October 5, 1905] 



NA TURE 



559 



side walls arching in ' Cyclopean ' fashion towards a 

 high gable," which had long ago been quarried 

 away. The lofty entrance-hall was approached by an 

 imposing rock-cut dromos. "In the floor of the main 

 chamber was a pit-grave covered with slabs. Its 

 contents had been sifted for metal objects in antiquity, 

 but a gold hairpin, parts of two silver vases, and a 

 large bronze mirror remained to attest the former 

 wealth of such. .\ large number of other relics were 

 found scattered about, including repeated clay im- 

 pressions of what may have been a royal seal. 

 Specially remarkable among the stone vessels is a 

 porphyry bowl of Minoan workmanship, but recalling 

 in material and execution those of the Early Egyptian 

 Dynasties. Many imported Egyptian alabastra were 

 also found, showing the survival of Middle Empire 

 forms besides others of Early Eighteenth Dynasty type. 

 Beads of lapis lazuli also occurred, and pendants of 

 the same material, closely imitating Egyptian models. 

 Four large painted jars with three handles illustrate 

 the fine ' architectonic ' style of the Later Palace of 

 Knossos, in conne.xion with which the great 

 sepulchral monument must itself be brought." 



The form of this square-chambered mausoleum is 

 unique, and may be compared as a contrast with the 

 fholos or beehive tombs of the Greek mainland. Dr. 

 Evans says that he was 

 tempted to recognise in it 

 the traditional tomb of 

 Idomeneus, but that the 

 other tomb near by, 

 which is cut in the rock, 

 is hardly considerable 

 enough to be taken for 

 that of Meriones, which 

 tradition placed beside 

 the other. Nevertheless, 

 Dr. Evans's identification 

 may be correct ; the 

 important tomb on the 

 slope of the hill looking 

 towards Knossos and 

 Herdkleion would natu- 

 rally be identified by the 

 later Greeks as the rest- 

 ing-place of one of the 

 greatest heroes of the 

 island, and any other tomb close by, whether it were 

 as large as the first or not, would then be dubbed the 

 grave of his legendary companion. 



Another interesting discovery was made outside the 

 limits of the palace in the shape of a Minoan paved 

 way leading due west from the " Stepped Theatral 

 .Area " discovered in 1903 towards the modern road 

 to Candia. By the side of this were found magazines 

 with interesting deposits of inscribed tablets ap- 

 parently referring to the contents of the ancient royal 

 stables and armouries; chariots, wheels, and yokes 

 are pictured on them, and large numbers of arrows. 

 Close by were found bundles of the very arrows men- 

 tioned on the tablets. A later Roman causeway over- 

 lay part of this road, but this was evidently merely 

 a coincidence, for that the knowledge of the old road 

 was lost after the close of the Minoan period is 

 shown by the fact that during the early Hellenic 

 (" Geometrical ") age a well was sunk over the old 

 Minoan way and driven right through it. This is a 

 very interesting proof of the entire break in culture 

 between the Mycensean and " Geometrical " peoples 

 in Crete, and is a strong argument in the armoury 

 of those who believe that the Minoans or Mvcenjeans 

 were not Greeks in our sense of the word at all, but 

 a totally different race probably of non-Indo-European 

 speech. 



In the palace itself interesting finds were made. .A 

 section cut in the western court enabled more accu- 

 rate notes of the stratification of the ancient remains 

 to be made, resulting in a further subdivision of the 

 Minoan period and a more accurate placing of the 

 polychrome (" Kamdres ") pottery as belonging to 

 the stratum " Middle Minoan 11." The Kamdres 

 pottery is known bv Egyptian evidence to be contem- 

 porary with the twelfth dynasty. The palace as 

 it stands is late Minoan, which corresponds with the 

 Egyptian evidence, which dates the Keftians who 

 brought vases of the grand Knossian style to Egypt 

 as contemporary with the eighteenth dynasty. _ Be- 

 neath the Minoan strata was found a deep Neolithic 

 stratum going down to the virgin rock. From the 

 modern surface of the ground to the base of " Early 

 Minoan I." (the sub-Neolithic period) measures 



5 m. 33 cm. in depth ; the Neolithic stratum is 



6 m. 43 cm. The date B.C. of the eighteenth dynasty 

 and the late Minoan palace is roughly 1500; that of 

 the twelfth dynasty and Middle Minoan II. about 

 2200. " Middle Minoan II." is 2 m. 50 cm. below the 

 surface ; the virgin rock is 7 m. 75 cm. From this 

 the great age of human settlement at Knossos will be 

 seen at a glance. A peculiarity of the Knossian site 

 is that the late Minoan remains are found almost 





NO. 1875, '^'OL. 72] 



immediately beneath the modern surface of the 

 ground. This points to the place having been kept 

 clear of later buildings, the tradition of its sanctity 

 and heroic associations having always persisted. 



.\n earlier western facade of the central court was 

 also discovered, and further cists belonging to the 

 first period of the later palace, in the magazines. 

 The discovery of fragments of reliefs in these cists 

 (one of them, representing the head of a charging 

 bull, was identified by one of the workmen as a por- 

 trait of the devil) led Dr. Evans to suppose the 

 existence of upper halls, to which the reliefs had be- 

 longed, above the magazines. These halls seem un- 

 doubtedly to have existed, and a ramp led up to them 

 from the " Stepped Theatral .Area." 



These are all very interesting results, and show- 

 how much there is still to be discovered at Knossos. 



The excavations of the British School at .Athens at 

 Palaikastro are described by Messrs. Dawkins and 

 Currelly. The remains of a shrine of the Cretan 

 snake-goddess (analogous to those at Knossos and 

 Gournid) were found, besides some interesting larnax- 

 burials. Mr. Dawkins gives a careful analysis of the 

 pottery found in the town ruins, and a very useful 

 comparative table of the strata of the Minoan period, 

 with illustrative examples from Cretan and non- 

 Cretan sites (p. 195). Mr. H. R. Hall publishes a 



