The paper studies a Neolithic zoomorphic clay head from the Vasilika area, Central Macedonia, in the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. The figure, apparently a wild animal or a hybrid, is exceptional from several points of view such as its important dimensions, the choice of the represented subject, and the fact that it probably had belonged to a complex structure. Various aspects of the artefact are considered: its size, particular morphological features, iconographic characteristics, potential practical functions, as well as the identification and probability of likely originals. Different approaches for interpretation are also attempted. Possible parallels are examined from the Near East and the Balkans.

A fragmentary Egyptian Middle Kingdom statuette was found in the north-west area of Central Court at Knossos in 1900. The three hieroglyphic texts show that the statue was mortuary in character, and that it was linked to a gold-caster called User of the Wadjet nome in Egypt. The User statuette is part of a wider distribution of Middle Kingdom statues from Nubia, Anatolia, and the Levant which have been found in funerary and nonfunerary contexts. Theories for this distribution are reviewed including diplomatic gifts and exchanges, dedications in sanctuaries, the movement of specialised Egyptian workers, portable funerary statues and looting. Looting of tombs in the Wadjet nome followed by redistribution of finds looks like the most likely explanation for the appearance of User's statuette on Crete.

This paper publishes the results of excavations of the Kephala Tholos tomb and its immediate vicinity, north of the palace of Knossos, carried out by R. W. Hutchinson in 1938–9. It presents the ceramic and osteological data from the excavations and an architectural study of the tomb structure. The analysis addresses the contentious issue of the dating of the construction of the Tholos, arguing for an LM II date on the basis of the material evidence. It also discusses the equally interesting subsequent history of reuse of the tomb, during phases of LM III and as late as the Protogeometric period, and sets this within the broader context of changing burial practices at Knossos. It considers especially possible motivations for periodic reuse of the Kephala site in terms of strategic appeals to the past, within different political and cultural contexts, from LM II onwards.

The stratigraphy and the Mycenaean III C pottery of Enkomi Level III B (Dikaios's excavations) is examined on the basis of a new study of the pottery in the Larnaka and Nicosia Museum storerooms. The assignation of the Pleonastic Style (Dikaios's ‘Close Style’) and the Wavy Line Style to different phases of Level III B is clarified. The presence of pottery of Proto-White Painted Ware amongst the Level III B material allows correlations to be drawn with the French excavations at Enkomi (Sols III–I).

The paper presents new studies of the architecture at Karfi (12th-11th centuries BC) which has significantly deteriorated since excavation in the 1930s. 1:50 plans of the best-preserved buildings, a new topographical plan of the whole site area, and an EDM plot of the main visible unexcavated remains, allow enhancement of previous commentary on social organization at the site and others of the period. It examines in detail and with the use of wide-ranging comparisons (including with sites of the preceding LM III and subsequent PG-A periods) the ways in which new social systems were materially constructed from soon after widespread settlement relocations in Crete c. 1200 BC. It highlights inter-site similarities suggesting regular, deep-rooted interaction between communities during or soon after this horizon of major social change while evaluating subtle differences probably related to differences in size and complexity between the new villages. For example, cooking facility distribution suggests a role for communal cooking, paralleled at other sites, which is here especially pronounced. This limitation on individuals' potential to achieve status through the hosting of exclusive secular feasts/gatherings may relate to particularly volatile factional competition in large settlements. Evidence recently cited in support of such a model for Karfi (the presence of several different large structures, some containing feasting evidence) is used to raise the question of whether all large secular buildings at this period must be seen as residences. The distinctive character of Karfi's eastern excavated zone (previously argued to relate to diachronic development or to ethnic origins/power balance at the sites) is here characterized in terms of its static rather than agglutinative planning, a feature possibly marking a unique social role for the area. The ‘Megarons’ block, located in this zone, is compared with similar buildings at contemporary sites, with the conclusion that Crete saw the emergence soon after 1200 BC of a fairly fixed template for public feasting buildings, drawing deliberately on features which had earlier possessed exotic/prestige associations. Though such buildings may have shared their social role with powerful families' residences, and direct emulation of their form may have been an important element in social competition, they represent a separate, standardized social institution at this period, complementing the new standardization of cult practice in settlement temples. We seem able identify consistently recognized social concepts spanning the Latest Bronze through Archaic periods in Crete, which were nonetheless transformed through their materialization in changing historical circumstances. The paper concludes by discussing future management and research potential at Karfi.

