This article is the first of a series presenting the results of two seasons of excavation (2001 and 2002) at the Little Palace North site, Knossos. The excavation was aimed at the exploration of the exposed earth section directly north of the Little Palace, prior to the construction of a drystone wall which was to protect this section from further erosion. While limited in extent, the excavation provided an opportunity to increase our understanding of the layout of the LM and later town and, more generally, of the complex history of occupation of this area, which spans the period from at least the sixteenth century BC to the fourth century AD.In regard to the early Greek periods, few architectural remains were encountered at the Little Palace North site. Instead, early Greek strata, covering all periods from Subminoan to Orientalizing, yielded evidence for various activities that took place outdoors. These activities included, in one area, the (enigmatic) use of large, clay-lined 'pans' and, in another, metal-working. The results add to our knowledge of the activities at early Greek Knossos and the spatial organization of the settlement.The article offers a full discussion of the stratigraphy of the early Greek levels, the associated pottery, small finds, and archaeobotanical material.Σε αυτό το άρθρο δημοσιεύονται – για πρώτη φορά – τα αποτελέσματα των ανασκαφών (2001 και 2002) στην περιοχή βόρεια του Μικρού Ανακτόρου στην Κνωσό. Σκοπός της ανασκαφής ήταν να ερευνηθεί η αρχαιολογική τομή που βρίσκεται αμέσως βόρεια του Μικρού Ανακτόρου, προτού ανεγερθεί ξερολιθιά με σκοπό να προστατευθεί η τομή από περεταίρω διάβρωση. Παρόλο που ήχαν περιορισμένη σε έκταση, η ανασκαφή μας έδωσε την δυνατότητα να καταλάβουμε καλύτερα την δομή της Υστερομινωικής και υστερότερης πόλης, ιδιαίτερα την πολύπλοκη ιστορία της κατοίκησης της περιοχής από το 160 αιώνα π.Χ. μεχρι και τον 40 αιώνα μ.Χ.Σχετικά με την πρώιμη Ελληνική εποχή, ελάχιστα οικοδομικά λείψανα βρέθηκαν στην περιοχή βόρεια του Μικρού Ανακτόρου. Παρόλα αυτά, τα αρχαιολογικά στρώματα των πρώιμων Ελληνικών χρόνων καλύπτουν από την Υπομινωική μέχρι την Ανατολίζουσα περίοδο, παρουσιάζοντας ενδείξεις για διαφορες δραστηριότητες οι οποίες ελάμβαναν μέρος σε εξωτερικούς χώρους. Οι δραστηριότητες αυτές συμπεριλάμβαναν την αινυγματική χρήση μεγάλων “τηγανιών” με πήλινη επικαλυψη, όπως και μεταλλουργία. Τα αποτελέσματα προσθέτουν στις γνώσεις μας για τις δραστηριότητες στην πρώιμη Ελληνική Κνωσό αλλά και για τη χωροταξία του οικισμού. Το άρθρο αυτό προσφέρει την πλήρη ανάλυση της στρωματογραφίας, της κεραμεικής, των μικροευρημάτων και του αρχαιοβοτανολογικού υλικού των πρώιμων Ελληνικών χρόνων.

Under the central courtyard of the Villa Dionysos laid out in the second century AD as a Roman garden (Viridarium), a sounding in summer 2000 revealed two layers of PG domestic occupation, with no architectural remains from the intervening periods. This article publishes the two stratified PG deposits and the later fill above them. A forthcoming article will discuss the bioarchaeological evidence and also the LM deposit below, down to the bedrock.The discovery of a PG house, so far to the north of the previously known PG settlement, invites some discussion. A Supplement will set forth other evidence for Early Greek presence in the area of the Roman villa.

Two Late Minoan IIIA1 cups were recently found in the excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh, Israel. They were part of a larger assemblage of local Late Bronze IIA (first half of the fourteenth century bc) drinking and eating vessels sealed under a destruction layer in one room of a large edifice, presumably a ‘palace’. A commemorative scarab bearing the name of Amenhotep III and related to the first Jubilee (Sed festival) in his thirtieth regnal year was found alongside the cups, providing further chronological evidence. This article examines the Late Minoan IIIA1 cups from Beth-Shemesh within their Aegean context and emphasises their close affinity with comparable cups from the palace of Knossos, catalogued and republished here. The Tel Beth-Shemesh cups are the second occurrence – after Sellopoulo Tomb 4 – of Knossian Late Minoan IIIA1 pottery found together with Amenhotep III's scarab. This new evidence strengthens the likelihood of some chronological overlap between Late Minoan IIIA1 and the reign of this Pharaoh. The article also considers the biography of the two Minoan cups, as social agents within the intricate network of the Late Bronze Age palatial gift exchange in the eastern Mediterranean. While it is possible that the cups came to Beth-Shemesh directly from Knossos, another viable option is that they arrived as a gift from the Egyptian court. The two rare Late Minoan IIIA1 Knossian cups could have reached Egypt on the occasion of Amenhotep III's much-discussed official embassy to the Aegean – including Knossos – and then been sent as royal gifts to the ruler of Beth-Shemesh.

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