ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL RESEARCHES IN CRETE. 243 



proved unable to repay) I find not one definitely Greek, but the name 

 Sclavo occurs thrice. 1 This was in 1428. 



But in 1390 a record 2 throws a little light upon the Venetian method 

 of dealing with the aboriginal Cretans, for on June 28 of that year 

 a reissue is made of an earlier order dating from 1364, whereby pro- 

 hibition is enacted of settlement, of agricultural labour, and of sowing 

 corn in the plain of Lasithi and on the surrounding heights. The 

 penalties are severe, and evidently the native refugees in the hills were 

 to be given no chance of looting stores or crops. 



But direct references to a native population are wonderfully scarce 

 in these Archives. 



As regards incoming ethnic elements, there are only three l'ecords to 

 notice. These, though vague, are not by any means without interest. 



The earliest is in 1414, 3 when Abraynus Anteron, ' the Armenian,' 

 seeks permission to bring from Trebizond 880 ' families ' to escape from 

 the ' Turks.' He wishes to bring these families to Crete; he is given 

 his choice of Eubcea or Crete : promises are made of good treatment, 

 ' quod loca nostra repleantur gentibus et specialiter personis que (sic) 

 querunt vivere pacifice, juste et ex sudore suo. ' 



Then in 1417 4 permission is given to the Cretan Government to allow 

 Turkish prisoners to establish themselves and their wives in Crete. 



The last record is in 1479, s when orders are issued for the protection 

 of forty families, refugees from the island of St. Herinis (Santorin) to 

 Crete. 



To my regret, I have been unable to pursue this quest further, 

 either by inquiry on the spot or in libraries, except in regard to the 

 names of these Cretan children (cf. pp. 246, 250). 



I will conclude this part of the discussion with the mention of a 

 fact that struck me very forcibly in the Balkans — viz., the great simi- 

 larity in bearing and character that (to my mind at least) exists between 

 the Montenegrins and the Cretans of Sitia (province). If correct, this 

 would provide additional support to the view that South Slavonic 

 elements are to be looked for in modern Cretans; and herein lies an 

 explanation of the marked contrast, in respect of skull-form, between 

 the prehistoric and historic inhabitants of the island. 



VI. Variability in head-length, head-breadth, and cephalic index (in 

 Cretans). — The calculation of the value of the standard-deviation for 

 three characters is given in Table V., with some comparable data for 

 other groups and nationalities. Here it must suffice to remark that the 

 value of the standard-deviation of the cephalic index in the Cretan boys 

 measured by me does not greatly differ in value (4"8 for seventy-nine 

 boys) from the figures (4"1) provided by Mr. Hawes 6 for the 1,600 adult 

 Cretan men measured by him. But both young and adults provide 

 figures indicative of a relatively high degree of variability, and indeed the 

 contrast between, for instance, Sitia and Selino in respect of the mean 

 value of the cephalic index has already emphasised this point. It will 



1 Noiret, op. cit., p. 322. 2 Noiret. op. cit., p. 36. 



* Noiret, op. cit., p. 225. 4 Noiret, op. cit., p. 264. 



5 Noiret, op. cit., p. 546. 6 British Assoc. Beport, 1908. 