The Sikyonian site of Titane lies on the eastern slopes of Vesiza, c. 11 km south-west of Sikyon, and some 8.5 km to the north of the Arkadian city of Phlious. The purpose of this study is to examine Titane in relation to Sikyon based on ancient testimonia and the results of my archaeological survey carried out between 1996 and 2002. It is argued that Titane was not a town but a sanctuary, perhaps the most important sanctuary of the Sikyonia in antiquity. The fortifications previously interpreted as an acropolis wall belong to a fort built later within the sanctuary because of its strategic location close to the southern borders of the city-state. Furthermore, the discovery of early Iron Age material on the site and the early cult practices mentioned by Pausanias show that the sanctuary was established in the Geometric period, i.e. during the period of formation of the polis. Finally, it is suggested that a main reason for the foundation of the sanctuary on the slopes of Vesiza was the sacred demarcation of the southern reaches of the Sikyonian city-state.

Remains of a recently excavated small theatre at the foot of a fortified hill, identified with Aitolian Makyneia, were studied on the basis of electronic surveying, CAD, graphical and analytical approximation techniques. This theatre, of the 4th or 3rd century BC, partly excavated on the hillside and built of large sandstone slabs, has an unusual shape, with its koilon consisting of a curvilinear wing of 14 rows of seats and an adjacent linear wing of three rows of blocks forming a single-row proedria. Geometric modelling of the theatre remains on the basis of graphical, and especially of analytical techniques, indicates that the circular wing of the koilon consists of equidistant, concentric rows of seats based on a design arc of 90° for the 1st row, with the corresponding chord normal to the linear wing. Possible poor remains of a skene were found oblique (81°) to the linear wing.

This paper examines the nature and extent of changes in landscapes, societies, and economies in the numerous city-states of the Peloponnese under Macedonian domination (338–196 BC). Emigration and warfare may have had limited and short-term impacts. While Macedonian rule may have been oppressive before and after the Chremonidean war, it did not necessarily disrupt local economies and politics. The Antigonids did not run the Peloponnese as a province, and were concerned mainly with security. Though the building of towns and forts declined, and some cities were abandoned or lost freedom at times, others enjoyed new amenities and religious architecture. Epigraphic output was maintained, and a sharp increase in the centralization of inscriptions in central places post-dates 200. The traditionally oligarchic culture of most city-states was probably unchanged; and while the élite domination of land and politics may have intensified, archaeological survey reveals no trends that can conclusively be attributed to Macedonian rule.

The perception of Late Antique Knossos has changed in recent years from one of a city in desertion to one of a flourishing innovator. Within this context of renewed theories regarding the Late Antique city, this article provides a contribution to the further understanding of the nature of society during this period. Of the Late Antique remains at the Knossos Medical Faculty site, only the Basilica building itself has been published in detail. As such, the aim of this work is to complete the publication record for the Late Antique and other features at the Knossos Medical Faculty site. To this end, the evidence of the entire Basilica complex is discussed and a full account of the mortuary data including the skeletal remains is presented. In addition to the religious architecture and mortuary data the secular material dating to the Venetian and Ottoman periods is considered. Consequently, this overview of the history and function of the KMF basilica complex adds to the expanding knowledge of Late Antique Knossos with particular regard to the religious and burial practices.

This article gives a first publication of two late antique statues; it discusses their archaeological context suggesting an appropriate date and tries to place them in their historical and cultural environment.

The statues of Messene are important because they represent a rare instance of two late antique statues from Achaia for the study of which a precise archaeological context is available. They were the products of a local workshop and could be dated to the first quarter of the fourth century. The two late antique statues, of an emperor (perhaps Constantine I) and of Hermes, and a third earlier one showing Artemis Laphria, were part of a late Roman sculptural assemblage. It is here argued that they all stood together in niches, inside the reception room of a wealthy town mansion. They offer a vivid insight into the taste and self-representation of the owner of the house. It is suggested that they represent a mix of contemporary political reference and traditional values of the Greco-Roman aristocracy: loyalty to the Imperial House, social status and education, euergetism, and perhaps traditional religion.

From 1960 onwards there was collaboration in ceramic analysis of Minoan and Mycenaean material between members of the British School at Athens and the Oxford University Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art. In 1974 this led to the establishment of the School's own Research Laboratory in Athens, thanks to the generosity of Dr Marc and Mrs Ismene Fitch, whose names the laboratory bears. Reference is made to other help and benefactions involved in the creation of the laboratory.