Journal of Greek Archaeology – serie

True to its initial aims, the latest volume of the Journal of Greek Archaeology runs the whole chronological range of Greek Archaeology, while including every kind of material culture. Papers include an overview of a major project investigating Palaeolithic environments, human settlement and other activities in the Ionian Islands. Neolithic industries in large stone artefacts link two papers on the human palaeobiology of populations in the Mycenaean and then Iron Age eras. Two papers on Greeks abroad enlighten us on the nature of Greek presence and impact on indigenous society (and vice versa) in Archaic and Classical Egypt and Southern France. In a totally contrasted fashion, a long article on the fate of Southern Greek cities under Rome offers a very negative but definitively researched analysis on their radical decline. Architecture makes two appearances for the periods that follow, firstly for the towns of Crete under Venetian then Ottoman rule, secondly in the form of Landscape Architecture – the physical infrastructure of rural land use in the unusual landscape of the Mani. Finally, to show that Greek Archaeology knows no boundaries when it comes to material culture, there is a piece on a 21st century fashion designer who has used ancient art to enrich his designs. Alongside these papers, there are articles challenging the accepted view of the Late Bronze ‘Sea Peoples’, shedding welcome light on the neglected later prehistory and protohistory of Epiros, on Greek terracotta figurines and their links to sacrificial offerings, and finally providing a long-term study of the walls of Athens over almost two-and-a-half millennia. The full complement of reviews for almost every period of the Greek Past are also full of fascinating insights and updates.

The fourth volume of the Journal of Greek Archaeology (JGA) is unusually rich and varied in content. Geographically the articles range from Sicily via Greece to Anatolia and the Near East, while chronologically they extend from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman era. Thematically there is a set of papers in landscape studies which include agricultural history, settlement geography, regional comparisons; articles on material culture which encompass metallurgy, ceramics, the links between language and artefacts, and production and trade; papers on aspects of human social science such as palaeopathology and deformity, gender studies and the representation of the supernatural; historical perspectives are finally represented by articles on fortifications and Islamisation. Of particular note is a lengthy presentation of the survey and excavation at the recently discovered Mycenaean palace in the Sparta Valley.The review section is even broader, running from the Palaeolithic through to aspects of present-day heritage studies, and covering an equally wide field of topics.

An international peer-reviewed English-language journal specializing in synthetic articles and in long reviews, the Journal of Greek Archaeology appears annually each Autumn. The scope of the journal is Greek archaeology both in the Aegean and throughout the wider Greek-inhabited world, from earliest Prehistory to the Modern Era.Volume Two maintains the mission to publish across the whole time range of Greek Archaeology, with articles from the Palaeolithic to the Early Modern era, as well as reaching out from the Aegean to the wider Greek world. Lithics and Ceramics are accompanied by innovative Art History and Industrial Archaeology. The book reviews are equally wide-ranging. Contributors are international, and include young researchers as well as long-established senior scholars.

Volume 5 is perhaps the richest and most diverse volume of the Journal of Greek Archaeology so far offered to readers. The editors have kept to the journal's core brief to cover all the major periods of Greek Archaeology in a literal sense, with articles from the Neolithic through Greco-Roman times and the Middle Ages and up to the 19th century AD. Geographically, papers range from Sicily through the Aegean to Turkey.A major novelty is the inclusion of two Colloquia, one on the economics of Greek Protohistoric to Archaic ‘colonisation’ edited by Lieve Donnellan, the second on Byzantine landscape archaeology edited by Effie Athanassopoulos.Alongside a wealth of period-based papers on settlements, ceramics, lithics and urban infrastructure, the volume also presents a major report on the nature and future of surface survey in Mediterranean lands, a group article – the fruit of some twenty years of twice-yearly conferences by the International Mediterranean Survey Workshop community.The review section also ranges through prehistory to the recent past, including the historiography of research which includes and extensive and enlightening (but disturbing) review article by Margriet Haagsma on discrimination against female scholars in early 20th century Classical Archaeology.

Volume 6 maintains the journal's goal to cover the broad chronological spread of Greek Archaeology, ranging from a new review of the Mesolithic occupation at Theopetra, one of the most important hunter-gatherer sites in Greece, to a detailed analysis of how the distribution of Middle Byzantine churches in the Peloponnese enlightens us into the evolution of human settlement and land use. Prehistory is richly represented in further articles, as we learn about Middle Bronze Age society on Lefkas, the dispute over exotic primates portrayed on the frescoes of Santorini, a new Minoan-style peak sanctuary on Naxos, and Post-Palatial settlement structure on Crete. Bridging prehistory to historical times, a detailed study rethinks the burial and settlement evidence for Early Iron Age Athens, then entering the Archaic period, an original article links textual analysis and material culture to investigate dedicatory behaviour in Ionian sanctuaries. As a special treat, that doyen of Greek plastic arts Andrew Stewart, asks us to look again at the evidence for the birth of the Classical Style in Greek sculpture. Greek theatres in Sicily are next contextualised into contemporary politics, while the sacred Classical landscape of the island of Salamis is explored with innovative GIS-techniques. For the seven-hundred years or so of Roman rule we are given an indepth presentation of regional economics from Central Greece, and a thorough review of harbours and maritime navigation for Late Roman Crete. Finally we must mention a methodological article, deploying the rich data from the Nemea landscape survey, to tackle issues of changing land use and the sometimes controversial topic of ancient manuring.