This edition of Archaeology in Greece is dedicated to the memory of Hector Catling, Director of the British School at Athens from 1971 until his retirement in 1989. Many tributes have been paid to Dr Catling's distinguished career of academic and personal service. Archaeology in Greece, however, owes a particular debt to him as one of its outstanding editors. Not only did Hector Catling compile the supplement almost single-handedly throughout his directorship of the School, but his research also contributed richly to it, notably via his major excavations at Knossos (for example in the North Cemetery) and in Lakonia at the Menelaion and the Sanctuary of Zeus Messapeus at Tsakona. Archaeology in Greece remains one of his lasting contributions to the scholarly community.

In June 2013 we also mourned the passing of two close colleagues, Spyridon Iakovides, Academician and distinguished excavator of Mycenae (where he remained active to the very end of his life), and Elisavet Stasinopoulou, formerly Keeper of Vases and Minor Arts at the National Museum in Athens. In July 2013 we were saddened by the untimely death of Polyxeni Bouyia, expert on central Greece and, as Keeper of the Bronze Collection at the National Museum, a key collaborator in the outstandingly successful Antikythera exhibition. And as we went to press, we received news of the death of George Hourmouziadis, Professor Emeritus of prehistoric archaeology in the Aristotle University, Thessaloniki.

The School's archaeological programme in 2012–2013 included fieldwork, museum studies (notably a project led by Robin Barber to complete the publication of material from early 20th-century excavations at Phylakopi now held in the National Museum in Athens) and many individual and group projects housed at Knossos and in the Fitch Laboratory. Following the success of the conference Interpreting the Seventh Century BC, in December 2011, a further workshop in December 2012 on Thessalian sanctuaries and cults, organized in collaboration with the University of Oxford, brought together 24 speakers, including many colleagues from Thessalian ephoreias and the University of Thessaly, to present new data and reflections. Maria Stamatopoulou comments further on material presented at this meeting in her contribution to this year's AG below. In London, collaboration with colleagues in the British Museum's Department of Greece and Rome resulted in a very popular study day on Knossos: from Labyrinth to Laboratory in November 2012 (now published online at www.bsa.ac.uk). This will soon be followed (on 2 November 2013) by a further collaboration in a British Museum Classical Colloquium on Archaeology Behind the Battle Lines: Macedonia 1915–1919, also in partnership with the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

Among our ongoing field projects, I begin with discussion of the excavation at Koutroulou Magoula in Thessaly directed by Nina Kyparissi-Apostolika (Director Emerita, EPSNE) and Yannis Hamilakis (Southampton), which in 2012 sought to clarify activity in the area of two Neolithic buildings uncovered in 2011 (Fig. 2). One of these buildings had been mostly destroyed in later periods, although evidence of outdoor activity includes hearths and in situ deposits.

A wealth of data, providing both nuanced understanding and occasionally ‘white noise’

Last year I referred to the ‘remarkable decade’ of archaeological investigation, the decade following the turn of the millennium, when Greece as a nation, and the city of Athens and Attica at large, prepared for the 2004 Olympic Games; when cities and countryside benefited in a variety of ways from the cumulative cultural investment of European Union, philanthropic and commercial funding to expand the scope of the country's heritage. New sites were investigated and new museums opened their doors, with a host of conservators and designers deployed to support them. That was before the economic downturn of 2008 and the consequent contraction of fieldwork, of professional and technical staff, and of research services in general.

The fruits of the ‘remarkable decade’ are nevertheless continuing to appear in books and journals. Robert Pitt provided the first glimpse of these developments in his report on Athens and Attica (AR 57 [2010–2011] 31–48), drawing on the first fascicule of volumes 56–59 [2001–2004] of ADelt, to which archaeologists are required to report their work in the year in which it took place. ADelt is a necessarily cumbersome and slow publication, whose future is uncertain, as Cathy Morgan explained in her introduction to AG 2009–2010 (AR 56 [2009–2010] 1). The complexity of the process of collating, editing, and publishing archaeological work, of all periods, in a single book seems even less viable today as government budgets have become tightly constrained.

The selection of sites below reflects some of the most distinctive additions of 2012, arranged according to a number of themes, which reflect a dominant and continuing interest in sites that illuminate the urban and civic characteristics of archaeological locations in mainland Greece.

Among the important discoveries of 2012 was the prehistoric stone pile and chamber tomb cut into bedrock at the Early Helladic cemetery of Asteria (ID3306), near Glyphada, Attica, which is discussed by David Smith below. The tomb was repeatedly reused: it contained one strongly contracted skeleton in front of the door and a pile of bones in the east half of the chamber representing at least 20 individuals (17 adults and three children). M. Pantelidou Gofa (ASA) reports on the 2012 season at Tsepi, Marathon, where a new deposit was investigated outside tomb 39, as well as two new tombs, 56 and 58 (ID3311), noting that Tomb 56 has all the known characteristics of the Tsepi tombs: rectangular with a built chamber, walls and threshold.

