Located on the eastern coast of Lesbos island in the north-east Aegean, Thermi emerges as one of the most emblematic sites in the Early Bronze Age. Since its excavation by Winifred Lamb in the early 1930s, it has been recognised as an early urban settlement, similarly to its equivalent insular sites on Lemnos, Chios and Samos. Although often linked to Anatolian influences due to similarities in pottery assemblages and material culture, especially in terms of morphology, Thermi’s ceramics have largely been confined to significant typological classifications without further analytical investigation. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive study encompassing morpho-stylistic, macroscopic and petrographic analysis of this ceramic assemblage across all settlement phases during the third millennium BC. Through petrographic analysis of pottery and raw material samples, this study has determined the provenance and allowed the characterisation of local and intra-island pottery production and consumption strategies. Additionally, it has identified evidence of Thermi’s extra-insular connectivity with various sources across the Aegean region. While certain ceramic manufacturing choices exhibit diachronic continuities, there is evidence of chronological patterning in the appearance of clay recipes. These changes correlate well with contemporaneous shifts in architectural developments, patterns of consumption of valued goods and the broader outreach of the settlement.

The Parthenon’s structure suggests a thought-out design particularly attentive to light. This includes the orientation of the building towards the rising sun, the placement of windows, the use of barriers and grilles, the translucent marble ceilings, the skylights, and even ‘reflective’ pools of various liquid. These are all devices that, alongside bright materials, may have been used to enhance the experience of visitors to the temple and their encounter with the colossal gold and ivory statue of the goddess Athena. To test the validity and the effect that each of these purported design strategies produced, this article proposes an experiment using advanced 3D digital technologies, along with physically based lighting simulations, to recreate the ambient and architectural conditions that existed in the original temple design. The results suggest that this temple, contrary to long-standing beliefs that imagined the interior as a ‘bright marble space’, was generally quite dark and dim. The subsequent discussion and concluding remarks suggest that the illumination of the chryselephantine statue’s materials through the glow of a lamp, and on rare occasions from the sun, probably represented the pinnacle of the viewing encounters.

With the reconstruction of the Prince of the Lilies (also known as Prince with the Lily Crown or Priest-King) from a group of fragments of painted stucco relief found in the palace at Knossos, Arthur Evans and the Gilliérons created not only one of the most famous icons of Crete's early Late Minoan past, but also its most controversial. Addressing a debate that has taken place over the last 45 years, this paper considers the question of the orientation and gesture of the figure, which some scholars would like to see as a right-facing boxer or deity with his left arm extended forward and his right arm bent at the side, rather than the well-known man striding to the left with his right fist on his chest. Focusing on the key relief fragment described by Evans as ‘male torso with the lily collar’, a comparison of the orientation of the eponymous piece of jewellery with contemporary depictions of necklaces conclusively confirms the leftward orientation of the figure to which the torso once belonged. The iconographic analysis of the gesture of the right fist on the chest and of the contextual associations of the waz-lily allow the ‘Man with the waz-Lily Necklace’ to regain his central place in Minoan religious imagery as well as in the monumental relief decoration of the Late Minoan I palace at Knossos.

This paper focuses on the little-known but important cave-sanctuary of Zar Trypa on Mount Ossa (modern Kissavos) in north-eastern Thessaly. In 1910, research conducted at the site uncovered remains of votives from the Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods, including a group of eight inscriptions dedicated to the Nymphs. Despite this remarkable epigraphic assemblage, the site was not investigated beyond a single excavation season and today is largely unknown. Consequently, the Zar Trypa cave and its finds have never featured prominently in the discussion of Thessalian religion or of Greek ‘natural’ sanctuaries. Combining archival studies, on-site observations and GIS-based methods of landscape archaeology, this paper sets out to re-assess the surviving archaeological evidence from the Zar Trypa cave, to examine the spatial setting of ritual activity at the site, and to place the cave in the context of Mount Ossa's natural environment and ancient settlement pattern. Drawing on the methodological framework of ‘lived religion’, this assessment not only contributes towards our understanding of ancient religious experiences at the Zar Trypa cave, but also addresses broader questions such as the significance and meaning of ‘sacred travel’ in pre-Christian antiquity.

