Acknowledgements. We are grateful for the advice and encouragement of C. Davaras, Ephor of Antiquities for eastern Crete, and for the kind co-operation of N. Platon. Special thanks are due to M. S. F. Hood, who originally inspired this investigation and who has freely given his help and guidance since its outset.

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⁵ Topographic map of Crete, 3rd edn. (1944).

⁶ We are grateful to Mr. Pantelis Kampanos, Mayor of Chamezi, who accompanied us on our first visit in 1980.

⁷ Platon, N., KrChron (1953) 489.Google Scholar Cf. JHS 74 (1954) 51; BCH 78 (1954) 156.

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⁹ Exploitation of the local hydrogeological conditions is seen in the Minoan house at Chamezi, where a cistern (‘Riesenzisterne’ of Noak, Ovalhaus und Palast in Kreta (Teubner, B. G., Leipzig 1908) 58Google Scholar) has been sunk through the limestone aquifer into an impermeable phyllite base.

¹⁰ Graben: a (relatively) downfaulted topographic trough, between high angle faults parallel to its long axis.

¹¹ Gradstein, F. M., ‘The Neogene and Quaternary Deposits in the Sitia District of Eastern Crete’, Annales géologiques des pays helléniques 24 (1973) 527–72.Google Scholar There is also some evidence for ancient quarrying of the Skopi sandstone formation.

¹² Several destructive earthquakes between 368 B.C. and A.D. 448 are listed by Thommeret, Y., Thommeret, J., Laborel, J., Montaggioni, L. F., and Pirazzoli, P. A., ‘Late Holocene Shoreline Changes and Seismotectonic Displacements in Western Crete (Greece)’, Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, Suppl. 40 (1981) 127–49.Google Scholar

¹³ i.e. vertical before the marble mass foundered.

¹⁴ Platon's reference (op. cit.) to capitals may perhaps have included this object.

¹⁵ Such finds are rare indeed. A few examples are given by Dworakowska, A. in Quarries in Ancient Greece, Bibliotheca Antiqua 14 (1975) 42–4.Google Scholar

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²⁵ A. Dworakowska, op. cit. (n. 15) discussed in some detail (p. 23 n. 77) the tenuous nature of evidence for dating quarrying operations here.

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²⁸ Quoted and discussed by Drachmann, A. G., The Mechanical Technology of Greek and Roman Antiquity (Univ. Wisconsin Press, Copenhagen 1963)Google Scholar.

²⁹ (a) a more complete version, in Arabic; (b) parts of the original text in Greek, cited by Pappos.

³⁰ A. G. Drachmann, op. cit. (n. 28).

³¹ It is not known with certainty when Heron of Alexandria (ὁ μηχανικός) lived. Drachmann (op. cit.) is of the opinion that Heron should be dated about A.D. 62, but discusses (p. 9) various other views.

³² Pliny, op. cit. XXXVI. iv. 9, says that the first men to make a name for themselves as marble workers came from Crete, and can be dated to the 50th Olympiad (580–577 B.C.).

³³ The archaeological site of Phalasarna is thought to be Hellenistic and that of Praessos to be Eteo-Cretan to Roman in age; the quarries associated with these two sites have not themselves been dated, but seem to show characteristics of Hellenistic quarrying.

³⁴ Broneer, O., Corinth The Odeum 10 (American School of Classical Studies, 1932) 142 and fig. 10.Google Scholar This author tells of ‘extensive quarrying carried on in both Greek and Roman times’, and considers that the quarry had been in use until the 1st cent. A.D. The south-east side of the quarry (fig. 10) is not unlike the earlier parts of the Rods of Digenis quarry.

³⁵ N. Platon, op. cit.

³⁶ A. Dworakowska, op. cit. (n. 15) comments (p. 37): ‘The monolithic column shafts, if made of coloured marble, should generally be dated to the Roman period.’ Whether this generality extends to Crete we cannot say, but are inclined to think that Hellenistic examples (e.g. Lebena) are also to be found on the island.

