Surface discovery in Rhodes in the Mycenaean cemetery at Moschu Vounara of a (Cypriot) White Slip I bowl fragment (now lost) is described. A short general account is given of the distribution of Cypriot goods in Greek lands in the earlier part of the Late Bronze Age.

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.

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.

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.

A fragment of Mycenaean pictorial pottery, unprovenanced and now in Florence, is published. It depicts, partly preserved, a man standing between two (chariot ?) horses. This is the so-called horse-leader motif, illustrated on only one or two other Mycenaean vases but well-known from late Geometric Argive and Attic vase painting.

It is suggested that the reappearance of the motif in the 8th cent. B.C. may be explained not as inspired by surviving Mycenaean models but as an independent creation.

This article reviews the evidence for built tombs in Macedonia prior to the construction of the royal tombs at Vergina. It considers earlier cist tombs with slab roofs, and evidence for architectural embellishment: it proceeds to discuss the evolution of the vaulted form, with architectural facades. In a second part, the identity of the occupants of Tombs I–III at Vergina is discussed, followed by a consideration of the arguments against the identifications proposed.

Earlier accounts of the traces of Xerxes' canal are discussed and the results of a new survey of the remains presented.

The aim of this paper is to provide an account of neolithic and bronze age settlement in one part of Macedonia: the geographical unit which is defined by the rivers Aliakmon and Axios. The choice of the area as the focus of investigation has been suggested by the hypothesis that geographical zones may form a historical basis for human activity, and cultural zones be identified accordingly with distinct physiographic units. The area selected for research is one such unit forming consecutive basins which are divided into valley systems by means of mountain ranges.

The existing archaeological data combined with the results of personal research and original fieldwork are assembled in order to outline the development of human settlement in this part of Macedonia. The catalogue contains ninety six sites. The study involves an attempt to evaluate the nature of prehistoric habitation in a regional context, a study which presupposed some examination of all reported sites, and some study of the history of the landscape. The main issues discussed are the character of habitation patterns and settlement distribution and continuity by period. Finally the specific settlement patterns of the area are compared with patterns observed in neighbouring regions.

An ivory warrior head, discovered at the end of the last century in Enkomi Tomb 16, has often been mentioned and illustrated in the literature but it has never been the subject of a detailed study. Most interest has centred on whether the head represents a genuine Mycenaean carving or the survival of an Aegean motif in the Cypriote repertoire. Here form, function, material, carving technique and style are assessed, and comparisons are drawn with other warrior heads from Crete and mainland Greece. All evidence points conclusively to an Aegean origin for the Enkomi head.

The season's work is presented: this was directed to the complete excavation of Building 5, the possible source of the chryselephantine statuette. The latest additions to the statuette are described.

This article is a critical reassessment of the major Knossian deposits assigned by Evans to the Middle Minoan I A phase. It is divided into three main sections: first, an introduction, in which the author discusses the development of the definition of Knossian MM IA pottery; second, a detailed discussion of each deposit, based upon a systematic and first-hand re-examination of the ceramic material, and of the relevant written sources; third, a discussion of the problems concerning the classification of these deposits, and a typological study of their ceramic assemblages. The picture of Knossian MM IA pottery which emerges from this study is remarkably different from that presented by Evans, which is generally accepted. This has further implications not only for the study of Minoan pottery, but also for the early history of the site.

The aim of this paper is to describe and assess the intramural burials from the Lefkandi Settlement (Xeropolis). In all 20 individuals were inhumed within the walls, comprising 3 adult males, 2 adult females, one possible adolescent female and 14 children. The last ranged in age from birth to 9 years. Routine matters such as child mortality, adult stature, pathology and oral hygiene are discussed, with special reference to both the Settlement burials and to the inhumed material scattered throughout the Cemeteries.

Tomb 244 of the KMF excavation at Knossos was built in the early 5th century A.D., largely of marble blocks from a dismantled Roman Corinthian building. These came from the portico of a tetrastyle prostyle building which probably stood on a foundation discovered nearby. Seven blocks of Pentelic marble survive from the raking cornice and four more from the entablature, together with one capital, a column base and two backing blocks. The reconstruction proposed uses builders' inscriptions on several blocks and illustrates the hitherto unsuspected quality of Imperial building materials and techniques at Knossos. The carved ornament is of the finest and dates to the mid 2nd century A.D.

The article provides a detailed summary of a large deposit, primarily of pottery, from the 1978–82 Stratigraphical Museum Excavations at Knossos. The deposit is assigned to the Middle Minoan III B – Late Minoan I A transition. The material is used as the basis of a re-examination of this difficult stage in the Minoan ceramic sequence and a wide range of deposits, notable among them the seismic destruction level at Akrotiri on Thera, is able to be linked to the Knossos material in order to define the phase more fully. The wide destruction level thus documented may then be set within the historical development of Minoan civilization.

This paper attempts to provide new insights into the nature of Greek society in the Dark Ages (1100–700 B.C.). It re-examines the relationship between the archaeological evidence and the institutions and practices described in the Homeric poems. The archaeological evidence indicates that there were marked regional differences in settlement pattern, burial customs and pottery traditions. This must, it is argued, reflect profound regional differences in social organisation. Ethnographic analogies are used to make sense of some of these regional patterns. Two of the larger and more stable communities in Dark Age Greece, Athens and Knossos, are subjected to detailed scrutiny. A close contextual analysis of the relationship between pot style and mortuary representations in these two sites reveal two patterns which are divergent rather than convergent. In Athens burial customs and later pot style appear to be part of an age and sex linked symbolic system. In Knossos however, there is no clear patterning, either in pot style or mortuary representations. Instead there is a continuum of variation. Such fundamental differences cannot be accomodated within the concept of a uniform ‘Homeric Society’. It is suggested here that the institutions and practices described in Homer only operated at an inter-regional level.