In the Athenian Agora, investigations continued in 2012 of the Hellenistic and Classical road levels of the Panathenaic Way. John Camp reports the following on behalf of the ASCSA (ID2893, cf. ID2471).

The absence of the prehistoric Peloponnese and central Greece from last year's new format Archaeology in Greece has provided a slightly larger volume of data for this year's report than might otherwise have been expected, although the ongoing financial difficulties faced by Greece and the recent uncertainty over the status of the Archaeological Service itself continue to have a substantial impact on archaeological research and its dissemination through traditional channels; a problem which e-publication and webcasting is going some way toward addressing. In light of this, the decennial volume of the former Ministry of Culture and Tourism (www.yppo.gr/0/anaskafes), the appearance of which was noted in last year's AG, represents a welcome summary of excavation undertaken by the service between 2000 and 2010 to add to the newly-published volume of ADelt covering the Peloponnese. Some of this work has previously been reported in AG, although this is certainly not true of all.

Several other publications have appeared since 2011 which offer new data or new perspectives on the prehistory of the Greek mainland, several of which are discussed below. Of particular note are two volumes which will go some considerable way toward furthering our understanding of the Early Bronze Age in southern Greece: Daniel Pullen's The Early Bronze Age Village on Tsoungiza Hill (2011) and Elizabeth Banks' The Architecture, Settlement and Stratigraphy of Lerna IV (2013), the companion piece to Jeremy Rutter's 1995 volume detailing the pottery from the Early Helladic III settlement. Banks' volume, unfortunately, has appeared too late to be properly incorporated into this year's AG.

In this year's report I will focus on the presentation of the proceedings of AEThSE 3 which were distributed in spring 2013. The publication contains many very interesting articles on Thessaly that demonstrate the vitality and variety of the archaeological work (fieldwork, research and archival studies) conducted in the region, often under difficult circumstances. Although it has often been pointed out (during the conferences) that these meetings have become almost unmanageable, due to the very large number of participants (the volume on Thessaly is over 700 pages long), their importance is obvious. The regularity of the meetings and their prompt publication have increased our essential evidence for the region, but also enable scholars to draw comparisons and discern links among sites and between classes of material, and to illustrate the diachronic importance of key sites in the Thessalian landscape, thus adding greatly to our understanding of the region synchronically and diachronically.

As a number of articles from this volume were the focus of last year's report (for example: Roman Demetrias: Triantaphylopoulou [2012]; Kastro/Palaia Volou: Skafida [2012]; Phthiotic Thebes/Nea Anchialos: Dina [2012]; Tempe: Sdrolia [2012b]; Toufexis et al. [2012b]; fortification walls of Late Roman Larisa: Kontogiannopoulou [2012]; Kazanaki: Stantzouris and Panagiotis [2012]), I will concentrate here on new sites/material for reasons of brevity.

Publications of fieldwork continue to appear slowly, but the latest volume of ADelt for Crete, covering the years 2001–2004, appeared in print in summer 2012 (ADelt 56–59 [2001–2004] B5). Inevitably, given the years covered, some of the activity summarized in this volume has already been noted in AG and brief notices of some appears in the decadal summary of the activities of all the prehistoric and Classical ephorias (www.yppo.gr/0/anaskafes; AR 58 [2011–2012] 58). Emphasis here is on those activities not already noted in AG or those where significant new information appears in the new volume of ADelt. The second meeting on Archaeological Work on Crete (AWiC2), alluded to last year (AR 58 [2011–2012] 58), has been published and can be read online through the University of Crete's Library (http://elocus.lib.uoc.gr/dlib/d/0/5/metadata-dlib-1368695830-557833-31681.tkl#). A third meeting is scheduled for December 2013 and will hopefully be made accessible with equally commendable promptness. The proceedings of the Tenth International Cretological Congress held in Chania in 2006 (see AR 53 [2006–2007] 96) are still to appear in print, although e-offprints of individual contributions continue to circulate. New material in this year's entry is therefore drawn primarily from ADelt 56–59 (2001–2004) B5 and AWiC2.

The past year has seen a number of significant publications on prehistoric Crete, including the proceedings of several conferences. The publication by the BSA of Intermezzo: Intermediacy and Regeneration in Middle Minoan III Palatial Crete (Macdonald and Knappett [2013]), containing papers presented at a workshop held in 2008, complements volumes noted last year (AR 58 [2011–2012] 58) on Late Minoan IB ceramics (Brogan and Hallager [2011]) and on the Prepalatial and Protopalatial periods (Early Minoan to Middle Minoan II) (Schoep et al. [2011]).

This year, the newly-published material bookends nearly a decade of archaeological work on the island with ADelt covering work on Crete from 2001 to 2004 and the second volume of Archaiologiko Ergo Kritis showcasing work in the years immediately before 2010. Several of the more impressive discoveries from the beginning of the decade have been known to the wider archaeological community for some time, but their publication in ADelt allows us to discuss them in greater detail and in their broader context. Overall, this is an opportune time to look at how some of the fieldwork done between 2001 and 2010 might contribute to our view of post-Bronze Age Crete.

