consisted of re-deposited material of Classical and Hellenistic date, which we infer came from Bosanquet's dump. Material from these upper layers comprised tile, pottery (including numerous examples of Cretan necked cups), loomweights and terracotta plaques with a distinct masculine iconography. Excavation also reached lower Late-Classical–Hellenistic floor levels, on which a number of pithoi survived in situ. Some of these pithoi are considerably older than the floor level, a terminus post quem for which is provided by a bronze coin. The abandonment of these houses must be dated to the final phases of Praisos' occupation, before 146 bc. There is however nothing to suggest that the city itself was subject to a fire destruction. Rather, the city seems to have undergone a forced abandonment followed by deliberate demolition.

Two vessels reconstructed from fragments found at Semibratny in the Kuban are discussed, a pyxis with the base fitted into the walls, and a stemmed dish in profile closely related to the stemmed kantharos.

Tomb XVIII in the Gypsades cemetery, south of the Knossos Palace, was excavated by Sinclair Hood, George Huxley, and Nancy Sandars in 1955 and published in 1959.1

The main chamber contained at least 9 burials. Only a handful of objects were found associated with these burials: a small bronze bead with the skull of Skeleton II, 4 small, plain vessels with the skull of Skeleton III, silver ear-rings with Skeleton IV, a lentoid sealstone of hammered silver or meteorite with Burial VII, and a small bronze link with Burial VIII.

The pieces of fresco here described come from the so-called ‘Ramp House,’ the excavation of which was begun by Schliemann in 1876, and finished by ourselves in 1921. It lies south-east of the Grave Circle, immediately west of the Little Ramp, and east of the House of the Warrior Vase. In date it belongs to the Third Late Helladic period. Of the frescoes, many came from the ‘Megaron,’ where they were found below a floor level in a deposit dating from Late Helladic II. or earlier times; the details of the stratification will be given in a later section. Some fine fragments came from the narrow passage between the ‘Megaron’ and the Little Ramp, where they were found at approximately the same level and in a deposit of the same date and character; indeed, one or two pieces of pottery found there join pieces from the ‘Megaron.’The deposit seems to have extended to the north of the Ramp House, for it was found immediately outside the north wall, and also at the foot of the Little Ramp: both places produced fresco. That such variety and quantity of fresco should have decorated any of the buildings that preceded the Ramp House on this site seems improbable.

A tour round the churches of Volissos, made with Mr. J. Boardman in 1961, revealed a number of unpublished inscriptions which I am setting out here together with two known texts which we were able to review. With one exception (no. 6) they are of Roman date; with two exceptions (nos. 4 and 6) repulsive to look at. Some of them are, however, quite substantial texts and the concentration of so many documents of this same period at Volissos may be significant.

This methodological paper uses the measurements of the Early Iron Age Toumba building at Lefkandi to study whether a single design-unit can be detected in the data set. Cosine quantogram analysis is used in the initial analysis of the building dimensions and, in the second phase, the relevance of the obtained results is calculated by using Monte Carlo computer simulations. A statistically significant unit of c. 49 cm can be isolated, but because of the very limited number of precise dimensions, this result should only be accepted with caution. The case study demonstrates how the complex statistical problem of deriving the lengths of possibly used design-units in ancient architecture can be approached; metrological analyses can only gain from employing appropriate quantitative methods.

The presence of Hellenistic amphora production centres in central and east Crete was demonstrated in the 1990s through the survey carried out by J.-Y. Empereur, Ch. Kritzas and A. Marangou. In addition, more recent studies have placed emphasis on wine as a major component of the rural economy of Crete during that period. However, archaeological evidence from excavated sites and well-stratified contexts remains scarce. The rescue excavation carried out in a private plot at Loutra (Rethymnon, west Crete) by the 25th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities brought to light a Hellenistic farmstead with an olive beam press and a pottery kiln mainly producing amphorae. In this study we focus on the ceramic assemblage from the site. The study of the pottery, coupled with thin-section petrography, adds new evidence for the production of amphorae in west Crete during the Late Hellenistic period, and allows the investigation of issues such as the use of raw materials, the clay pastes and the technology of pottery manufacture. Moreover, the proximity of the kiln to the olive beam press sheds light on the use of amphorae for the trade in olive oil on a local and regional scale.

