Sanctuaries remain important for the study of ancient Greek life and culture because they express the values and concerns of the communities where they were established and developed. The investigation of sanctuaries remains a fundamental aspect of research. The new data that have come to light clearly confirm that their study has in no way been exhausted. The Peloponnese has been at the centre of scholarly interest in this subject from the very start, and continues to be today. This article offers an overview of the excavations and publications of the last decade, recording also new trends in sanctuary research.

While much of the news reported from Greece continues to focus on the harsh realities of continuing financial crisis, it is a pleasure to publicize the strength and diversity of archaeological research, and the major developments which continue to make Greece's sites and museums ever more attractive and accessible to visitors whatever their interests. This has been an exciting year, not least thanks to the Greek presidency of the Council of the European Union which has put culture in all forms under the spotlight (the exhibition Greece's Europe. Colonies and Coinage from the Alpha Bank Collection at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki was but one of the commemorative events held in Greece). Further new discoveries through the summer of 2014 continue to tantalize, as we will observe presently.

The selection of sites below reflects some of the most distinctive additions of 2012, arranged according to a number of themes, which reflect a dominant and continuing interest in sites that illuminate the urban and civic characteristics of archaeological locations in mainland Greece.

Among the important discoveries of 2012 was the prehistoric stone pile and chamber tomb cut into bedrock at the Early Helladic cemetery of Asteria (ID3306), near Glyphada, Attica, which is discussed by David Smith below. The tomb was repeatedly reused: it contained one strongly contracted skeleton in front of the door and a pile of bones in the east half of the chamber representing at least 20 individuals (17 adults and three children). M. Pantelidou Gofa (ASA) reports on the 2012 season at Tsepi, Marathon, where a new deposit was investigated outside tomb 39, as well as two new tombs, 56 and 58 (ID3311), noting that Tomb 56 has all the known characteristics of the Tsepi tombs: rectangular with a built chamber, walls and threshold.

In the Athenian Agora, investigations continued in 2012 of the Hellenistic and Classical road levels of the Panathenaic Way. John Camp reports the following on behalf of the ASCSA (ID2893, cf. ID2471).

‘Newsround’ offers a platform for new discoveries that do not appear within the specialist contributions of this year’s Archaeological Reports, but which nevertheless warrant emphasis, either as a result of their particular characteristics or for the contribution they make to broader archaeological narratives. This section is not intended to be exhaustive but rather an overview of archaeological research in Greece. It comprises largely preliminary reports (results of excavations that took place up to and including August 2020 where possible) that complement the digital content made available through Archaeology in Greece Online (https://chronique.efa.gr). Due to the diachronic nature of a number of the sites and for ease of reference, the material is organized geographically in the first instance and then chronologically (earliest to latest) within each section as far as possible.

Macedonia continues to offer a great deal of new material evidence, including much systematic information, as well as major, occasionally sensational discoveries (see Catherine Morgan's “View from Greece”, above), whether in those areas that are considered to be the historical “heartlands” of the Argead kingdom, Pieria and Emathia, the mountain regions of the northern and western Pindus or in eastern Macedonia, which comprises areas with a rather different historical and cultural profile. The administrative area of Thrace has, by contrast, played a more modest role in recent field research, except for a limited number of key sites and occasional finds resulting from development work along the route of the new Egnatia Odos. The “remarkable decade” preceding and following the Athens Olympics of 2004 has played out differently in northern Greece, where the proliferation of archaeological investigations has been driven largely by development work in and around Thessaloniki (and, to a lesser extent, Edessa and Veroia), particularly along routes connected to the national highway and the network of underground shafts and tunnels associated with the construction of Thessaloniki's metro line and stations along its axis.

This paper presents a thorough review of new data and research on the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods in Epirus. It correlates new with old material in an attempt to outline the situation in Epirus and to highlight the region’s peculiarities. These peculiarities make Epirus attractive for scholars and at the same time set it apart from the rest of Greece. The ultimate goal is to reconsider Epirus’ position in the field of Greek and European prehistory more broadly.

In memory of my beloved father Dimitris

In recent years much progress has been made in the study of the sanctuaries of the Cyclades, both in the field, with new excavations, as well as in restoration projects, and also towards their publication.

A research project entitled Sanctuaries and Cults in the Cyclades was approved as part of a research grant attached to the Chaire Internationale Blaise Pascal for 2012/2013 awarded to me by the French state and the Regional Council of Ile-de-France. The project started in October 2012, in collaboration with the University of Paris 1 (Franis Prost) and the École pratique des hautes études (François de Polignac), and is still in progress. I have been assisted by Jean-Sébastien Gros, who designed the related website and database, Yannis Kalliontzis, who is responsible for the compilation of the written sources associated with the cults in the Cyclades (mostly the inscriptions referring to cult and cult places) and Olga Kaklamani who is responsible for compiling the basic bibliography and catalogues of cult places. The chronological scope of the project is restricted to the Geometric and Archaic periods, though the developments of the Classical era are largely taken into account. The Hellenistic and Roman periods have not been included in the compilation of the archaeological data, with the exception of late inscriptions which could refer to possible earlier cults. An interactive website and online database are in preparation and will be launched soon, hosted by the server of the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology of the University of Thessaly.

This review covers recent archaeological work on Early Iron Age to Classical Crete, focusing on research conducted and published in the 2010s. Proceeding from the west to the east part of the island, and encompassing material ranging from the 12th to the mid-fourth century BC, this study finds that, overall, the field is flourishing, despite the challenges created by the international financial crisis and the constraints posed by the global pandemic. In the last decade, the major archaeological projects which focus on Crete for the period under examination continued with their fieldwork and finds research, while new projects were also established. Additionally, as many as eight archaeological museums were opened, reopened, or are about to open. Nevertheless, final publication of large bodies of Cretan material from the period in question remain scarce, a condition which is more severe on the western half of the island. Notwithstanding its floruit, research on Early Iron Age to Classical Crete is often treated as relatively marginal, and – arguably – rather inconsequential to the grand narratives of Greek history, and art and archaeology. This paper traces the roots of this problem and shows that current work on the archaeology of Early Iron Age to Classical Crete has full potential for revolutionizing the largely Athenocentric paradigm which still pervades the study of ancient Greece.