The present collective volume is offered in honour of Nota Kourou, in celebration of her distinguished academic contribution to the archaeology of the Early Iron Age Aegean and the Mediterranean. Over forty former doctoral students - many of them now leading academics in their own right, colleagues and friends have contributed papers on topics that relate to the diverse fields of interests Nota Kourou has pursued. These are organized in five parts, embracing pottery studies and topography, interconnections in the Aegean and the Mediterranean, archaeological approaches to cult and rituals and epigraphy. Each section focuses on more than one concern in the study of early societies, presenting and discussing fresh interpretations and new ideas based on old and new material alike. From Early Cycladic Naxos, through the Early Iron Age Mediterranean and Archaic Aegean to Roman Euboea, the key theme running through the different approaches of every contributor is the understanding of ancient societies, highlighting the dynamics in studying aspects of the archaeology of the wider Mediterranean region.