3 Review(s)

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.