The palaces of Crete and their builders

Front matter

m m n.

m-

■fm

Preface

THE information that we have as to the Italians of prehistoric times is scanty and full of contradictions, and, after a study of the most ancient skulls of Etruria and of the Roman Forum, I decided to extend my anthropological researches to the island of Crete, as the ages of stone and of bronze can be studied there more thoroughly than in Italy. In my expeditions on the Mediterranean I collected the material tor the following works :

Neolithic Civilisation in Crete.

Skulls and Skeletons of the Bronze Age in Crete. Chemical analysis and chronological comparison of the most ancient weapons of copper and bronze of the countries on the Mediterranean.

If these three studies were printed for learned societies they would be lost to the general public for whose benefit I have for many years published my work. Moreover, I desire to collect my impressions of travel, and must explain how it is that I have become an amateur archaeologist. The teaching in our schools as regards the civilisation of the pre-Hellenic world before the time of Homer is so little in accordance with the results ot the most recent archaeological discoveries, that students ot art and letters will, I think, be glad to have some account ot the monuments, which show the need for considerable modifications

;e many i.'he philologists Aryan ^ d th^ c.ieor\ v^i the Indo-Germans,

ai -".ny per .^ still believe in this theory. I hope to convince

the reader that primitive Mediterranean civilisation did not originate with the Indo-Germans, and I advise him to begin with the last chapter that he may see at once the conclusions to which I have come. If, however, he has faith and patience it will be better for him to follow the order in which I have arranged the evidence and related my impressions of travel.

COiNTt

PREFACE

Chapter I

THE EXCAVATIONS . . . . . . . I?

The Neolithic period at Phsestos — Great antiquity of Phaestos — - Magnetic stone in Neolithic soil — Ruins of an archaic Greek building — Cellar of an ancient Greek house — Discoveries made by Dr. Pernier at Phasstos in 1906 — -Kamares vases.

CHAPTER 11

THE PALACE OF PH^STOS ......

The great flights of steps in Minoan architecture — Magazines with large Kamares vases — Technique of the pottery — The palaces of Homer — Origins of Greek architecture — Description of an apartment— A private chapel or shrine — The inevitable destruction of Mvcen^ean ruins.

Chapter III A Mycen^an Villa

Bronze statuette of the Minoan period — Inv^ention of writing — Seals from Hagia Triada — The chieftain vase, discovered by Professor Halbherr — Interior of a room — Magnificence of Mycenaean apartments— Church of S. George — Mycenaean necklaces and pendants — The ruins and the landscape.

^ AA nEIR BUILDERS

women's dress . . . . . . -132

Female types in the miniatures — A priestess — Saffron yellow — The women's workroom — Purple dye.

Chapter VII The Craftsmen Of Minos . . . . . • Hs

A carpenter of Knossos — The houses of Knossos — Early huts — Kitchen pots and floor of huts — Domestic utensils — Workmen's writing — Bronze tools for different crafts.

Chapter VIII

A prehistoric revolution — Beginnings of the Mediterranean civilisation— Steatite vase published by Savignoni — A irbus to guess.

Chapter IX

The Lion Gate — Cretan sculpture at Mycena; — Pre-Mycensan pottery — Mycensean civilisation not derived from the Achaeans — Treasures found in the tombs — Decadence of Mycenaean art.

Afi'". "K^AND religic

Worship of stones in Re

pillars — -Procession in fn of a. temple — superstitions about trees — ^The time before Zeu — Relatioi. with Latin civilisation — Religious decadence ' i the epic of H< The monastery on the hill of Phaestos.

Chapter XI

The conical vase of Hagia Triada — Giant bulls of the Mycenaean period — Fresco of Knossos discovered by Dr. Evans — Bull-grappling fresco from Tiryns — Ivory statuette found by Dr. Evans — Wrong interpretation of the Vaphio cup.

