(22 REPORT—1904. 
them four blocks of somewhat poor houses were opened up, and yielded some 
very valuable finds, notably two delicately carved ivory statuettes, a large bronze 
ewer, and a richly painted bath. The ivories may be importations from Egypt; 
while an ivory plate, carved with conventional crocodiles, betrays indirect Egyptian 
influence. The other hill was covered with houses of a better type divided by 
what may prove to be a continuation of the main street. 
3. Cemeteries.—The curious ossuaries of the middle Minoan period were further 
excavated. Among the objects found were seals of ivory and steatite, a miniature 
gold bird, and small models of a dagger and of sickles. A very early burial-place, 
discovered by Mr. Dawkins near the headland of Kastri, contained beaked jugs of 
an exaggerated pattern and a remarkable clay model of a boat. A later cemetery, 
containing larnax burials, yielded bronze implements, beads, and vases like those 
in the palace magazines. In searching for tombs south of the town Mr. Currelly 
discovered a steatite libation-table on which are engraved seventeen characters of 
the Minoan linear script. 
4, Temple.—In trenching the area within the Minoan town, where scattered 
remains of a Hellenic sanctuary have long been known io exist, Mr. Bosanquet 
found a broken slab of grey marble inscribed with a Doric hymn in honour of the 
youthful Zeus. The lettering is of the Roman age, the composition genuinely 
archaic. It refers to his nativity in the Dictzean cave, and leaves no doubt that 
we have here the temple of Zeus Diktaios, the territory of which was a subject of 
dispute between Hierapytna and Itanos until the matter was settled by arbitration 
in the second century B.c. It can hardly, however, be the temple mentioned by 
Strabo as having existed at or near Praisos before the destruction of that city, for 
Praisos is five hours’ ride from Palaikastro. 
We may now restore to the plain of Palaikastro its classical name of Heleia 
mentioned in the arbitration award. 
5. Researches at Praisos.—The steep west face of the Altar Hill (the top of 
which was cleared in 1901) had never been examined. Numerous architectural 
members and fragments of inscriptions have now been found here by Mr. Bosanquet, 
built into dykes or buried under fallen masses of rock. A temple on the summit 
seems to have been demolished and its materials thrown over the cliff, presumably 
when the Hierapytnians destroyed the town. In view of the public character of 
some of the inscriptions it is probable that this was the chief sanctuary of Praisos, 
possibly tha temple of Dictzean Zeus mentioned by Strabo. The most important 
inscription is one in the ancient Kteocretan language, which was hitherto known 
only from two inscriptions, both found on this hill. The newly discovered docu- 
ment is in Greek characters of the third or fourth century before our era. 
6. The Linguistic Character of the Eteocretan Language. 
By Professor R. 8. Conway, Litt.D. 
The author illustrated his subject by an inscription discovered by Mr. Bosanquet 
at Praisos in June 1904. The text is too fragmentary to admit of even conjec- 
tural interpretation, but presents several new features of interest in phonology and 
morphology not inconsistent, in the author’s judgment, with the conclusions as to 
the Indo-Huropean nature of the language which he has drawn from the two 
inscriptions previously known. 
7. A Find of Copper Ingots at Chalcis. By R. C. Bosanquer, M.A. 
The author described a find of copper ingots at Chalcis, in Eubeea. This was 
a shipwrecked cargo of nineteen ingots, weighing from 25 to 40 lb., and perhaps 
dating from the Bronze Age. Similar ingots or talents of copper had been found 
at Mycenz, at Phzestus in Crete, and in Cyprus and Sardinia. A recent discovery 
of bronze axes in an ancient copper working on Mount Othrys might be taken as 
evidence that the copper ores of Othrys were known in Mycenzan times. Ohalcis 
may have been so called as being the chief emporium, though not the real source, 
