From 1999 to 2001, the Eastern Korinthia Archaeological Survey (EKAS) obtained a wealth of new data on later prehistoric settlement in its 200-km2 study area. EKAS sampled diverse environmental zones in the lowlands of the northern Korinthian plain, the Saronic and Korinthian Gulf coasts, and the rugged inland terrain south of Mount Oneion. Predictive models for prehistoric settlement and harbor locations were developed and tested, and numerous sites and off-site scatters of prehistoric material were systematically investigated. As a result, we are able to measure intraregional variability in habitation and exploitation of land and other resources, and to address complex questions involving the regional system and its interrelated parts.

We may also begin to place the Eastern Korinthia within the wider context of other regional projects carried out in neighboring regions, including the Nemea Valley, the Berbati Valley, and the southern Argolid. It is already clear that the Eastern Korinthia’s Neolithic and Bronze Age trajectory is unique in its particular chronological development and social and economic dynamics. Thus, the EKAS results contribute to the broader picture of chronological and cultural variability that is emerging from similar studies in the northeastern Peloponnese and beyond. This paper examines the similarities and contrasts, and offers explanations for them.