Chapter XII Footgear In The Time Of Minos .... 226

Varieties of boots and shoes in Crete — Puttees — Gaiters of the Mycens^an soldiers— Stele — Sandals and shoes — Heeled shoes- Pavements of Knossos — Mud floors in Homer — Tomb of Rekhmara — Men from beyond the sea.

Chapter XIII

Study of nature — Figurines of animals in terracotta — Masterpieces of ceramic art — Representations of the cow and the goat — The life of the sea — The painter's palette — Perception of colours — Decadence of art.

Chapter XIV

Origins of the worship of female deities in Crete — Sacred images discovered by Dr. Evans — Grotto of Eileithyia — Primitive Cretans in Sicily — Matriarchal society — Doves — Cretan pillars and the Lion Gate of Mycena; — The worship of Venus not derived from the PhcEuicians.

-Dr. Pernier's

■ize utensils —

iiij -The cradle

invasion, and recent

Chapter XVI 4be1

Structure of the earliest theatres — Dancing — The lyre and the flute — The chorus.

CHAPTER X\TI

MEDITERRANEAN CIVILISATION NOT DERIVED FROM THE INDO-

GERMAN RACE ...... 324

Aryan languages — Sanscrit not as ancient as was supposed — Research has tailed to find the cradle of the Aryan race — My anthropological researches — Tombs of Mycenaean style in Sicily — Physical education in Mycenasan times — Relation between the diffusion of plants and of human races.

INDEX ry-#

CHAPTER X

)NS OF CRETE

>me and If-^S' — Temoles for the adoration ot ^nt Sacrrd trees — Cretan

^- ■ s of Crete

" jmer-

IL uSTi>.ATI_^^S

Temple of Apollo ...... Frontispiece-

FIG. PAGE

1. Hills of Phaistos from the Plain . . . . • l?

2. Ruins of the two Palaces of Phaestos and theatral area . . 20

P marks the place where I began to excavate.

3. Chambers of the Magazines where I excavated down to the virgin soil 21

The pit (Fig. 4) was sunk in room P in the left-hanil corner.

4. Pit 5^ metres in depth below the level of the floor of the room

marked P in Fig. 3 . . . . .-.25

5. Palace of Phasstos and Central Court from the south . . 27

6. Piece of Magnetite found, at a depth of 4 metres, in the pit (Fig. 4)

near a female idol of terracotta . . . . -29

7. Wall of an Archaic Greek edifice in the valley of S. Paolo below

8. Bottom of a Trench. Amphoras, Hydria;, Cups and Tiles found in

the cellar of a Greek house . . . . -33

9^. Hydria found in the trench (Fig. 8) . . . -34-

9^. Hydria found in the trench (Fig. 8) . . . -35

10. Excavations made at the foot of the great flight of steps in the Palace

of Phaestos by Dr. Pernier in 1906 . . . -37

11. Excavated room with Kamares vases in situ . . . -39 12/-/. Kamares jug, Palace of Phaestos, Excavations of 1906 . , 42 I2/(J. 8c c. Kamares cups, Palace of Phaestos, 1906 . . '43

13. Kamares jug and cup. Palace of Phaestos, 1906 . . -44

14. Ruins of the Palace of Phasstos . . . . .46

15. Great Flight of Steps, Palace of Phaestos . . . '49

16. Vestibule and Reception Hall in the Palace of Phaestos . • 5'

17. Excavation beneath the Vestibule of the Second Palace . '53

Section corresponding to the three columns on the right in Fig. 16 showing the vases as discovered in the magazines of the primitive palace.

,DERS

20. 21. 22.

25- 26.

27, z%b.

29^

30.;

31.;

32^

37- 38.

39- 40.

+3-

45- 46,

47' 48.

Kam.

iJasons' iiT ks on the bio j of the

es ot the e. lest lace of Phres stos Ph OS tl .ce of

A private • irtment in the Palace ""ha^stos Stairc se leading from the upper flooi co the •• "ivate apartments

Room to the left marked SA' ' n the plan, Sancti """ ''" the Palace of Phsesios ....

