The prehistoric site of Thermi lies 10 km. north of Mytilene, nearly 2 km. east of the modern village, and about half a kilometre south-east of the hot springs which give the district its name. Before excavation it appeared as a low mound on the coast, part of which had been cut away by the sea. The cliff face rises to 6·20 m. at the highest part of the mound: the relation of virgin soil to the settlement earth is shewn in the sections, Pl. II. Scattered stones, obviously once used for building, extend for 30 m. out to sea: it seems probable that at least 15–20 m. of the city have been lost on this side owing to the gradual erosion of the coast. The extent of the surviving parts can be roughly estimated from the map, Pl. I, though not all the boundaries have yet been discovered.

An interesting feature of the excavations in the West Court at Knossos in 1930 was the discovery of two more walled pits or ‘Koulouras’ lying between that already excavated and the great enceinte wall which was brought to light at the western extremity of the later Court (Fig. 1).

At the bottom of each of these Koulouras appeared walls and floors belonging to houses dating from the beginning of the first Middle Minoan period, which had been covered in at the time when the Court was extended and the Koulouras constructed—i.e. in Middle Minoan I. b or at the beginning of Middle Minoan II.

There is no doubt that during the historical period Cyprus was a copper-mining centre of great importance; not only does the literary evidence testify to this, but also the large slag-heaps found in many parts of the island. It is not our intention, however, to treat of this period, but to examine how far Cyprus produced copper during the bronze age.

Prof. Gjerstad has, in his Studies on Prehistoric Cyprus, shewn that at least till the end of the bronze age there seems to be no racial change in the population, the cultural development being steady. During Late Cypriot II and III, however, Mycenean ware and its local imitations become so frequent that it is likely that Mycenean overlords were ruling in Cyprus; such a state of affairs fits in well with Mycenean history of this time, and probably now Cyprus began to be hellenised.

Carmina Matutina, sive ὲωθινὰ ὰναστὰσιμα Leonis Imperatoris cum musica e compluribus codicibus exscripta hic edidimus. Notas Rotundas (s. Hagiopolitanas) iam XII saec. inventas esse manifestum fit. Omnia fere exempla carminum Sticheraricorum, his notis a XII ad XVII saec. expressa et in variis libris servata, adeo inter se congruunt, ut cuncta ab una origine facillime deducenda sint. Fieri igitur potest, ut auctores harum notarum textum quoque carminum sacrorum ipsi ordinaverint et ubique eosdem numeros cantoribus graecis ipsi tradiderint. Inter XII saec. et vitam Leonis nulli populorum motus, qui artes liberales et studia humaniora everterent, orti sunt. Facillime ergo credas non modo verba sed etiam numeros carminum fere eadem, qua facta sint, forma ad nos pervenisse.

In ipsis notis enucleandis, eadem, qua prius, ratione utimur. Multa, quae de sonis initialibus octo tonorum tunc conieceram, iam maiore experientia confirmata sunt.

To his account of the sculptures in the collection of the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, Michaelis appended a brief mention of the vases in the Duke's possession, singling out ‘one of a Bacchante dancing merrily, for whom a Satyr in a graceful attitude blows the flute.’ This vase was in the British Museum for a few weeks some years ago, and I happened to see it there: his Grace very kindly permitted me to have it photographed, to copy the pictures, and to publish it here (Pls. XVII, XVIII): for which I would beg him to accept my thanks.

It is a vase of a common type—a Nolan amphora—but of quite unusual charm. The picture on the front—the dancing maenad, the boy satyr playing the flute—is complete in itself; but the singing woman on the back of the vase is not a mere ‘mantle figure,’ she is connected with the group on the front, and blends with them into a trio—music, dance, and song.

In accordance with the plan to explore a representative mound in each area of Central Macedonia, the Toumba of Saratsé was selected as occupying a key position in the group of mounds that lies in the region of Lakes Lankadás and Beshik. Prehistoric finds in this district have so far been represented by the neolithic pottery from above the village of Aïváte (now Léte), which lies at the foot of the hills, by the entrance to the Dervéni Pass, and by surface finds from mounds at Drymínklava (now Drymós), and elsewhere. It was hoped that a deposit might possibly be found at Saratsé which would throw some light on certain obscure points of the Macedonian Neolithic Age. No such deposit was found, and only some half-dozen neolithic sherds (all except one, unstratified), but a sequence of pottery from the Early Bronze Age onwards was obtained, which makes it possible to place the site, and by inference the area, in relation to the rest of Central Macedonia and to Chalcidice.

The two following articles dealing with the finds from the excavations of 1924–28 at Sparta bring nearly to a conclusion the publication of the results of that undertaking. The first (pp. 151–240) comprises a description of the architectural remains from the Theatre, including the architectural inscriptions and the stamped bricks and tiles. The second (pp. 241–254) is merely an illustrated inventory of the inscribed pot-fragments and other dedications from the site of the Sanctuary of Athena Chalkioikos on the Acropolis: many of the latter have been published or referred to in previous Reports, but it seems worth while to group all the inscribed votive objects together as I have done here. I take this opportunity also of publishing on Plate XIX a revised version of that portion of the original General Plan, undertaken in 1906–7, which covers the principal sites excavated during 1924–28. The additions have been inserted from his own measurements by Mr. Piet De Jong, to whose co-operation throughout the five seasons' work carried out by the School at Sparta I cannot sufficiently express my indebtedness.

Among the votive inscriptions discovered during the excavations of 1924–27 by far the most numerous are those on vase-fragments, which number upwards of one hundred and twenty, in contrast to the modest total of thirty-four yielded by the previous campaigns on the Acropolis in 1907–08. The latter have been already published, and no further reference need be made to them here, except occasionally for purposes of comparison. As the illustrations shew, as far as possible, the form of the sherd as well as the exact nature of the lettering, detailed descriptions are superfluous, and brief comments will suffice. The items are arranged to some extent according to the types of vases dedicated, but no chronological order is attempted; where, however, a group of vases of more than one shape is found to bear the same dedicator's name, they have been placed together, as on Fig. 2, 1–7.