408 REPORT— 1903. 



certainly o£ greater antiquity than those from Zakro described by Boyd 

 Dawkins in 1902, and than those from Erganos described by Sergi ; and, 

 further, that the fact of long and short crania being found associated in 

 the same ossuary is more weighty in evidence than when (as heretofore) 

 short crania found in one ancient locality have been described as 

 contemporaneous with long crania found in a different place. 



The long bones afford an estimate of the stature of the early inhabitants 

 of PaliBokastro, which would seem to have been approximately 1624'9 mm. 

 for men (below 5 feet 5 inches). This is a distinctly low stature, and 

 the bones are slight. 



It thus appears that in head-form and stature these early Cretans 

 anticipated the conformation of the Mediterranean race, as the precursors 

 of whom they can be provisionally described. 



Reference must be made particularly to the most important discovery 

 at the site known as Patema, of a skeleton (without the skull) lying in 

 a contracted position and on the left side, like the skeletons of the New 

 Egyptian race at Naquada. The long axis of the body was approximately 

 N.E. and S.W., the head having been to the east. 



Such are the main results of the investigations included under special 

 report (a). 



Special Report (/>). — On the Phi/sical CharactcriM.ics of the Modern Cretans, and 

 especially <>f the Inhabitants of Sitia, the anciint habitation of the Eteo- 

 Cretans, 



This report falls into two sections, the first of which deals with adult 

 male Cretans and the second with school children of both .sexes. 



Section (i.) The results of most importance refer to the proportions 

 of the head and to the stature, these being the points upon which 

 information was chieHy desired as a basis for the comparison of ancient 

 and modern Cretans. 



Taking the proportions of the head first, a most striking result has 

 come to light, viz., that in Eastern Crete the modern head-form is totally 

 different from the prehistoric as deduced from the material at Palwokastro. 

 In the province of Sitia not only is the average head short (brachy- 

 cephalic), but this is the most frequently occurring form. At the same 

 time the stature of the men has increased markedly since the Minoan 

 period. 



The second point of importance is that in certain provinces of Crete 

 the ancient form of skull is evidently still preserved. It may be noticed 

 that data were-abtained from no fewer than seventeen out of the twenty 

 provinces of Crete, but that the material for Sitia, in the eastern part, is 

 much more abundant than that from any other district. 



These facts will, it is believed, furnish the basis for much discussion, a 

 difficult point being the explanation of the modern predominance of short- 

 headed men in Eastern Crete, the region which was considered as perhaps 

 the least subject to invasion and admixture. Here it can only be 

 remarked that records exist of definite colonisation from Venice, and that, 

 considering the preponderance of short heads among modern Venetians, 

 the solution may lie in an appeal to this historical factor. 



Turning to other oljservations on modern Cretans, it will suffice to 

 state that while in colour of the hair the darkest shades are the 

 commonest, this is not the case as regards the colour of the eyes, the most 