Bronze Statuette of a woman found In the villa of Hagia Triada Flight of steps of the villa of Hagia Triada . Inscribed terracotta tablet found In the villa of Hagia Triada inscribed terracotta tablet found in the Palace of Phaestos & b. Inscribed tablets with writing found in the villa of Hagia Triada & b. Seals . .

Vase discovered at Hagia Triada by Prof. F. Halbherr Vase discovered at Hagia Triada by Prof. F. Halbherr Window and seats with alabaster blocks near the staircase in the vlll of Hagia Triada .....

Room with seats round, and three stone lamps left in situ

Entrance of sleeping-room on the left. In front pieces of alabaster which formed the bases of the door-posts, formerly closed by wooden doors.

Church of S. George in the villa of Hagia Triada Belv^edere In the villa of Hagia Triada

Fresco in the villa of Hagia Triada ....

Gold pendant found in the villa of Hagia Triada . . .

Drawn five times larger than the original.

Kamares vase found in the most ancient Palace at Phasstos The Laws of Gortyna .....

Byzantine Church of S. Titus near the theatre, where the blocks are on which the Laws of Gortyna were inscribed . In the foreground R. Lethceus.

The Apollo of Gortyna .....

A trench made by Prof. Halbherr in the excavations of Gortyna Tablet in honour of Marcus Aurellus and Lucius A'erus Roman baths, Gortyna .....

Manoll IllakI, the guide of Gortyna, and his house .

PAGE

55 57 57

59 62 63 65

67 69

72 73 74 75 76 77 78

81 82

85 87

89 93 lOI

105 107 109

FIG.

53- ?+• 55- 56.

57- 58.

59- 60.

63. 6+.

65. 66. 67. 68. 69.

72. 73. 74-

75- 76^.

76/^.

11- 78.

79- 80.

81^

Kani; > most u

My seal. ten otta for tl

> jrthern c .f the Palace

Northern ' ><■' the Pa!- jn fron.

the co; ....

Throne of ,<.iinos .....

Entrance to the grounci Hoor b) ihe staircase of the Palace of K lossos Magazines of Knosso'

Double walls built of large blocks connected by wooden .. Dividing walls of the cells in the magazines of the Palace of Knossos Kamares vase found in the first Palace of Pha'stos Fresco from Knossos .....

Porcelain Statuette of a Priestess found at Knossos by- Dr. Evans Skirt of an ex-voto dress from a sanctuary at Knossos Fresco from Hagia Triada representing a woman with parti-coloured

and embroidered drawers Woman's scat and work-table Vase with design representing a net with shells of the mollusc, from

which the purple dye was obtained Libation table of steatite found at Phasstos Bronze tools found in the tomb of a carpenter at Knossos Furnace for pottery, Pha^stos ....

Large amphora of terracotta found at Phsstos Terracotta model of a hut found at Phajstos Terracotta cooking pot holding fourteen litres Terracotta beehive (upside down), and large jar found at Phrestos Piece of a terracotta vase, with inscribed signs, found at Phajstos Bronze key of the Mycenaean period Bronze utensil of the Mycenaean period, still used bv the braziers

of Crete .....

Vase from Hagia Triada, described by Savignoni Vase from Hagia Triada, described by Savignoni Vase from Hagia Triada, described by^ Savignoni Painted jug in late pre-Mycenaean style, found at Phnestos Tomb of Clytemnestra at Mycens .

The Lion Gate of Mycenae ....

Frieze carved in red limestone. Knossos & b. Cretan vases in Mycenaean style

14- 115

'43 [44. .46

'47 .48

M

,67 [68 1 69

74 177

1 6 .CES c ^^TE AND THEIR .. --qj^s

141. St(-^^J.a; 'tn con lid

143. Copper L^es or cauldron ii the

144. Bronze vessels found in a tomb ?

Terracof' shovel for carryir"-

of mo

CO-

•QQ vessel i nd bv IV.

Sorf. Mc^id *■ .e axes i c ee and a baetvl, found

183 191. 194

213 214 215 216

%()b. Mould for ^ n bronze the figure of a woman holding two axes

•90. Mount Joukta from Knossos ....