The largest single contribution of the 2012–2013 reports to the Iron Age came in the form of the publication of the 2001–2004 seasons at the settlement site on Prophitis Elias hill near Smari (ID3655): an account that rounds out earlier notices for the 1999 and 2000 seasons (AR 53 [2006–2007] 107–08; ID1814). The site of Smari has entered the literature principally thanks to the megara with stone-lined hearths at their centre. The buildings have been interpreted as a ruler's dwelling, with some relationship to Cretan hearth temples, and as a locale for communal dining (Mazarakis-Ainian [1997] 220–21, 296; Prent [2007] 143; Sjogren [2007] 153; Wallace [2010] 112, 119). After a Middle Minoan occupation, the site's main period of use covers the whole of the Iron Age from Late Minoan IIIC through to the Orientalizing period, after which a small cult place remained in use through to the Classical period (fifth-to third-century BC figurines: Hatzi-Vallianou [2000]).

Strabo, who visited the island of Gyaros in 31 BC, described it as a village (kōmion, κώμιον Strabo 10.5.3) inhabited by fishermen. This comes as no surprise to anyone familiar with the Aegean islands today. Modern photographic promotions give local fish specialities, and the modest, traditionally whitewashed homes of the fishermen responsible for fresh catches, plenty of colourful emphasis. Not all the fish on offer in the islands are locally caught today, and many visitors arrive by air, rather than by boat, following one of the principal maritime itineraries (which do not, as it happens, normally include Gyaros).

More surprising, perhaps, is the fact that Strabo refers to Gyaros at all. This little island, no more than 17km2 and thus never big enough to provide much of a land-based way of life, even for a small community, lies midway, as the crow flies, between Kea to the west, Kythnos to the southwest and Syros to the south, and is flanked to the northeast by the long chain of islands which in effect extend the mountains of Euboea southeastwards into the heart of the Aegean — Andros, Tenos and Mykonos (map of the Cyclades). The geographer was simply articulating a memorable anecdote, according to which the Gyarians sent their own ambassador to Octavian in the hope of getting a reduction of the 150 dr tribute that had been laid on the inhabitants' reluctant shoulders. The Gyarians were not quite as inconspicuous as they wanted to appear in the eyes of Octavian, or as miserable as they looked to Strabo.

In recent years much progress has been made in the study of the sanctuaries of the Cyclades, both in the field, with new excavations, as well as in restoration projects, and also towards their publication.

A research project entitled Sanctuaries and Cults in the Cyclades was approved as part of a research grant attached to the Chaire Internationale Blaise Pascal for 2012/2013 awarded to me by the French state and the Regional Council of Ile-de-France. The project started in October 2012, in collaboration with the University of Paris 1 (Franis Prost) and the École pratique des hautes études (François de Polignac), and is still in progress. I have been assisted by Jean-Sébastien Gros, who designed the related website and database, Yannis Kalliontzis, who is responsible for the compilation of the written sources associated with the cults in the Cyclades (mostly the inscriptions referring to cult and cult places) and Olga Kaklamani who is responsible for compiling the basic bibliography and catalogues of cult places. The chronological scope of the project is restricted to the Geometric and Archaic periods, though the developments of the Classical era are largely taken into account. The Hellenistic and Roman periods have not been included in the compilation of the archaeological data, with the exception of late inscriptions which could refer to possible earlier cults. An interactive website and online database are in preparation and will be launched soon, hosted by the server of the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology of the University of Thessaly.

For much of the 20th century, the focus of Late Antique studies in Greece was on the excavation of churches. This resulted in a vast body of essential material contributing to an understanding of the period. The exceptional excavation work of archaeologists such as Anastasios Orlandos, Dimitrios Pallas, Georgios Soteriou and Ioannis Stampoltzis among others has provided scholars with a huge body of church data. However, data for analysing Late Antique settlements, industries and trade has not been as extensive. This has resulted in a near total reliance on the churches and historical sources such as Libanius, Zosimus, Procopius, Eusebius and Theophanes for an understanding of Late Antique Greece. There is some useful textual material, such as references to territory and diocese, as discussed in Hierokles' Sixth Synekdemos and the Acts of the Ecumenical Councils, as well as, of course, the Theodosian Code. The increasing amount of secular data resulting from rescue and research excavations and survey has made a significant contribution to redressing the outdated view of the Late Antique period as one of decline. In some respects this view was perpetuated by the fact that it is caught between the high points of the Roman Imperial and Byzantine periods. The underlying context was, therefore, seen rather in terms of decline (particularly urban) and less in terms of the birth of significant artistic and social endeavours.

The Late Antique period for the purposes of this chapter will be taken to run from the mid fourth century AD (the foundation of Constantinople) to the creation of the thema of the Helladikon between AD 687 and 695.