GREEK ARCHAEOLOGY 277 



dations of towers of the city wall which had apparently been strengthened in the first 

 century. They are the first good examples of Greek painting found on Greek soil, and 

 their technique is especially interesting as illustrating the encaustic method. But as 

 art they cannot rank high, for they are the productions of an industry rather than of an 

 art. As in marble grave reliefs so also in these painted stelae the same motives con- 

 stantly reeur. The drawing in many cases is inaccurate, and in only one instance is 

 there any attempt at atmosphere. Another important find is that of some silver plate 

 and gold jewellery in a tomb at Metropolis. This belongs to the Hellenistic and Roman 

 periods. The heavy gold necklaces and bracelets set with large stones display ostenta- 

 tious vulgarity rather than good taste, but some of the work on the silver plate is ex- 

 quisite. Further all over Thessaly careful exploration has brought to light a large num- 

 ber of new inscriptions which are an earnest of what yet remains to be found. 



But more important than these, the recent Greek, Bavarian and British excavations 

 in Thessaly, Phocis and Boeotia have given us a far clearer picture of the condition of the 

 country in prehistoric times. The principal siles are: in Boeotia and Phocis, Orcho- 

 menus, Chaeroneia, Dhrakhmani and Ayia Marina; in Thessaly, Lianokladhi, Dhimini, 

 Sesklo, Tsangli, Marmariani, Rakhmani, and Zerelia. The period of time occupied by 

 this prehistoric civilisation has been divided into four periods. The first two are 

 neolithic, though bronze may have been known as an import, the third is: chakolithic, 

 and the fourth is of the full bronze age and comes to an end at the close of the third 

 Late Minoan age. In the first period throughout the region mentioned there was a 

 uniform neolithic culture characterised by an abundance of well made pottery decorated 

 with elaborate red designs on a white ground. In the second period the region is split 

 in two, and Thessaly north of Mount Othrys remains isolated, and the standard of 

 culture as illustrated by the pottery gradually degenerates during the succeeding pe- 

 riods, though there is some progress in technical skill shown by the change from stone to 

 bronze, and at the end from bronze to iron. In the second period the pottery shows kin- 

 ship with that found in Moldavia and the adjoining districts, and in a more distant way, 

 as mentioned above, with that found in Leukas and Apulia. The prehistoric remains 

 of Macedonia and Thrace (Bulgaria) should provide a connecting link between Thessaly 

 and the Danubian area and there are indications that such may eventually be found. 

 In the third period the pottery is related to that so common in prehistoric sites in 

 Servia, which as noticed above is found in Greece as far south as Corinth. In the 

 fourth period there are for the first time definite signs of a connection with the Minoan 

 civilisation of the south, for in this period Minyan and Mycenean (L. M. II and III) 

 pottery are found imported into Thessaly, implying that not till then did the north come 

 within the orbit of Cretan culture. Another sign of connection with the south is pro- 

 vided by the cist tombs which are common in Thessaly in this period and from their 

 contents belong to the same date as the shaft graves at Mycenae and the Leukas tombs. 

 At the end of this period there seems to have been an infiltration of influence from the 

 north as shown by the resemblance between some Thessalian finds and those from an 

 early iron age cemetery on Lake Ostrovo in Macedonia. These may well indicate the 

 general direction whence came the invaders who overthrew the domination of the 

 Minoan civilisation in Greece. 



But in Phocis and Boeotia after the end of the first neolithic age a different state of 

 affairs prevailed. The culture of the south spread northwards and settled in the land, 

 but apparently without entirely displacing the old local culture. This southern culture 

 seems to have originated mainly in the Argolid and to have been allied to that in the 

 Cyclades. It is characterised by a kind of pottery known to archaeologists as Urfirnis, 

 the name given to it by its German discoverers. This advance northward took place 

 during the Middle Minoan age and may have been influenced by pressure from still 

 farther south. This in its turn in the area in question gave way to another phase of 

 civilisation which is marked by a peculiar grey wheel-made class of pottery known as 

 Minyan. The main centre of this culture seems to have been Qrchomenus, but the pot- 

 tery in question has a wide range, being found in Thessaly, the Troad, Attica, Melos, 