91. Monastery of S. George on the hill of Ph^estos

■92. Tombs of the Monks of S. George ....

93. Steatite vase found at Hagia Triada

94. Detail (^ less than the actual size) of the bull-grappling scene on th

vase from Hagia Triada .....

95(7. Bull-grappling on the seal of a bracelet, found by Dr. Evans

951^. Bull-grappling on the intaglio of a ring in the Museum at Athens

96. Seal from Hagia Triada, enlarged ....

97. Seal from Mycenae in the Museum at Athens

98. Seal found at Prssos by Mr. Bosanquet, in the Museum at Candia 218

99. Head of a great bull which formed the spout of a terracotta vase

found at Koumasa . . . . . .219

ICO. Fresco from Tiryns in the Museum at Athens . . . 220

1 01. Fragment in stucco found at Knossos by Dr. Evans . . .221

Probably part of a taurokathapsia.

102. Ivorv figure found at Knossos by Dr. Evans . . . 222 103^ & l>. Gold cup from Vaphio in the Museum at Athens . .223 104^/ & b. Gold cup from Vaphio in the Museum at Athens . .224 I04r. Detail of the \^aphio cup, tw^o-thirds of the actual size . . 225

105. Footgear of an ofiicer . . . . . .227

106. Shoes and gaiters of a gymnast ..... 227

107. Boots of a soldier ....... 228

108. Terracotta statuette found at Petsofa, near Palaikastro, by

109. Fragment of a vase found at Mycena; by Schliemann (about one-third

of the actual size) . . . • • -231

I 10. Terracotta shoe found at Sitia by the English School . . 233

114. Victo: .e

115. Leg of an ivor

1 16. Gold hear

117^. Iv^ory seal found at He ^ riadr

1 17^, r, rf'. Three faces of the ivory c , . as ;

118. Cretan wild goat, terracotta, foui , Zakros i .

119. Terracotta tablet, with Minoan writing and figu . .252

120. Bull from Gournia, terracotta, found by Miss Boyd . 253

121. Knossos pottery . . . . . . .256

122. Shells and fish in porcelain, made in moulds . . 257

123. Seal, representing a wounded lion, magnified y, in the Museum at

124. Sea swallow caught near Candia . . . . -259

125. Vase for pouring wine in the sacrifices, decorated with nautilus,

coral, and seaweed . . . . . .261

126. Polypus designed in the best period of Minoan art . . . 264

127. Polypus designed in the latest Mycensan period . . .265

128. Sacrificial vase found at Pha;stos by Dr. Pernier . . . 266

129. Head of an ox, style of the decadence in Mycenaean art . . 267

130. Terracotta animals of the period of decadence in Mycenaean art . 268

131. Female idol found at Pha^stos in Neolithic soil near a magnetic stone 270

132. Objects found in a tomb of the first Minoan period, at Koumasa,

by Dr, Xanthoudides ... .271

Female image in marble, weapons in bronze and silver, vases in stone and terracotta.

133. Figures of women with doves stamped out of gold leaf, found at

Mycens by Schliemann ..... 273

134. The Serpent Goddess, so named by Arthur Evans . . . 274 I 35. Marble cross found amongst cultus objects at Knossos by Dr. Evans . 277

136. Terracotta group found at Palaikastro by Mr. Davvkins . . 283

137. Terracotta found at Knossos by Dr. Evans .... 285

Three columns similar to those of the Lion Gate of Mycense. A dove is perched on each capital.

138. Seal in the Museum at Candia ..... 293

139. Fireplace found in the most ancient palace at Ph.x-stos by Dr. Pernier 294

140. Large earthen cooking pot in the Museum at Candia . . 295 ibove, ]V^ cam at C a Knossos by ])r. E\ u\s »hted charcoal cd shape

^vCati nu the last)

i+y. Lamp ot spartan i one rounv. . alaikastro

150^, /?. Large lamps ho.^,.,g above a ncre of oil . I'l. Terracotta candlestick, with socket for the candle, found at Knossos by Dr. Evans .....

