ARCHEOLOGY. (CRETE.) 



was indicated by azure wreaths and coils of 

 dotted spray on a white ground. In the figure 

 of the upper part of an elegant lady in a yellow 

 jacket and light chemise, the flying tresses and 

 outstretched arm suggest violent action. An- 

 other fresco fragment shows a more rude female 

 figure in the act of springing from above and 

 seizing the horns of a galloping bull. With the 

 remains of a series of scenes exhibiting female 

 toreadors found toward the close of the previous 

 season's excavations it was possible to reconsti- 

 tute a complete panel of one of these fresco de- 

 signs. " The whole is a tour de force of ancient 

 circus shows. A Mycenaean cowboy is seen 

 turning a somersault over the back of a charging 

 bull, to whose horns in front clings a girl in boy's 

 costume, while another girl performing behind, 

 with outstretched hands, seems to wait to catch 

 her as she is tossed over the monster's back. 

 The fallen body of a man beneath another bull 

 brings out the grimmer side of these Minoan 

 sports." A private staiapase opening from the 

 north wall of the newly discovered hall leads up 

 by a double flight to upper rooms, which are on 

 the general level of the great central court and 

 of the originally discovered buildings on its west 

 side. They are, however, isolated by the interven- 

 tion between them and the great central court of 

 & large room to which they have apparently no 

 means of access. A passage opening on the west 

 side of the hall leads to what appears to have 

 been the most secluded part of the residential 

 quarter of the palace. Here were rooms on the 

 levels of the halls of the Colonnades and of the 

 Double Axes. At one point in these apartments 

 were the remains of what appeared to be a 

 wooden staircase, the upper part of which was 

 choked with broken seal impressions. One of 

 these impressions, " only a fragment," bears part 

 of the impress of a Babylonian cylinder, " thus 

 supplying direct proof of correspondence with the 

 East." Mr. Evans remarks especially upon the 

 elaborate drainage system of this quarter of the 

 palace: "The well-paved floors are underlaid by 

 quite a network of stone channels, Fn places 

 crossing each other at different levels, and roomy 

 enough to allow a man to crawl along them. A 

 succession of stone shafts leads down to these 

 from the upper story, in one case apparently 

 connected with a latrine, of which a curious and 

 in some respects very modern example also oc- 

 curs on the ground floor. In another part of the 

 palace sections of a terra-cotta drain-pipe have 

 been found of a most advanced form, provided 

 with stop-ridges." In another quarter south of 

 this group of chambers were smaller rooms, in 

 which parts of two boards of inscribed tablets 

 were found. One of these contained lists of per- 

 sons indicated by the man-sign, the other re- 

 ferred to the armory, the exhibits, besides the 

 linear characters of the inscriptions, outlining 

 figures of swords. The pottery of this and the 

 adjoining region gave some new illustrations of 

 the prehistoric writing of Crete. Another maga- 

 zine contained vases in the earliest palace style, 

 some of which were painted with very natural- 

 istic lilies. In an adjoining chamber was a kind 

 of domestic shrine, which is thus described : " On 

 a small dais, beside a tripod of offerings, and 

 with a miniature votive ax of steatite before 

 her, rose a painted terra-cotta figure of a god- 

 dess, pillar-shaped below according to the old 

 religious tradition, and with a dove on her head, 

 while in front of her stood a male votary holding 

 out another dove. That a goddess was associ- 

 ated with the palace cult of the double ax fur- 

 ther appears from a gem on which a female 



divinity is seen bearing this symbolic weapon in 

 her hand." In the basements of one of the east- 

 ern terraces and below the level of the later 

 palace were found remains of another magnifi- 

 cent construction which was still earlier than 

 the structure called Minoan. in it were vases of 

 the Kamares class, some with lily designs in 

 white, a miniature vase of gold and porcelain, 

 and a miniature pillar-shrine of painted terra- 

 cotta with doves perched on the roof. In an- 

 other basement, not far away from this one, 

 and at a slightly lower level, was found a mosaic 

 of small porcelain plaques, which seems, as de- 

 scribed by Mr. Evans, to have represented 

 " scenes disposed in various zones, recalling the 

 subjects of Achilles's shield the walls and 

 houses of a city, a vine and other trees, warriors 

 with bows, spears, and throwing sticks, besiegers 

 and defenders, and various animals. But the 

 most surprising part of all is the houses of 

 which the city is composed. Fragmentary as are 

 their remains, it has been possible to reconsti- 

 tute about a score of these. The varying char- 

 acter of the structure stone, timber, and plas- 

 tered rubble is accurately reproduced, and the 

 walls, towers, gateways (a whole street of a 

 Minoan city) rises before us much as it origi- 

 nally stood. But, what is even more surprising 

 than the fact that the elevations of these prehis- 

 toric structures should thus be recovered to us 

 intact from the gulfs of time, is the altogether 

 modern character of some of their features. 

 Here are three stories (some of the semi-detached 

 kind showing contiguous doorways) with win- 

 dows of 4 panes, or double windows of 3 panes 

 each, which seem to show that the inmates of the 

 houses had actually some substitute for glass." 

 The part of the eastern side of the great paral- 

 lelogram in which the halls of the Colonnades 

 and the Double Axes are situated showed that 

 it was a building of 3 stories. The limits of the 

 palace on the eastern slope of the hill are said 

 by Mr. Evans to have extended themselves be- 

 yond all anticipation, but much denudation has 

 taken place. Among the finds are remains of a 

 large architectural fresco with realistic imitation 

 of veined marble, and stone jars more capacious 

 than any previously brought to light. A stone 

 spout jutting out from a neighboring wall and 

 connected by a conduit with an oil-press above, 

 explained their purpose and the manner in which 

 they were filled. Farther down were massive 

 lines of supporting walls, forming here the outer 

 eastern boundary of the palace. 



In the small but well preserved Mycenaean set- 

 tlement excavated by Miss Boyd at Gournia, sac- 

 rificial vases, bronze saws, and other imple- 

 ments, and ante-Mycenaean fetishes and idols 

 have been brought to light; and through the ex- 

 cellent preservation of some of the buildings a 

 sensible addition has been made to our knowl- 

 edge of Mycenaean domestic architecture. 



The excavations of the Italian Archeological 

 Mission at Pha?stos, under the direction of Prof. 

 Halbherr, have been practically completed, after 

 three seasons of work. The architectural lines of 

 the palace here are described as being " incom- 

 parably more striking " than those of Knossos. 

 The pavement of the agora is traversed by some 

 curious slightly raised diagonal lines, and the 

 agora terminates on the north in a broad series 

 of stone steps. To the west is another imposing 

 flight of stone steps leading up through a por- 

 tico to a great hall measuring 27.70 by 13.75 

 meters surpassing in dimensions any Mycenaean 

 apartment yet discovered. Its structure is like 

 that of the Hall of the Double Axes at Knossos; 



