This volume celebrates the contributions and impact of our mentor, colleague, and friend, James C. Wright, on the field of Aegean Bronze archaeology in recognition of his retirement from Bryn Mawr College. The title and thematic orientation reflect his scholarly attention to power inequalities in the past, particularly as manifested through social access to architectural spaces and landscapes. The title acknowledges that Jim's interests and contributions extend beyond the domain of Aegean Prehistory, not only in terms of chronology and geography, but also in terms of his methodological approaches that have wider application. In addition to Jim's colleagues and collaborators, more than half of the contributions to the volume are by his students who collectively are but one of many signs of his profound and lasting impact not only on our scholarship, but on the discipline of archaeology itself.
Allen, Susan E.: - Susan Allen: Associate Professor and Department Head in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cincinnati, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her research focuses on agricultural transitions, the role of land management practices in the emergence of social inequality, and the historical and political ecology of wetlands in southeastern Europe. In the field, she co-directed (with Ilir Gjipali) surface survey at the Early Neolithic sites of Podgorie and Vashtemi in southern Albania and excavation at Vashtemi, and she has participated in fieldwork at several sites in southeastern Europe. As a palaeoethnobotanist, Allen directed archaeobotanical work at the Mycenaean site of Iklaina, and she has analyzed the botanical assemblages from Final Neolithic to Late Helladic III Tsoungiza and several sites in Albania, Hungary, and Romania. Robert Schon: Associate Professor in the School of Anthropology and the Department of Religious Studies & Classics at the University of Arizona. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Archaeology. In the field, he is the director of the University of Arizona's excavations at the ancient city of Segesta in Sicily. At Bryn Mawr College, Schon wrote his MA thesis, on chariot manufacture at Pylos, and his PhD dissertation, on archaeological survey methods, under Jim Wright's guidance. R. Angus Smith: Professor in the Department of Classics and Archaeology at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. A specialist in the archaeology, art, and culture of Bronze Age Greece, he is particularly interested in pottery analysis, mortuary archaeology, and issues of identity. In the field, he is an associate director of excavations at the Minoan town of Gournia on Crete, where he is studying the Neopalatial and Postpalatial pottery. He also co-directed (with Jim Wright and Mary Dabney) the excavations of the Mycenaean cemetery of Ayia Sotira near Ancient Nemea and worked for many years at the Minoan site of Mochlos on Crete. Smith currently serves as the Past-President of the Canadian Institute in Greece as well as President of the Niagara Peninsula Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.
