The work of the School in 1908 was again confined to the site of Sparta, and the continuance of the excavation of the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia demanded the greater part of the time and funds available. In expressing thanks to the Hellenic Government and to the Ephor General of Antiquities, Doctor Kavvadias, for their support and the interest which they have always taken in the work, especial mention must be made this year of the progress in furnishing the new rooms recently added to the Sparta Museum. One of these has now been filled with exhibition cases in which a representative series of the new finds has been placed, so labelled as to enable visitors to form some idea of the results of the excavation and the fresh light which it throws upon the art of early Sparta. The Hellenic Government was again ably represented at the excavation by Mr. Gerasimos Kapsalis.

This year again the excavation of the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia claimed the greater part of the resources of the School, and with the exception of a few days at the Greek Easter the work went on continuously from March 23rd to the end of May under the charge of the Director, assisted in the field especially by Messrs. Wace and Thompson. The surveying was undertaken by Mr. Thompson, and the plans and sections accompanying this report are based upon his measurements. The comparative smallness of the area excavated, and the necessity for working slowly, in order that as far as possible no detail of the stratification should pass unnoticed, precluded the employment of any large number of workmen, and the number never rose above thirty-five, and was often much lower.

The excavations of 1908 more than fulfilled expectations in the amount of light that was shed on the later history of the Spartan pottery, so that it is now possible to write an account of the development and decline of the Laconian fabric; which account, beginning in the ninth or tenth century, ends with the latter half of the fourth, when the pottery loses its local characteristics in the various styles that appear to have been common to the whole Greek world during the last three centuries before the Christian Era.

During the three seasons of the excavation at the Hieron of Artemis Orthia about a thousand fragments of terracottas have been found. A number of these were discovered in the bank of the Eurotas or in the disturbed upper levels in the sixth-century temple, but the great majority came to light in the systematic digging of the precincts. Wherever possible, approximate dates for each type are given below, calculated in the light of Mr. Droop's analysis of the pottery, and of the relation of the finds to the epoch of the building of the second temple, now fixed at about B.C. 600.

The removal of the substructure of the Roman circus on the side facing the Eurotas led, as was expected, to the discovery of a large number of inscriptions built into the masonry, most of which relate to the παιδικὸς ἀγών. A few more of various classes were found under similar circumstances in the neighbourhood of the temple. They range in size from an inscribed statue-base, nearly two metres high, and a marble bench, down to the merest splinters of marble bearing two or three letters. Of the inscriptions found this season which relate to the boys' contests about two-thirds of the total number are new, while the remainder join, and in some cases complete, previously published inscriptions. The arrangement of the subject-matter of this section is as follows: (a) New παιδικὸς ἀγών inscriptions; (b) New fragments of previously published παιδικὸς ἀγών inscriptions; (c) Other

Excavations on this site in 1907 were confined to the western half of the sanctuary, and their results, with a general discussion of the Hieron, will be found in the Annual for last year. The present paper is a brief account of the much less productive excavation of the eastern half of the area in 1908. The main results were, firstly, to confirm the general conclusions drawn from the data provided by the western half; secondly, to establish the fact that the lower Geometric stratum extended over the whole width of the sanctuary with its central, or highest and thickest, point near the dividing line of the two years' work, and consequently near the wall suggested as part of a Geometric altar; thirdly, in regard to the second or classical settlement, to show that the centres of interest, the οἴκημα and the altar, were undoubtedly in the western half of the sanctuary, since objects of interest were found only in the south-western corner of the eastern half, although a similar system of embanking provided a pocket all along the south side.

The head illustrated in Figure 1 was found by Mr. Woodward in trenching along the face of the late Roman walls to the east of the big Southern Tower. It is of bluish local marble and ·26 m. high. The face is well preserved, but the top and back of the head are missing. This, as shewn to some extent by the photograph, is due to the fact that the back of the head is cut with four intersecting planes.

During the sinking of some trial pits by the iron bridge over the Eurotas a hoard of silver coins was found. They were contained in a plain vase of red ware, the mouth of which was closed by a clay stopper, and were discovered at a depth of ·50m. below the level of the present surface. The coins have now been transferred from the Sparta Museum to the National Coin Collection at Athens. They are all silver tetradrachms of Attic-Euboic weight, except of course the Ptolemaic coins, which were struck on the Phoenician standard. The weights are those of the coins before they were cleaned. They have probably lost a little in weight during the cleaning process, but I have not thought it necessary to re-weigh them. The Athenian coins I have not described in detail, as the type is so common. My hearty thanks are due to Dr. Svoronos for his help and advice.

The following paper deals with the historical geography and antiquities of the south-eastern promontory of Laconia from Acriae on the Laconic Gulf to Epidaurus Limera. Most of the country included being within easy reach of the sea, the ‘periplus’ arrangement has been followed, and a concordance of ancient geographers is prefixed to each of the sections.

So little is known concerning the site of the famous Hierapolis of Syria, that even a hurried visit is worthy of record. I passed through the place twice in the spring of 1908, in the company of Mr. Richard Norton, stopping on each occasion a night and part of two days. It was inadvisable, in view of the main purpose of my journey, to delay long enough to make a plan, or do anything else likely to excite the ready suspicion of the local authorities and the Circassian colonists. We contented ourselves, therefore, with making a general survey and photographing, with copying all inscriptions which the promise of a reward could induce the Circassians to show us, and with buying small antiquities.

The mound known as Zerélia stands on a hill between two small lakes to the south-west of Almyró in Phthiotis (Fig. 1). Recent writers on the topography of the district have conjectured that this was the site of Itonos and the famous temple of Athena Itonia. We first visited the site in July 1907, and believed, that apart from the question of the site of the temple, it would repay excavation, since we recognised that the mound (Fig. 2) was probably formed by the accumulation of débris from prehistoric settlements. Thanks to a grant from the Cambridge University Worts Fund, and to subscriptions from several friends we were enabled to excavate here in June 1908.

The excavations described in the following article were undertaken partly in the early autumn of 1907, partly in the spring of 1908. Graves 1 to 22 were discovered in the autumn, the remainder in the spring. Autumn and spring finds will be treated together, as representing one season's work. Further excavation was undertaken on the site in the spring of 1909.

The chief importance of the Rhitsóna graves does not lie in the value of the individual vases, interesting as some of them are, but rather in the simple fact that for the first time in the history of Boeotian grave digging every vase from each grave opened has been preserved, and the full contents of each grave kept carefully separate.

The geographical position of Servia lends great importance to its pre-historic finds, because on their correct interpretation and understanding depends the solution of many pre-historic problems. I hope that this paper may, at any rate, prepare the way for such a solution; its subject is the south-eastern element in the pre-historic civilization of Servia, so far as this has been established by investigation. The task has been greatly facilitated by the excavations carried out at Vinča in 1908.

Since the earlier parts of this study were written, various interesting discoveries have been made, not only in Crete, but on the mainland of Greece, such as tend partly to clear up, partly to complicate the problem of Aegean Civilization.

Of the discoveries in Crete the most fruitful in new results are those of Mr. Richard B. Seager relating to the Early Minoan Period, firstly at Vasilikí on the mainland of the Gulf of Mirabello, and later on the islands of Psira and Mochlos off the same coast.