The excavation of the Royal Tombs at Vergina has led to discussion of problems posed by them. This paper discusses problems of chronology, and the difficulties of deducing date purely from consideration of the architectural features of the Macedonian tombs. It also considers the use of the vault to roof them, and argues that this was developed in Macedonia itself, through the enlargement of cist tombs to meet the particular needs posed by the larger tombs of the fourth century BC. Finally, it discusses the architectural embellishment of the façades.

Images of bears are found as dedications in only five sanctuaries. The article considers the circumstances of this; particularly the belief that this animal was an emblem and pattern of motherhood.

During his travels in Crete 1894–9, Sir Arthur Evans discovered the site of Athropolithous near Epano Zakro, Sitias; he also recovered clay figurines from the site. Though never excavated, the site has figured prominently in discussions about Minoan cult places. There has arisen some confusion about its exact identification. To clarify the issue Evans's notes and the finds are published here. In addition, the classification of Athropolithous as a cult place is discussed, and is used as an example of a more rigorous approach to the identification of shrine sites.

A painting of the Battle of Lepanto was published in JHS 1 (1930) 1–3 by R. M. Dawkins; an inscription on the back names the painter as the monk Laurentios. This inscription is shown to be a copy, and the painting itself to be a late nineteenth-century work by D. Pelekassis.

The fragments of an early Mycenaean pictorial krater decorated with fish from Maroni in Cyprus are discussed and illustrated. The piece is considered within the broader context of contemporary representations, and it is suggested that Minoan representations of bird and fish motifs provided the inspiration for the use of these two themes in the early stages of Mycenaean vase-painting.

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.

A corpus of roundels (clay discs with one or more seal impressions) from Knossos is presented. It is argued that they come from a closed deposit dating to the MM III/LM IA period. The inscriptions/incisions on them are discussed, and the question whether the seals were used by one person only or by different persons.

Excavations in Greece over the last fifty years have produced considerable remains of animals from prehistoric sites. This paper discusses which species were exploited by man, and at what periods, the way in which each species was managed and the role of animal husbandry in the overall economy.

Four letters written in 1879, 1880, and 1884, by Thomas B. Sandwith, the British Consul in Crete, to the British Museum throw light on the early history of the site of the Bronze Age palace at Knossos. The first of these letters (1879) contains a brief eyewitness account of the excavations of Minos Kalokairinos there in the winter of 1878–9 and urges the British Museum to continue his work. The two later letters (1884) deal with his gift of a pithos from the palace excavations to the Museum. The letters also refer to clandestine excavations in the Sanctuary of Demeter at Knossos.

This paper is a report of the 1985 and 1986 survey work conducted at the Byzantine citysite of Paliochora (Hagios Demetrios) on Kythera. The city was traditionally founded in the late twelfth century and destroyed by the pirate Barbarossa in 1537.

The report begins with a brief historical summary of the island's history under the Byzantines and Venetians, and a description of the site. The rest of the paper is devoted to a discussion of the initial finds under the headings of domestic architecture and churches. In the conclusion the proposed future work on site is outlined.

The Corinthian Helmet Catalogue No. B2, of a popular seventh-century design, is described and classified. It is dated to the first half of the seventh century, and placed in Snodgrass's second group.

The paper discusses the process of crop production and consumption; that is, methods of cultivating, processing of harvested crops for storage and consumption, and patterns of crop storage. Evidence for storage from prehistoric sites in various parts of Greece is considered.

The restoration of the inscription is discussed, and the number of missing lines calculated. On the basis of the surviving text, the minimum number of amphorae awarded is calculated at 1423.

The photographs taken in 1869 by William J. Stillman, in the Alma-Tadema collection in the Library of the University of Birmingham, give detailed evidence for the form of the tower, enlarging the discussion of it by the author in BSA 81.

New excavations were undertaken at Palaikastro in 1986 in the fields lying between the previous excavations and the sea. The remains of two structures and a roadway were found. Building 1 is a monumental structure, constructed in LM IA, that seems to have been destroyed in LM IB, and probably reoccupied and destroyed/abandoned in LM IIIA2. Over the top of Building 1 a less impressive structure was built and occupied then abandoned in LM IIIB. The second structure has many features in common with Late Minoan cult buildings. Building 2 is a typical LM town house of the wealthier variety, destroyed in LM IA with traces of later reoccupation in ?LM III. The roadway, called ‘Harbour Road’, seems to lead from the likely location of the Minoan harbour to the entrance of Building 1.

The alabastron in the Classical Museum, University College, Dublin, is described. It is suggested that it was found by Sir Arthur Evans in the ‘Throne-room’ at Knossos, and presented to Dublin by D. G. Hogarth, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum. Evidence for its discovery in the notebooks of Evans and Duncan Mackenzie is discussed.

This paper gives a preliminary publication of the Marine Style pottery found during excavations at the Seraglio in 1980 and 1981. The pottery has an importance for the history of the south-eastern Aegean and Miletus, following the eruption of the volcano at Santorini, and for this reason is presented here in advance of the final publication.

An unusual figurative larnax of LM III date was found in the dromos of an Iron Age chamber tomb in the KMF cemetery north of Knossos. The decoration includes retorted spirals, tricurved arch, parallel chevrons, wavy lines, and ‘tree’. The figures have closest analogies on the Ayia Triadha sarcophagus. There is a modelled animal's head on the top ridge of the lid.