152. Pre-Mycenaean painted'jug found at Pha-stos

153. Theatre, Phsestos discovered by the Italian Archaeological Mission

154. Theatre, Knossos, discovered by Arthur Evans . ' ' • ■ .

155. Fresco, Knossos, discovered by Dr. Evans .

I 56. Man playing a, lyre .....

Painting on a sarcophagus at Hagia Triada, discovered by the Italian Mission

157. Man playing a double flute ....

Painting on a sarcophagus at Hagia Triada, discovered by the Italian Mission

158. Larnax containing a skeleton, discovered by the Ephor Xanthoudide;

at Artsa ......

159. Larnakes found in the Necropolis of Pha^stos by Prof. Saxignoni

160. Boxer with the ccsf//s on the rkyton from Hagia Triada

306 307 311 315 317 318

335 337 3+1

Plates L & IL — Plan of the Palace of Knossos Facing pages 113, 114

FIG. T. — HILLS OF PH^ESTOS FROM THE PLAIN.

THE PALACES OF CRETE AND THEIR BUILDERS

I

I WAS studying Etruscan skulls and the skulls discovered in the Roman Forum when I made the acquaintance ot Mr. Duncan Mackenzie, who was returning from Crete after helping Mr. Arthur Evans in the Excavation of Knossos. He told me of a cutting upon a hill where it had been possible to study the habitation of man as far back as twelve thousand years b.c. I became deeply interested in this line of research, and resolved to visit the sites being excavated by the Italian Archasological Mission in Crete and try to see for myself these traces of prehistoric man. Remains of buildings dating from the Bronze Age

.CO los,

vitl c.rical

, ian '-e. When Dr. i.^'^linders

SOS he recog ^d t '^t these vases are

xu-iiLi. . ■ ^and by i^c Evc. it tne depth where the

remai'is Oi the Bronze Age begin. It was therefore certain that

the non-Egyptian vases of the first dynasty found in Abydos are

contemporaneous with these Cretan vases.-

Before the time of Minos commercial relations had already been established with Egypt. During the first four dynasties stone vases which were not the work of Cretan masons were brought into the island, and a whole series of stone vases made in Crete were found exactly resembling the Egyptian models of the first dynasties. These are the data on which Dr. Evans bases his opinion that the strata in the Court of Knossos at a depth of 5 metres correspond chronologically with the first Egyptian dynasties.

The enormous stratum of remains found on the summit of this hill of Knossos represents the leavings of a people established there for centuries. It is black earth consisting of layers of charcoal and ashes with bones and potsherds. Dr. Evans, in making an approximate calculation of the number of centuries during which man dwelling on this hill could have accumulated a layer of rubbish and sherds above 6 metres deep, reasoned that in the Stone Age the soil probably rose less rapidly than in the Bronze Age, because a more advanced civilisation produces a more

^ A.J. Evans, "The Palace of Knossos," Annual of British School at Athens^ 1903.

2 D. Mackenzie, "The Pottery of Knossos," Jour/ial of Hellenic Studies, vol. xxiii. pp. 1:7-205.

metr- ^

■: tl .. e nc

IL

Having first paid a visit to Sicily, in order to examine the soil of the Neolithic period which had been studied by Professor Orsi,2 and where pottery similar to that of Knossos had been discovered, I set off to Crete. An eight hours' ride across the island brings one from Candia to Pha:;stos, where the famous ruins of the palace discovered by the Italian Archa_-ological Mission are situated. The magnificent valley of Messara is closed in towards the sea by a hill (F'ig. i). On the truncated cone in the centre -of the picture is a smooth slope which descends almost precipitously past the steep rocks. Upon this slope stand the ruins of two palaces, one above the other, which have been described by Dr. Luigi Pernier.3 Fig. 2 shows the base of these edifices.

