Our usual strategy in Petrota is twofold: exploration of the landscape, followed by controlled sampling of areas where precise measurement may corroborate—or weaken—a working hypothesis. Exploration (Fig. 1) can resolve old questions, but it is at its happiest when in its course anomalies are noticed that require modification of what till then seemed a reasonable idea (for an example, see section The puzzle of translucent silex). It can also, of course, lead to unexpected finds (Fig. 2). Controlled sampling, the second step of our strategy, entails collection of all surface stone from areas of predetermined size. The location of the areas is randomized as much as ground conditions permit. More crucially, it is always guided by the specific questions the sampling is intended to investigate. In all cases, we take precautions so that our interpretations remain independent of the criteria by which the location of the samples is chosen. The material collected by controlled sampling is treated quantitatively, the samples are compared with one another, and the results are crucial for the viability of our working hypotheses. Controlled sampling and the treatment of the samples are teamwork, carried out by our students (Fig. 3). Exploration and controlled sampling began at the hill of Vrahos in 1998, but have since expanded to many parts of the Petrota area, as new questions have been added to our agenda. We have wanted, for example, to gain an idea of the importance of the Vrahos silex source in later prehistory: how far from the source did the material travel in the Neolithic and the Bronze Age? We started, therefore, surveying Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in the area and examining their stone industries. In due course, we not only stumbled upon The puzzle of translucent silex, but we also found a Neolithic-Early Bronze Age settlement site, 2.5 km south of Vrahos, so rich in Vrahos silex refuse (Fig. 4) that it set our imagination in motion: could this site have been a clearinghouse in the circulation network of Vrahos silex? New questions arise every time we return to Petrota to continue our survey. It is a common case that new finds do not fit our old interpretations and challenge what previously seemed plausible. We think of research in Petrota as both long term and open-ended: we continue working in the field as well as with our already filled data sheets, but we do not insist on pursuing all our insights and having answers to all our questions, on providing ourselves the “complete” picture. We are happier at the thought that others will join the research and bring their questions and expertise into the project, and that research will continue, perhaps into the next generation and in directions that we cannot now predict.