This article examines Schliemann's own description of his journey through Greece and the Troad in 1868. It begins in Corfu and Kephalonia, and moves on quickly to Ithaca. The article examines Schliemann's concern with Homer in relation to his activities on these islands, as well as relating a Homeric narrative for his journey to concerns in his personal life, and picking out details emphasizing his increasing interest in archaeology. The scene moves on to Athens and Schliemann's view of modern Greece, then to the Peloponnese and his reaction to Mycenae, Tiryns and other Argolid sites. Part two concerns Schliemann's time in the Troad. It deals with the Homeric question and the location of Troy in scholarship up to 1868; an outline of Schliemann's itinerary in the Troad; Schliemann's search for Troy, including excavations at Bunarbashi; and the question of his acquaintance with Hissarlik. The views put forward differ significantly from those previously expressed in regard to the question of Hissarlik. The article concludes with two appendices, one offering extracts from Schliemann's Ithaca diary, the other extracts from his Troad diary.

The British School at Athens has had in its possession for many years now a number of fragments of Greek relief sculpture, mostly from funerary or votive monuments. The origin of these sculptures is obscure, but it seems likely that they were collected by the historian George Finlay, probably during the first half of the nineteenth century. It is the purpose of this article to publish photographs and details of some of the more important fragments, and also to attempt to date them and to interpret the scenes which they show.

S.7. Plate 73a. A fragment from the lower right corner of a relief. H. 0·27 m., W. 0·45 m., Th. 0·17 m., Depth of relief 1 cm. Pentelic marble. Part of the right-hand edge of the relief remains, where it can be seen that there was no side frame. Below, there is a simple plinth or ground-line with a flat surface, and beneath this a rougher receding margin of about the same width, perhaps where the relief was inserted into a base

The bibliography is intended as a tribute to Cook and his work, and as an aid to researchers in similar fields. Its main subdivisions reflect his interests—Asia Minor: archaeology, topography and history; Greece: archaeological and topographical studies; Attic Geometric and Protoattic pottery; Greek art (and other topics). Books, articles, and reviews are presented separately. The academic bibliography is preceded by references to material on the life of J. M. Cook, and succeeded by a list of obituary notices.

Unstratified finds from prehistoric sites are not without value, provided that something is known of their place of origin. Lacking a pedigree, they still have, as it were, a passport; and any of them that belongs to a civilisation inadequately represented in this country deserves a welcome. I have, therefore, taken this opportunity of introducing a group of early West Anatolian vases which has for many years been in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge; the moment is appropriate, for, had they been published sooner, when their home was more unfamiliar to us than it is now, they would have been less informing; while to delay their presentation might involve their eclipse by rivals with fuller credentials.

The Cyclopean Terrace Building lies to the north-west of the Lion Gate on the northern end of the Panagia Ridge and faces almost due west across the valley of the Kephissos and modern main road from Corinth to Argos. It lies just below the 200 m. contour line, and one terrace below the houses excavated in 1950–51 by Dr. Papadimitriou and Mr. Petsas to the east at the same end of the ridge. The area contains a complex of buildings, both successive and contemporary, and in view of the discovery of structures both to the south-west and, by the Greek Archaeological Service, to the north-east it is likely that this whole slope was covered by a portion of the outer town of Mycenae. This report will deal only with the structure to which the name Cyclopean Terrace Building was originally given, the so-called ‘North Megaron’, supported by the heavy main terrace wall.

The excavation of this structure was begun in 1923. The main terrace wall was cleared and two L.H. IIIC burials discovered in the top of the fill in the south room. In 1950 it was decided to attempt to clear this building entirely in an endeavour to find out its date and purpose. The clearing was not, however, substantially completed until the close of the 1953 excavation season, and this report presents the available evidence for the date as determined by the pottery found beneath the building; the purpose is still a matter for study, though various tentative conclusions can be put forward.

The building at Toumba, Lefkandi, stands unique in its time and place. The remains of this monument are significant in terms of size and elaboration, and also on account of the way it has been reconstructed and interpreted as the ancestor of the Greek peripteral temple. The primary concern of this article is the structural evaluation of the architectural remains. In part due to the scant nature of the archaeological evidence behind the widely accepted reconstruction, the latter can be seen to have several structural shortcomings. In reassessing the structure several factors are considered, including the state of technology at the time of construction, the characteristics of the building materials employed, and the way they respond to the strains of load and the forces of nature. The process of reconciling such factors with the documented remnants of the building directs us towards a different reconstruction. It thus emerges that the building at Toumba is an implausible ancestor of Greek peripteroi, and an alternative solution without the iconic pre-peristasis is proposed here.