Jack L. Davis is the Carl W. Blegen Professor of Greek Archaeology at the University of Cincinnati. John Bennet is the Director of the British School at Athens, and Professor of Aegean Archaeology at the University of Sheffield.

Ten years on, SP is still a good read, a splendid introduction to the pre-modern southwestern Peloponnese... that proves history of several sorts can be written without the aid (or crutch?) of a privileged ancient narrative.' -- Bryn Mawr Classical Review Bryn Mawr Classical Review

• List of Figures; Preface (Jack L. Davis); Transliteration Rules; Introduction: Glimpses of Messenia Past (Jack L. Davis); Chapter 1: The Environmental Setting (Eberhard Zangger); The Physical Scientist's Role in Regional Archaeology (Eberhard Zangger); From Pollen to Plants (Sergei Yazvenko); Chapter 2: The History of Archaeological Investigations in Messenia (Nigel Spencer); The Discovery of the Palace of Nestor (Jack L. Davis); Marinatos in Pylos (Yannos G. Lolos): Chapter 3: The Palace and its Dependencies (Jack L. Davis); The Port of Nestor (Eberhard Zangger); Mycenaean Burial at Pylos (Yannos G. Lolos); Chapter 4:The Palace and its Operations (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine); The Ano Englianos Hilltop After the Palace (Charles G. Griebel and Michael C. Nelson); The Perfumed-Oil Industry (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine); Chapter 5: The Linear B Archives and the Kingdom of Nestor III (John Bennet); The Prap Survey's Contribution (John Bennet); Umme and Nichoria (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine); Chapter 6: After the Palace: The Early "History" of Messenia (Ann B. Harrison and Nigel Spencer); Ceramic Typology for Beginners (Ann b. Harrison); Nichoria: An Early Age Village in Messenia (Nigel Spencer); The Battle of Sphacteria (425 B.C.); Chapter 7: Liberation and Conquest: Hellenistic and Roman Messenia (Susan E. Alcock); Dialiskari: A Late Roman Villa on the Messenian Coast (David Stone and Axel Kampke); Power from the Dead: Tomb Cult in Postliberation Messenia (Susan E. Alcock); Bouka (Ann B. Harrison); Chapter 8: Medieval Messenia (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); The Estates of Niccolo Acciaiuoli (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); Venetian Methoni (Modon) (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); Byzantine Sgraffito Ware (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); Chapter 9: The Second Ottoman Period and the Greek Revolution (Jack L. Davis; Hasanaga: A Glimpse into the Ottoman Countryside (Susan E. Alcock); The Battle of Navarino (Charles Watkinson); Chapter 10: From Pausanias to the Present (Jack L. Davis); Messenia's Multiple Past ( Jack L. Davis); Computers and the Maps at Prap (Sebastian Heath); A Fieldwalker's Perspective on Prap (Maria Antoniou and Kalliope Kaloyerakou); Timeline; Sources of Quotations; Further Reading; Index.