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⁴⁰ N. Asgari, op. cit. (n. 22).

⁴¹ Mr. Pantelis Kampanos informed us that a broken column was lying in a gully near Galanou Kefali, about 2 km to the east of the quarry.

⁴² I. F. Sanders, op. cit. (n. 4) 69 and pl. 27.

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⁴⁷ We are grateful to Dr. E. H. Rutter for assistance in the interpretation of marble fabrics.

⁴⁸ See section on Geology of the Phyllite Nappe, below.

⁴⁹ The method used is described by Thompson, M., Ramsay, M., and Coles, B. J., ‘Interactive Matrix Matching: a New Method of Correcting Interference Effects in Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry’, Analyst 107 (1982) 1286–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar We are grateful to Dr. M. Thompson and Dr. M. Ramsay for their co-operation. CaO values quoted are subject to an error of ± 1 per cent; FeO and Fe₂O₃ proportions were calculated from total iron on the assumption that iron in the carbonate fraction is Fe²⁺ and the remainder is Fe³⁺.

⁵⁰ Dissolution in mild acids is not a totally reliable method of separating carbonates from non-carbonates. Robinson, P., in ‘Determination of Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, Strontium and Iron in the Carbonate Fraction of Limestones and Dolomites’, Chemical Geology 28 (1980) 135–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar, discusses the uncertainties. HCl effectively dissolves the magesium carbonates, but can leach ions from clay minerals.

⁵¹ Preparation was by LiBO₂ fusion, as described by Watkins, P. J. and Thompson, M. (in press), Geostandards Newsletter (1983).Google Scholar Determination of SiO₂ by the method of Maxwell, J. A., Rock and Mineral Analysis (Interscience, New York 1968), 339–40.Google Scholar The assistance of P. J. Watkins is gratefully acknowledged.

⁵² Loss on ignition conducted according to the method of Wolf, K. H., Easton, A. J., and Warne, S., ‘Techniques of Examining and Analyzing Carbonate Skeletons, Minerals and Rocks’ in Carbonate Rocks (Elsevier Publishing Co., 1967) 253–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁵³ See section on Geology of the Phyllite Nappe, below.

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⁵⁷ L. Conforto et al., op. cit. (n. 54).

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⁵⁹ Namely, a few hundred ppm. The Ca/Sr ratios reported by Lazzarini, L., Moschini, G., and Stievano, B. M., in ‘A Contribution to the Identification of Italian, Greek and Anatolian Marbles through a Petrological Study and the Evaluation of Ca/Sr Ratio’, Archaeometry 22 (1980) 173–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar, seem to be at variance with the Sr values reported from the same localities by other authors.

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⁶² A. Baumann et al., op. cit. (n. 8).

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⁶⁵ Adapted after Baumann et al., op. cit. (n. 8).

⁶⁶ For an up-to-date review of this complex subject, the reader is referred to the recent publication edited by MacClay, K. R. and Price, N. J., Thrust and Nappe Tectonics, Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, 9 (1981).Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Not all authors uphold the plate tectonic interpretation of this region, e.g. Baumann et al., cited in n. 69 below.

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⁷⁰ A. Baumann et al., op. cit. (n. 8).

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⁷² According to Hsü, K. J., in ‘Mélanges and their distinction from Olistostromes’, Modern and Ancient Geosynclinal Sedimentation, Society of Economic: Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication no. 19 (1974) 321–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar, ‘Mélanges are bodies of deformed rocks characterized by the inclusion of tectonically mixed fragments or blocks, which may range up to several miles long, in a pervasively sheared matrix.’

⁷³ P. Warren, op. cit. (n. 60) and subsequent works.

⁷⁴ Baranyi, I., Lippolt, H. J., and Todt, W., ‘Kalium-Argon Datierungen an zwei Magmatiten von Kalo Chorio, Nord-Ost Kreta’, Neues Jahrbuch Geol. Paläont., Monatshefte (1975) 257–62.Google Scholar

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