The most ancient had a theatre in front, which I wiU describe later. Here we see the theatral area formed by a great court traversed obliquely by a raised path leading to the royal podium, another path diverges from this at right angles to the right.

The base which lies horizontally across the illustration forms

^ The latest period during which only stone \veapons and implements were used is termed Neolithic, to distinguish it from the most ancient, or Paleolithic, of which no trace has been found beneath the ruins of the palaces of Knossos and Phsstos.

3 " Scavi della Missione italiana a Phsstos," C\loniif?ic7iti afiticli, 1900-1901, vol. xii. p. \6 et seq.

LAC^

" CRETE ..

THEIR BUILBE,^,^

-hof

len the^xcavati*^ •--'ecres, wi . the result \\\c virgin soil

ron^pari-

FIG. 2. — THE RUIN'S OF THE TWO PALACES OF PH^^iSTOS AXD THEATRAL

AREA.

P marks the place where I began to excavate.

To prepare the ground for the rebuilding of the palace a thick layer of lime mixed with clay and pebbles had been thrown upon the remains of the ancient palace. This plaster became as hard as a rock, and has now to be broken up by explosives in order to recover the objects below. My excavations began to the right of the spot marked P, where there is a pithos, or great jar, as tall as a man.

.A VA TION rapi ^ accumuktiov-- To avoid exaggeration ^ equal, and that the d""

Agv, ":..^ht ' y^ ..ni-' . stratUK 12 metre? 'li'^ competent Eg'" :r ■• r-V

es ; and a!lc^ at .le rate o"^

-j.vmei; e vir _, , .lly ex".

FIG. 3. — CHAMBERS OF THE MAGAZINES WHERE I EXCAVATED DOWN TO

THE VIRGIN SOIL.

The pit of V\g. 4 was made in the room P in the left-hand corner.

masonry, and all the contents removed. The pit measures i6 square metres, the sides being 4 metres long. The soil removed from it is of a characteristic brown colour.' Beneath the pave-

' Similar earth is tbund in the valley of the Po. The peasants call it tcrramara and use it to manure the land. Gastaldi, Pigorini, and others who have studied the mounds of this earth have shown that prehistoric dwellings existed there.

IJ^ent were bonet> «i|«;j teeth of animals, potshera'=j ii-" «vea; 'S, and horizontal |^/' ■^ >or/fcnarcoal and ashes.

I exca • ^ It her rooms near in the same way as far

as the end of fAt c-^waor, vvhere there is a great court paved with polygonal jcks of limestone (Fig. 5), The corridor of Fig ends oppo^''*-- the great stone to the right of the wall which forms t. entral division of Fig. 5. I made another excavation in the centre ot the court and another on the right-hand margin of Fig. 5, where a pithos is half buried in the pavement. A landslip has carried the end of the court with part ot the palace down to the valley below.

["he depth ot the pits excavated down to the virgin soil diminished gradually as they approached the central court, till in this court there was only half a metre of Neolithic earth beneath the pavement.

The distance from the last room (in which I excavated the pit of Fig. 4) to the court is 30 metres. Within this short space the pits vary gradually from halt a metre to 5^ metres in depth from the pavement to the virgin soil, the upper level on which the palace stands being nearlv horizontal, while the Neolithic stratum beneath rests on the slope of the hill.

In his description of this palace Dr. Luigi Pernier ^ says that this hill had been abandoned at the close of the Neolithic period, and that the Neolithic remains upon the hill have been carried down the slope by natural forces. From the evidence of the excavations which I carried out with him this year, which have shown the different strata of earth with the charcoal and potsherds all well preserved and distinct, it seems to me more probable that the top of the hill was levelled when the primitive palace was built and the upper court made.

I shall not describe here what I found in excavating, as it will form the subject ot another work, but will only say that the inhabitants were in a fairly advanced stage of civilisation and had

' " Scavi della Missione italiana a Phsstos," Monumenti antichi, Accad. Lince'i, vol. xiv., 1905.

piQ. ^..— PIT 5! METRES DEEP FROM THE LEVEL OF THE FLOOR OF THE ROOM

MARKED P IN FIG. 3.

stoiit obsidia. .vhich «.

of the /i^^ . xicn they arrived here.

