¹ The following account is drawn from lectures given by the Director in February 2012 at the Archaeological Society of Athens, the Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, and the British Academy. The School is grateful for the generous hospitality extended by the Secretary General of the Archaeological Society, Dr Vasileios Petrakos, by the Department of Archaeology of the Aristotle University and by the President of the British Academy, Professor Sir Adam Roberts. The British School expresses its warmest thanks to the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports, Dr Lina Mendoni, the Director General of Antiquities, Dr Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, the Director of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Dr Nikoletta Divari-Valachou, and the Director of Byzantine Antiquities, Dr Evgenia Gerousi, and to the numerous colleagues in the Archaeological Service who make our work possible. We particularly thank the Directors in the regions in which our major fieldwork seasons took place: Dr Athanasia Kanta (23^rd EPCA, Herakleion), Dr Maria-Photeini Papakonstantinou (14^th EPCA, Lamia), Mrs Amalia Karapaschalidou and Mrs Vassiliki Giannouli (11^th EPCA, Chalkis) and Dr Angeliki Simosi (EMA).