Journal of Greek Archaeology Volume 8 2023

Our volume opens on a very sad note, the sudden passing of that great scholar of Greek Art, Andrew Stewart (1948-2023). A scholar of immense knowledge and energy, Andy was also greatly loved and admired by his students as well as innumerable colleagues in international scholarship. He supported this Journal from its creation, peer-reviewed papers, contributed his own pathbreaking articles, and encouraged others to successfully offer their work to us. Over many books and papers he gave us unique insights into Greek artistic culture, a contribution to the field which is irreplaceable. This volume is dedicated to him, while our first article is an appreciation by his close friend and colleague Tonio Hölscher. Later in this volume the article by Maria Panagiotonakou is also dedicated to Andy’s memory.

Moving on to the other contents of this volume, as always we have encouraged and succeeded in spanning the millennia of Greek Archaeology in its fullest sense. We begin with Copper Age and Early Bronze Age lithic industries and food economies in Attica and Cyprus respectively, before diving into the complexities of the dating of the immense eruption of Santorini in the early Late Bronze Age. A detailed geographic study of Cretan settlement history over the Late Bronze Age and into Protohistoric times is complemented by an article on the existence or not of a Dorian invasion of the island over the same period. For the Early Iron Age, an innovative exploration of Geometric vase decoration deploys the patterning of chess moves.

With Classical-Hellenistic times we learn about houses and group dining in Sicily and a contextual analysis of the construction of the Segesta theatre on the same island.

In the absence of Roman-era offerings (readers and prospective authors please note!), we jump to two papers on Medieval ceramics. One focusses on their production in Messenia, the other is a response to a review on architectural ceramics (bacini) in Crete that appeared in Volume 7. Finally we give you a study of physical landscape transformation by geoarchaeologists from the Valley of the Muses in Boeotia, and a very insightful report on public outreach initiatives undertaken by an archaeological project in the Xeros valley on Cyprus.

Following on these articles there appears our usual wide-ranging set of book reviews, compiled by our Assistant Editor Damjan Donev.

John Bintliff, General Editor