Abbreviations. Well-known archaeological sites, to which constant reference is made in publications, e.g., A. Kosmas, Asine, Eutresis, Korakou, etc., are mentioned by name only, author, publisher's name, year of issue, etc., being omitted.

Apart from the above the following abbreviations are used:

Aigina = Welter, G., Aigina (Berlin, 1938)Google Scholar.

Ch.T. = Wace, A. J . B., Chamber Tombs at Mycenae (1932)Google Scholar (= Archaeologia lxxxii).

Chronology = Furumark, A., The Chronology of Mycenaean Pottery (Stockholm, 1940–1)Google Scholar.

Corinth = Kosmopoulos, L. W., The Prehistoric Inhabitation of Corinth i (Munich, 1948)Google Scholar.

Corinth xii = Davidson, G. R., Corinth xii. The Minor Objects (American School of Classical Studies, 1952)Google Scholar.

Cyclades = Zervos, C., L'Art des Cyclades. Édition ‘Cahiers d'art’ (Paris, 1957)Google Scholar.

Dhimini = Tsountas, Ch., Αἰ Προϊστορικαὶ Ἀκροπόλεις Διμηνίου καὶ Σεσκλού (Athens, 1908)Google Scholar.

Eleusis = Mylonas, G. E., Ἐλευσινιακά. Προϊστορικὴ Ἐλευσίς 1–172 (Athens, 1932)Google Scholar.

FM = Furumark Motive (A. Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery, Stockholm 1940–1).

FS = Furumark Shape (A. Furumark, The Mycenaean Pottery, Stockholm 1940–1).

Gournia = Hawes, H. B., Gournia, Vasiliki, etc. (American Exploration Society, Philadelphia, 1908)Google Scholar.

Kirrha = Dor, L., Jannoray, J., , H. and van Effenterre, M., Kirrha (Paris, 1960)Google Scholar.

Mallia, Maisons i = Demargne, P. and de Santerre, H. G., Mallia, Maisons i (Paris, 1953)Google Scholar.

Mallia, Palace ii = Chapoutier, F. and Joly, R., Mallia, Palace ii. 2^ème rapport. Exploration du palais 1925–6 (Paris, 1936)Google Scholar.

Orchomenos = Kunze, E., Orchomenos iii (Munich, 1934)Google Scholar.

Palaikastro = R. C. Bosanquet and R. M. Dawkins, The Unpublished Objects from the Palaikastro Excavations (1902–6).

Phylakopi = Excavations at Phylakopi conducted by the BSA (JHS Supplement iv, 1904).

PM = Sir Arthur Evans, The Palace of Minos (1921–35).

PN = Blegen, C. W. and Rawson, M., The Palace of Nestor i (Princeton University Press, 1966)Google Scholar.

PT = Wace, A. J. B. and Thompson, M. S., Prehistoric Thessaly (Cambridge University Press, 1912)Google Scholar.

Sch. Gr. = G. Karo, Die Schachtgräber von Mykenai (1930).

SME = M. N. Valmin, The Swedish Messenia Expedition (1938).

Thermi = Lamb, W., Excavations at Thermi in Lesbos (Cambridge University Press, 1936)Google Scholar.

Tiryns = Müller, K., Tiryns iv (Munich, 1938)Google Scholar.

¹ The first campaign was financed by the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Wiegand of Canada via the Wiegand Memorial Foundation and a grant was made by Cambridge University. The Wiegand Memorial Foundation also contributed to the second campaign and grants were received from the Mediterranean Archaeological Trust and the British School at Athens. The last campaign was financed by the Mediterranean Archaeological Trust with the help of grants from the British School at Athens and Cambridge University. I am especially beholden to Mr. Wiegand for the interest he took in the initial stages of the excavation and for the generous support that he provided. And my grateful thanks are due to the above-named institutions for the financial assistance they afforded. The following took part in the first campaign: Mr. and Mrs. R. Hope Simpson, Mrs. C. Bennett, and Mr. and Mrs. D. French. I wish to express my thanks for their help. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. David French for the special study they made of the pottery found in the 1959 excavation, which is the subject of the Appendix at the end of this article. This work is invaluable from my point of view as both are experts in their fields and I do not claim to be thoroughly conversant with the earlier periods of the Bronze Age. I am also very grateful to Mr. Roger Howell for the help and advice he gave me on research for this article.

