ON EXPLORATIONS IN CRETE. 443 



remarkable inscription was found, however, the second of its class, written 

 in Greek characters of the fifth century B.C., but composed in the old 

 Eteocretan language. Two sanctuaries with votive deposits also came to 

 light, and the remains of a large public building of Hellenistic date, which 

 may have been an ' Andreion ' of the kind in which the Cretan citizens 

 met for common meals. 



This season Mr. Hogarth has also been enabled by a grant from the 

 fund to explore an ancient site at Zakro in the extreme east of the island. 

 He has there uncovered a small Mycenaean town with well preserved re- 

 mains of the lower part of the houses and magazines, and a pit containing 

 fine examples of early pottery. But the most important discovery was a 

 deposit of clay impressions of Myceneean gems and signets containing 150 

 types, some of them throwing a new light on the early cult of Crete. 

 Among other subjects represented was the Minotaur, which also occurs on 

 a seal impression recently discovered in the palace at Knossos. Further- 

 more, some interesting cist-graves were found in caves about Zakro. These 

 yielded incised and painted pottery of the pre-Mycentean age, including 

 types novel in Crete but familiar in Cyprus and Egypt. The general 

 result has important bearing on the origin and history of Mycensean 

 civilisation in Crete. 



Other interesting sites, already previously secured for British excava- 

 tion, remain to be explored. The Executive Committee of the Cretan 

 Exploration Fund, however, are of opinion that, before devoting any sums 

 towards breaking new ground, a sufficient amount shall be raised to enable 

 Mr. Evans to complete his excavation of the palace of Knossos, a con- 

 siderable part of the cost of which has already fallen on the explorer's 

 shoulders. The large scale of the work, on which throughout the whole 

 of last season 200 workmen were constantly employed, makes it necessarily 

 costly, and in this case, in addition to many other incidental items of 

 expenditure, a great deal has to be done towards the conservation, and in 

 some cases even the roofing-in, of the chambers discovered. It is estimated 

 that a sum of between one and two thousand pounds will be necessary for 

 the adequate completion of this important work. The unique character of 

 the results already obtained is, however, so widely recognised that the 

 Committee confidently trust that no financial obstacles will stand in the 

 way of this consummation. 



Report on Excavations at Praesos, in Eastern Crete. 



Praesos, the ancient capital of the aboriginal Eteocretans, lies high 

 on the central plateau of Eastern Crete. The excavations at Praesos, 

 conducted in the spring of 1901 by Mr. R. C. Bosanquet, the Director of 

 the British School at Athens, with the aid of Mr. J. H. Marshall and Mr. 

 R. D. Wells, architect, did not bear out the expectation that the 

 Eteocretan capital would prove to have been a centre of Mycenean cul- 

 ture. It is true that the Acropolis yielded a product of pure Mycenean 

 art under singular circumstances. A large lentoid gem, with a represen- 

 tation of a hunter and a bull, was found embedded in the mud-mortar of 

 a late Greek house : it must have been plastered in unseen along with 

 the earth from an adjacent rock-cut tomb, which had evidently been 

 emptied by the Hellenistic builders. 



But no other vestige of Mycenean occupation was found upon the site 

 of the later city. The waterless ridge, encircled by deep ravines, offered 