I was able to confirm the result of Dr. Mackenzie

tions as to the black pottery upon the vi:g.a soil being j... -i-

little higher appears pottery with decoration of punctured dots and lines. In a later period the decoration of pottery becomes more complex ; imitation of basket work is found, and the deeply incised lines are filled with white chalk. The vases become more elegant and have decoration in white on a black ground. This pottery is identical with that found in the Troad and in Sicily. The Neolithic stratum is above 4 metres deep, and according to Dr. Evans's calculation man must have dwelt on this hill, using only stone weapons for above four thousand years before he was a:qu.iinted with bronze.

When black pottery with white designs had been brought to perfection another kind of coloured pottery began to be made, and fragments of both are found together. The Cretans knew that their fathers had made this shining black ware, and they kept these vases for religious functions many centuries after they had given up the manufacture of black pottery. This shows the persistent survival in religious rites of the traditions of primitive life.

This black pottery, or hucchero, as it is usually called, is found in Greece, Crete, Sicily, and Italy. Vases with the same decoration, the same obsidian knives, and the same stone axes were in use and the same idols were worshipped. These facts are important as they show that communication by sea was at that early age more frequent than has been believed. There was a uniform and widely extended civilisation which lasted for a longer time than the long period which began with the beginning of history and has lasted till our own day. The level of this culture was fairly equal in Southern Europe, in Italy, Crete, and Egypt, and upon this stratum of uniform culture in the Mediterranean basin the civilisations of Egypt and Crete developed contemporaneously but in different fashion.

c -es

Two labouK.;, . • 'acient for . excavatiOix of one pit. One shovels the -arln mt \ large matting basket, which another man draws up from the pit. The earth is carefully examined both in digging and in putting it into the basket, and the bones and potsherds of each stratum are kept separate in a basket, and a wooden label attached to the handle has a number written on it and also the depth at which the objects were found. From time to time we found obsidian knives, sherds of bucchero, beautiful handles of black glazed vases, grey ashes, bright charcoal with concentric strata radiated as in oak brands. About 2 metres from the foundations of the latest walls I found a stratum of very pure clay, 5 or 6 centimetres in thickness, which left a red stain. There was a large store for making fine pottery, and it had probably been forgotten during the Neolithic Period.

I spent some delightful days among the labourers, sitting under my umbrella at the edge of a pit watching the men as they cleared it out with pick and shovel. Everything was brought to me, and one day came a black object within a clod of earth. I opened the clod with my nails, washed the object in the tub of water which was used for the potsherds, and found the statuette of a woman of exuberant forms like the idols of the Stone Age, without head or arms. On the right side is a cross, probably a tattoo mark.i

So as to lose nothing I went through every clod, breaking it up into dust. I'hat morning I had found a heavy stone, of the size ot my fist. I ran to wash it and saw that it was a piece of iron. This very rare object was found at a depth of 4 metres in the same place as the idol. In shape it is a quadrangular pyramid with the angles blunted and the base slightly convex. On the bright surface are wrinkled cavities and depressions. It weighed half a kilogramme, reckoning the missing piece at 100 grammes.

' Fig. 131, Chap, XIII.

When I was aboiu find no file that would cut

chip some off with a scalpel and the suuo.. in^

it had never been hammered. Otherwise '-'- ,vouIa nave broken to pieces. This magnetite is black inside. According to the analysis it consists of oxydized iron.i We may be certain that it was a sacred stone from the fact that the Neolithic folk had not made a weapon or a hammer of it. Possibly they believed it to be a meteoric stone : it was known at that

FIG. 6. — PIECE OF MAGNETITE FOUND, AT A DEPTH OF 4 METRES, IX THE PIT (fig. 4) NEAR A TERRACOTTA FEIMALE FIGURE.

period that these stones came from heaven, for they appear

with a luminous track and fall to earth with a sound. That