The decoration on the shield of the Athena Parthenos is discussed, in particular the value of the evidence of vase-painting for the gigantomachy on the inner side. The painted representation on the inner side of the Strangford shield is compared, showing the general relationship, but the conclusion is that we cannot be dogmatic about their relation to each other or the shield of the Parthenos.

Field-work in 1984 and 1985 centred on the Klithi rockshelter has combined excavation and analysis of finds with palaeoenvironmental and palaeogeographical studies of the wider regional setting. Radiocarbon dates show that the deposits so far excavated extend from 10,000 BP to 17,000 BP. Excavations have concentrated on the uppermost levels (10,000 BP to 12,500 BP) immediately accessible below the surface, in order to develop methods for investigating spatial variation in the distribution of materials in the deposit. They have revealed a large hearth area in the back of the shelter as a major focus of activity. New details of the flint industry and faunal remains are presented, along with preliminary indications of spatial patterning. There is evidence for the performance of a wide range of subsistence activities based on locally available resources as well as evidence, in the form of exotic flint and marine shells, for contacts over a wide area. Palaeogeographical methods of analysis based on field mapping of geology, relief and terrain have been developed to define the distribution and density of the main herbivores under Pleniglacial conditions. Both the evidence from excavation and from these wider palaeogeographical studies emphasize the small scale of human activities, the small size of residential groups, and the likelihood of seasonal movements and social contacts over very extensive territories during the Upper Palaeolithic period.

The evidence of John Myres's papers and letters in the Ashmolean Museum, and his unpublished memoirs entitled ‘Praeterita’, shows that he planned to conduct excavations at Knossos in 1893. They suggest the reasons which prompted these plans, and the circumstances which led to their abandonment.

It is argued that Byzantine manuscript illustrations to Hesiod's eighth-century BC poem offer realistic evidence for the appearance and function of common Medieval agricultural implements, of which there is little other record. Fourteen manuscripts illustrated from the tenth to sixteenth centuries AD are analysed in the Table on p. 67. In them seventeen implements not named in the text may be regarded as contemporary Medieval pictures, which may also be true of the six implements which Hesiod describes, for traditional textual or arthistorical rules hardly apply to these rustic drawings. Using the methodology of K. D. White's studies of Roman farming, other pictorial, literary, documentary, and the scanty archaeological evidence, together with that of survivals, is applied to these twenty-three implements alone. Conclusions are that the Byzantines may have introduced an eliktrin spade-fork, and possibly a wheel structure, but the article must be read within the context of Roman, Western Medieval and later Mediterranean studies of technology and means of peasant production, for which it offers only a first step in the largely unexplored Byzantine field.

Lead isotope and neutron activation analyses of second millennium BC copper ingots are described. Examples from Cyprus, from the Mathiati hoard, and from Skouriotissa are consistent, and show similarities with Late Cypriot bronze artefacts from Hala Sultan Teke and Ayios Dhimitrios. Analysis of the Hagia Triada ingots shows that these Cretan examples were not imports from Cyprus. The possibility that they used Cretan ores is discussed and rejected. It is tentatively suggested they may be of Anatolian origin. It is clear that the Late Bronze Age metal trade was organized on a more complex basis than was previously assumed to be the case.

The Medieval towers of the former Duchy of Athens and Thebes—that is, the modern Nomes of Attica, Boeotia, Phokis, and Phthiotis—are described and analysed.

With reference to their siting, their architectural details, and any associated features, together with an examination of any relevant documentary material, the dating, the affinities, and the function of the towers within the feudal landscape of mainland central Greece are discussed.

Three islands of the Dodecanese (Rhodes, Kos, and Kalymnos) have produced a substantial amount of published evidence which sheds light on population fluctuations and external relations during the twelfth century BC. The burial evidence from the Ialysos cemeteries indicates that the population may have increased fivefold after LH IIIB. A corresponding decrease may have occurred in southern Rhodes indicating a synoecism of the island. If this is so, the reasons may be related to the increasing prosperity of the main town, Ialysos. This is a period of regional diversity. Distinctive island pottery styles developed under marked Minoan influence. However, mainland influence was stronger, broader, and more constant. None of these islands appears to have contributed to the development of IIIC styles elsewhere nor actively participated in maritime trade. Rhodes and Kos acquired objects from the east Mediterranean and Europe. At this time, there is evidence for a revival of sea travel within and beyond the Aegean. Rhodes, in particular, benefited from this but may primarily have been a passive recipient. The resulting prosperity could have been one factor which drew people to the area of Ialysos in a process of synoecism.

Red-figure pottery of Laconian manufacture was found in the excavations of the British School at Sparta in 1906–10 (Artemis Orthia, Acropolis) and 1924–8 (Acropolis), in particular the Roman theatre. This is entirely fragmentary, and is here published with full catalogue. Stratigraphical information is slight. Most fragments are from the Acropolis, particularly the area between the south wall of the shrine of Athena Chalkioikos and the retaining wall from the cavea of the Roman theatre. The most common shape is the large one-handled mug, which had a brief vogue in the last quarter of the fifth and first quarter of the fourth century. Other open shapes are craters, cups, plates. Closed shapes are far fewer, and exact forms not easy to determine: possibly pelikai and hydriai. There is a general stylistic connection with Attic red-figure of the last fifteen years of the fifth century and the first decade of the fourth.

