TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION H. 731 



3. Excavations in Thessaly, 1910. 

 By A. J. B. Wace, M.A., and M. S. Thompson, B.A. 



The sites chosen for this year's work were Tsangli, in Central Thessaly, about 

 midway between Pharsala and Velestino, and Rachmani, half-way between 

 Larissa and Tempo. 



At Tsangli the work lasted from March 21 to April 12, and was much inter- 

 rupted by bad weather, rain, and snow. We sank sevei-al shafts from the top of 

 the mound to virgin soil to test the stratification, and also on the east side cleared 

 two small areas, where we found the remains of neolithic houses. The mound is 

 about two hundred metres long and two hundred and ten wide, and the deposit 

 in the highest part is abouE ten metres thick. The results of the stratification of 

 the pottery will be mentioned in connection with that at Rachmani. The houses 

 are very interesting; three were found built one over another. They are 

 square in plan and have as a rule two internal buttresses in each angle, and 

 all three belong to the latter part of the first neolithic period, but the earliest 

 house is slightly more primitive in plan, and has only five internal buttresses 

 instead of eight. The first two houses were abandoned, but the third had been 

 destroyed by fire, and in it were several good vases and twelve celts. In 

 the second a store of over sixty terra-cotta sling bullets was found. Another 

 house had been destroyed by fire towards the end of the first neolithic period 

 and was never afterwards rebuilt. This house is large and divided across the 

 middle by a row of wooden posts. It had eight internal buttresses and a door 

 in the middle of the south wall. A large number of vases were found in this 

 house, many celts, and some interesting terra-cotta statuettes. In general the 

 excavation was very rich in stone implements. We found about seventy celts, 

 including some fine examples; also between twenty and thirty good terra-cotta 

 statuettes were discovered. Of these the male figures, which are rare in Thessaly, 

 are remarkable for their phallic character and the female figures for their marked 

 steatopygy. 



At Rachmani the excavation lasted from April 14 to the end of the month. 

 The mound is about 112 metres long and 95 wide, and the deposit is eight metres 

 thick. A careful observation of the stratification of the shafts sunk in this 

 mound and a comparison of it with the results from Tsangli and other sites 

 enable us to divide the prehistoric remains of Thessaly into four periods : 



(1) Neolithic — marked by the presence of red on white painted pottery; 



(2) Neolithic — marked by the presence of Dhimini and kindred wares ; (3) Sub- 

 Neolithic — in this period falls the remarkable encrusted ware, but while stone 

 tools are common, no trace of bronze has yet been found in deposits of this 

 period ; (4) Chalcolithic — in this period the pottery is unpainted, and the latter 

 part of it is apparently contemporaneous with late Minoan II. and III., for to it 

 belong the tombs of Sesklo, Dhimini, and Zerella, and the L.M. III. and Minyan 

 ware found at these and other sites. It is also noticeable that at Rachmani in 

 the top of the deposit of the fourth period we found many sherds of L.M. III. 

 ware mixed with fragments of primitive geometric pottery like that found in 

 early iron-age tombs at Marmariani and Theotokou. In the deposit of the third 

 period we found an oblong one-roomed house with the southern short side rounded. 

 In it were three good specimens of encrusted ware, a series of four figurines 

 with rough terra-cotta bodies and painted stone heads, and a large store of 

 carbonised wheat, pease, lentils, figs, &c. Another house of the same type, 

 with a slightly more developed plan, was found in the deposit of the fourth 

 period, but apart from a few stone implements nothing was found in it. The 

 only other finds worth separate mention are three fragments of bronze found in the 

 deposits of the fourth period and a tomb that contained one L.M. III. vase and 

 two inferior gems. 



We now propose to close our prehistoric excavations in Thessaly for the 

 present and to publish a book on the subject, which is in active preparation. 

 Later next season we hope to excavate a prehistoric site in Macedonia and to 

 resume our exploration of that country, making a special study of the prehistoric 

 remains. 



