Over the past 30 years many hundreds of small rural sites have been
identified in Greece (and throughout the Mediterranean) through
intensive field survey. Their exact nature and function is still a
matter of hot contention. This volume reviews the current theories on
the variety and character of rural sites, land tenure and residence in
Prehistoric, Classical, Roman and Byzantine Greece. The innovative
methodology adopted for this project is outlined against the background
of intensive site survey, the impact of post-depositional effects,
geophysical prospection in the Mediterranean and archaeological soils
analysis. The core of the volume is an analysis of 20 sites, which range
in date from the Early Bronze Age to Byzantine periods, selected from
the >400 located by the Laconia Survey (Supplementary Volume 26-27).
The concluding section then reviews the advantages and disadvantages of
the methodology applied and draws broader conclusions about rural
settlement, land use and site function from the prehistoric period
onwards.