His most recent work involves the excavation of a Middle Neolithic tell site in central Greece, where he also hosts a range of art projects, including a theatre-archaeology program.
He is a prominent advocate of combining ethnography, art, and community engagement in archaeological fieldwork, in the interest of "a politically committed archaeological and academic practice, devoted to social justice.
Hamilakis has been involved in a number of excavations in Greece, including serving as a director at the field projects at Koutroulou Magoula and Kalaureia.
He has also contributed to non-scholarly publications including The Nation and the London Review of Books.
[8][9] Hamilakis is the author of more than 130 articles and has authored, edited, or co-edited eleven books, including a 2007 volume entitled The Nation and its Ruins: Archaeology, Antiquity and National Imagination in Modern Greece which won the Edmund Keeley 2009 Book Prize, awarded by the Modern Greek Studies Association, and was shortlisted for the 2007 Runciman Award.