I had much valuable assistance in the following two campaigns and I regret only that space does not allow me to thank each one individually. In 1960 the team consisted of Mrs. B. Gibson, Messrs. J. Graham, R. Oakley, C. Taylor, and C. Walker. Mr. Charles K. Williams acted as architect and made a detailed survey of the site. For the long season in 1963 many of the party could come for only a limited time. The numbers therefore were large. The following were engaged in excavating: Mrs. B. Gibson, Mrs. R. Edwards, Miss J. Davison, Miss T. Harington Smith, Messrs. R. Howell, I. McLaughlin, A. Aziz, J. Prag, D. Blackman, A. Jackson, K. Feeny, P. Kingsbury, R. Clark, M. Chamberlayne. The following worked on the pottery and Small Finds: Mrs. D. Blackman, Miss M. Barry, Miss B. Magnus. They were also assisted by several of those who took part in the excavations. Mrs. D. Blackman executed the drawings of the pots. Miss D. Hadjilazarou was responsible for the conservation. Mr. Durwin M. Ursery came for the whole period and acted as architect. For work in different years on the finds kept in the Sparta Museum I am very grateful for the help of Mrs. B. Gibson, Mrs. R. Edwards, Miss D. Hadjilazarou, and Mr. J. Crouwel. And I owe a great debt of gratitude to Mr. Ch. Christou, who was the Ephor at the time. He facilitated our work in every way both in the field and in the museum. Finally, I should like to express my thanks to Dr. Angel for the time he devoted to the study of the skeletal material submitted to him.

Mrs. E. French has very kindly allowed me to reproduce some of her photographs. These are PLATES 39b; 47c; 50f, i. All other photographs are by the author, FIGS. 24, 25, and 40 are by Mrs. E. French, FIGS. 36–9 by Mr. D. French. I am very grateful for the help of Mr. M. Goalen, who has adapted the various plans of the site (FIGS. 1–3, 13–15, 26) to conform to the format of the Annual. He has also reproduced several sketches from the excavation notebooks with due acknowledgement to the original authors. And I am indebted to him for his assistance in many other ways.

² The animal bones and shells have not yet been examined by experts.

³ These burials are A 1–6, 10, 17, 19; Δ 1–7, 9–13, 17; B 3.

⁴ HS stands for Hagios Stephanos. All sherds from this excavation are marked with these letters rather than AS. Otherwise confusion might have arisen with the sherds from Asteri (also excavated in 1959) which are marked AST.

⁵ A two-handled, carinated cup from a tomb in Syros (AE 1899, pl. 9.27) is similar, but the pottery vases from this tomb are anomalous. Though Tsountas seems to think they are Early Cycladic, they appear to be later.

⁶ Cf. also the incised pyxides from Phylakopi (pl. 5.2B, 4).

⁷ And note the decoration on a sherd from Phylakopi (pl. 12.30) and the swastika on a Matt Painted bowl rim (ibid. pl. 12.9).

⁸ The best example, however, is a bronze pin from a tomb in Kephalovryson, Messenia (ADelt xxi (1966)Google Scholar B1 pl. 168β).

⁹ Cf. also ibid. 133 fig. 32, though this is round and of greater diameter.

¹⁰ This suggests that it was the fastening for a shroud.

¹¹ See Blegen, 's comment on burning in tombs (Prosymna 251–2)Google Scholar.

¹² Incorrectly described as L.H. IIIB in ADelt xv (1960) 104Google Scholar.

¹³ Cf. also the decoration on a rhyton from Phylakopi (pl. 27.5).

¹⁴ A jar somewhat similar in shape to HS 28 is illustrated in Phylakopi pl. 34.4. It has ‘a stud on each side below rim’ (ibid. 175) but the jar is taller (H. 0·570 m.).

¹⁵ A similar type of bowl was used for closing a jar burial at Korakou (18 fig. 25).

¹⁶ A similar engraved schist plaque was found in the course of restoration work on the Marathon tholos tomb (PAE 1958, 17 fig. 2)Google Scholar.

¹⁷ Tsountas, (Dhimini 128–9) also comments on this typical postureGoogle Scholar.

¹⁸ Cf. also a three-footed vase from Asine (232 fig. 169.6), and the ‘box with rounded feet’ from Phylakopi (208 fig. 183)Google Scholar.

¹⁹ But see Mrs. French's comments on this vase in the Appendix (p. 270).

²⁰ The ‘toy vase’ from Asine (281 fig. 193.5) may be related, but the decoration is of impressed circles instead of punctured holes. But cf. ibid. 309 fig. 213.6, a punctured object described as ‘loaf of bread’; reddish clay and found in a Mycenaean stratum (ibid. 310).

²¹ Catalogue of Vases in British Museum, i pt. i.

²² See also BSA xxv (1921–1923) 187 and other referencesGoogle Scholar.

²³ I am indebted to Mrs. W. J. Craig for this reference.

²⁴ Cf. also BSA lx (1965) pl. 60.1Google Scholar.

²⁵ Information kindly supplied by Mrs. E. French.

²⁶ Recent work, especially that by Mr. O. T. P. K. Dickinson, on early Mycenaean pottery has shown clearly the importance of settlement deposits such as this from Ayios Stephanos, and reference should be made to his article in this volume (pp. 103–12) for comparisons.