Towers on the island of Thasos are discussed, to determine how they relate to the Thasian countryside. It is unlikely that there is any single explanation for their existence. Defence does not appear to be a normal purpose. Some may have served as signals of danger to sailors, others were primarily agricultural, providing safe, if temporary, bases for farming and herding. Some may have been strong rooms associated with normal village dwellings for storage and protection of goods as well as people in times of danger or as a display of wealth. It is noted that village settlements are infrequent on Thasos. A catalogue of the towers is given in an appendix.

The probable extent of the Late Cycladic town at Akrotiri is discussed, and the original geographical setting reconstructed. The principles on which the town and its buildings were constructed are elucidated; emphasizing the compact accumulation of rooms and other units of space. Buildings are generally multi-storied, and there is no evidence for courtyards or light walls within them. Access is generally limited to a single entrance, lighting and ventilation are provided by windows. Drainage systems are provided. The three types of streets: main streets, narrow alleys, and blind alleys are described, and the factors behind their arrangement and form discussed. Orientation of the streets is approximately north to south and east to west. The phenomenon of dentation in the construction of walls is discussed. The conclusion is that the town plan reflects a building operation based on a well-organized community with strong traditions and unwritten laws.

The Lekythos of Myrrhine (NM 4485) is described and dated to the last decade of the fifth century. It is a specially commissioned memorial, commemorating her religious office; she is demonstrated to have been the first priestess of Athena Nike. The gravestone to Myrrhine found near Zographo is also discussed. It is suggested that the Lethykos is either a public monument, or an attempt by her family to draw public attention to her, while the Zographo stone marked her actual burial place.

Dedications to an individual by members of his immediate family were common throughout the Greek world, but in Rhodian territory a more complex form of family dedication is attested, with several members of the wider family circle participating and listing their exact relationship to the honorand. When these inscriptions with their various kinship terms are correctly interpreted, stemmas of large family groups may be drawn up. The method which must be used in understanding these ‘family monuments’ is shown by an analysis of IG xii (1) 72 a–b, and the texts of four similar inscriptions are examined and revised so that family trees may be created for their family groups (ILind 382 b; Inschr. Nisyros 3 with IG xii (3) 103; IG xii (1) 107, the most complex of all Rhodian ‘family monuments’). The presence in IG xii (1) 107 of Hagesandros the son of Paionios, one of the three Rhodian sculptors of the Sperlonga and Laocoon statuary groups, leads to a reconsideration of the date of the groups and of the career of the only one of the three sculptors otherwise attested as an artist, Athanodoros the son of Hagesandros. It can be shown by securely dated pieces of epigraphical evidence that Hagesandros and Athanodoros were born c.80 BC and had their artistic floruit early in the reign of Augustus. The Sperlonga and Laocoon sculpture must therefore be dated to this period.

The two most important Fikellura vase painters are here studied and their works catalogued. The earlier of the two, the Altenburg Painter, was recognized first by R. M. Cook (BSA 34 (1933–4) 1–98), but the number of vases attributed to this painter has greatly increased and now includes some of the earliest Fikellura vases with figure decoration. His career covers most of the third quarter of the sixth century. The second painter, named the Painter of the Running Satyrs, is studied for the first time here. His production spans most of the fourth quarter of the century. Although not very numerous, his vases have novel themes and show a vigorous figure style. The study of these two painters' careers helps in dating some of Cook's various groups of Fikellura vases and clarifies their relationship with the work of these painters. The source of most Fikellura is now seen to be Miletus, but the question of the origin or antecedents of Fikellura pottery is still not entirely settled. Some explanation is, however, offered for the sudden appearance of this ware about the mid sixth century.

Early Cycladic pottery from the lower levels of the site at Akrotiri, especially from the pits dug to bedrock to support the modern roofing, is described and discussed. This demonstrates that Akrotiri was occupied as early as the EC period. Evidence from this for relations with the rest of the Cyclades and the Aegean in general is discussed, together with the possible chronological equations. Most of the pottery belongs to the advanced phases of the Early Cycladic. There is, as yet, no certain evidence for Neolithic.

Two inscribed slabs in the Sparta Museum and the imperial statue base from which they came are restudied. It is demonstrated that it once supported statues of Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Geta, Julia Domna, and Plautilla. A second part assembles evidence for a hitherto neglected Spartan festival, the Olympea Comodeia.

The purpose of this paper is to make available the full osteological record of the human bones found in a small room of a late Minoan Ib house at Knossos (Stratigraphical Museum site), of which about a third bear knife marks suggesting that flesh had been cut from them. It presents the physical situation, finds, and their contexts. Part I describes in detail the stratigraphy and distribution of the finds, II sets out the osteological record, III analyses in more detail the skulls and mandibles and their evidence for age, IV summarizes reasons for the treatment of the bodies and bones, and considers the condition of the human individuals at death, and V concludes with some comparative evidence.

It is suggested that Polyeuctus' statue of Demosthenes was placed next to the statue of Lycurgus in the Athenian Agora, and near Cephisidotus' Eirene and Plutus, to recall Demosthenes' support for the children of Lycurgus when they were prosecuted by Menesaechmus.