Effects of seismic ground motion induced by surface geology and geometry are known to be associated with the generation of a substantial proportion of surface waves. As a consequence, surface waves significantly contribute to ground-motion variability and site amplification. There is a growing body of literature recognizing that an understanding of physical patterns of the wavefield crossing a site is the key aspect to characterize and quantify them. However, this task remains technically challenging due to the complexity of such effects as well as the limitations of geophysical investigations, especially in case of small sedimentary valleys. The present study attempts to investigate the waves propagating across two two-dimensional dense seismic arrays from a number of earthquakes, and explore the extent to which they are contributing to the multi-dimensional site effects. The arrays were deployed in the small-size, shallow alluvial valley of Koutavos-Argostoli, located in Cephalonia Island, Greece, and consisted of three-component velocimeters with interstation distances ranging from 5 to 160 meters. A set of 46 earthquakes, with magnitudes between 2 and 5 and epicentral distances up to 200 km, was analyzed by using an advanced seismic array processing technique, MUSIQUE. The phase velocity, backazimuth and energy of the dominant waves crossing the array were extracted, and their identification as Love or prograde/retrograde Rayleigh waves was obtained. The results clearly indicate a predominance of scattered surface waves (up to 60 per cent of total energy), mainly from the closest valley edges, above the fundamental frequency (∼1.5 Hz) of the valley. Love waves dominate the low-frequency wavefield (< 3 Hz) while Rayleigh waves dominate some high-frequency bands. An excellent consistency is observed, in a given frequency range, among the dominance of the type of diffracted surface waves, group velocities estimated from the ground velocity structure, and site amplification. The outcomes of this research provide a better understanding of the contribution of edge-diffracted surface waves and the 2D/3D site amplification at small and shallow alluvium valleys like Argostoli. The method applied here can be used to calibrate and validate 3D models for simulating seismic ground motion.