It may be well to begin by defining the period with which this paper attempts to deal. It is the whole of the Neolithic period in the Aegean, together with that part of the Bronze Age which is prior to the appearance of the style of pottery to which the name Mycenaean was, and is still usually given. With this true Mycenaean period, corresponding to Late Minoan III in Crete, we are not here concerned. Suffice it to say that in various parts of Italy and Sicily, vases, bronzes, and other objects have been found which must have been imported from some centre of this Mycenaean civilization. What is more difficult is to find proofs of connexion between Italy and the Aegean previous to this date, i.e. during the period covered by the eight metres of Neolithic deposit on the Palace Hill at Knossos, and by the succeeding Minoan periods down to, and including Late Minoan II.

If we summarize the ethnological evidence from excavation set forth in the previous paper it is to the following effect:—Notwithstanding all the local deviations that appear on the surface, there is no essential distinction of race underlying the civilization reflected by the remains at Tiryns and Mycenae, and that in Crete in the latter part of the Late Minoan Age. This period is represented by the remains of partial occupation of the royal buildings and by the finds from the cemeteries of the same period at Knossos, Phaestos and elsewhere in Crete. On contemplation of the finds belonging to this period, nothing is more striking than the uniform fact that there is in the regular sequence of development no real break as yet with what preceded.

The Annual Meeting of Subscribers to the British School at Athens was held in the rooms of the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, on Tuesday, October 29th, 1907, Prof. Percy Gardner in the Chair. The following Report on the Session 1906–1907 was submitted on behalf of the Managing Committee:—

During the Session 1906–1907 excavation has been carried on continuously at Sparta, and has resulted in important discoveries. Progress has been made in the survey of Laconia, and various outlying sites have been explored.