This article presents the results of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) of, altogether, 145 pottery and clay samples deriving from five sites located in the Thessalian region of Magnesia: Dimini, Nea Ionia, Kastro/Palaia (Volos), Pefkakia and Velestino. Chronologically, the sampled pottery covers the entire Late Bronze Age (LBA), with a few samples dating to the Middle Bronze Age. Within this broad chronological range, Mycenaean-type pottery dominates, the majority of it being decorated, with an addition of fine unpainted pottery and such used for transport and cooking. Pottery of non-Mycenaean derivation is represented by a variety of types belonging to the early LBA as well as two classes of the early post-palatial period (i.e. after 1200 BC): Handmade Burnished Ware and Grey Ware. Importantly, samples associated with two pottery kilns at Dimini and Velestino were included in the project, although no kiln wasters were identified. Results of the analysis provide important insights into both local Thessalian pottery production and inter- and intra-regional pottery exchange. Local production utilising clay beds around Dimini is best evidenced, with a distribution of its products reaching beyond Thessaly. Two further chemical patterns appear to be associated with Velestino, while an additional two small chemical groups are likely Thessalian as well. In terms of identified imports, the Argolid stands out as the major source of non-local pottery from the beginning of the LBA until the end of the palatial period. Other regions and production localities play a significantly smaller role as sources of supply. On the basis of the study, for the first time the local production as well as importation of pottery in the region of Magnesia is documented by scientific means, opening new research perspectives and strengthening the region's standing as part of the Mycenaean world.

The corpus of carved ivories from the sanctuary of Orthia at Sparta forms one of the most cosmopolitan assemblages from Archaic Laconia. One image within this corpus, however, has remained an anomaly: a mirror-image scene on two plaques showing three figures mourning a deceased male in theprothesisritual. The puzzling nature of these plaques rests on the dearth of imagery elsewhere in Laconia from this period displaying the prothesis, unlike Attica. These images have been viewed as representing a mythical death or a commemoration of an actual death, tied to a period in Sparta's history when elite groups claimed power through ostentatious ritual, but their overall meaning within Orthia's sanctuary remains obscure. I argue, however, that these plaques are not anomalies within the ivory corpus, nor are they divorced from the broader ritual programme in Orthia's sanctuary – rather, the ivory corpus itself represents a unified composition that merged scenes showing ideal activities for Spartan citizens with heroic episodes from myth, geared towards the achievement of everlastingkléos. The semantics of these combined iconographies are clarified via comparison with cultic implements described in ancient literature alongside extant examples of multi-scene figural pottery from the seventh and sixth centuries. This paper thus highlights the mythological and ideological meanings of theprothesisplaques within the broader ivory corpus, and elucidates the role of complex figural iconographies in the elaboration of heroic ideals centred on Spartan citizens in this period.

This paper discusses gilded wreaths from the Greek world, which were sometimes buried in graves in the period between the fourth century BC and Roman times. It is based upon a study undertaken by the author for her doctoral thesis. A categorisation into seven types is proposed, based on first-hand study of some 170 wreaths. Some of the wreaths studied are presented here and a detailed description of one representative example of each type with contextual information is set out in the Appendix. It is not clear whether gilded wreaths were worn in life, but their main use seems to have been funerary. Most were intended for the head, and some ideas as to how the various types may have been worn are proposed. Suggestions as to the probable origin of each of the various types are made, with caveats. The author was able to analyse many wreaths, enabling her to draw some conclusions as to the materials used; the results most relevant to the seven specimens described in the Appendix are set out in the two tables. There follows a discussion of the gilding technique used, which in most cases involved an application of a clay coating and adhesive beneath the gold. Some items with similarities to gilded wreaths are then discussed to set them in context: gold wreaths, terracotta jewellery and single leaves. The paper reviews the four main uses with which wreaths are associated in ancient Greece, all connected (religious purposes; on death; at the symposium and banquets; and to honour victorious athletes and other outstanding persons) before offering some explanations as to why gilded wreaths may have been buried in graves.

Mandra, on the uninhabited islet of Despotiko in the middle of the Aegean Sea, is well known to the archaeological community, owing to the discovery there in 2001 of an extensive sanctuary of Apollo. Twenty-two edifices have come to light so far, and the systematic excavation continues to elucidate the long history of the site. The Early Iron Age marked the earliest activity there, traces of which offer fertile grounds for reconsidering life in the Cyclades at the time. The richest evidence for this period is offered by a secondary deposition, detected near two Early Iron Age buildings, which revealed thousands of clay sherds, extending from the late ninth/early eighth to the late sixth century BC, quantities of animal bones, and more than 60 metal objects. This article focuses on a small group of Early Iron Age terracotta animal figurines from this deposition. Critically analysing both their association with ritual and the polarity of ritual and profane, an attempt is made to unravel the lifecycle of these figurines, treating them as agents of activity. Their function and meaning are interwoven with the activities operating at the site during the Early Iron Age, at least two centuries before the foundation of the Archaic temenos.

This paper offers an overview of a number of fragments of Hellenistic braziers collected during several seasons of excavations in the Agora of Nea Paphos, Cyprus. Its primary aim is to demonstrate their presumably local production and the production of examples manufactured outside of Cyprus during the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods by using a methodology that combines the macroscopic analysis of fabrics and typological study. Special attention is given to what this collection tells us about some of the human practices in the city between the third century BCE and the Early Roman period. This study seeks to obtain data that will help to address gaps in the material culture of Hellenistic Nea Paphos and deepen the understanding of the broader process of Hellenisation.