The principal fact to emerge in recent years is the antiquity of the first neolithic cultures in the western Mediterranean. Listed below (Table I) are radiocarbon dates from sites with impressed ware (occasionally, in southern Italy, associated with painted pottery).

There are thus quite a number of dates available. The three seventh-millennium dates are questionable: the Coppa Nevigata date (6200 bc) has often been criticized; the Cap Ragnon date (6020 bc) is certainly too early; and the Velderpino date (6000 bc) remains to be confirmed. The same is true of the Camprafaud date (5950 bc). The sixth-millennium dates are more numerous and come from southern Italy, Corsica, Provence, Languedoc and even Spain (Los Grajos). But without doubt the main bulk is provided by the fifth-millennium dates which convince by their sheer numbers (more than 50). The fifth millennium was the Golden Age of the impressed ware groups of the West Mediterranean.

In a previous communication (Afshar, 1978) historical and topographical notes on Persepolis and the site of the present study were briefly outlined. Among the animals represented on the eastern staircase of the Apadana palace, the horse is the most common. In the royal procession, on the left wing of this staircase, seven horses dominate the scene, while on the right wing, horses are brought by eight of the 21 delegations that bring animals. Six delegations have riding horses, and two have chariots, each drawn by two horses; one other delegation, the Indian, brings another member of the equid family, the onager or wild ass. Not all the horses are represented in a uniform manner. Differences in proportion, configuration and individual features are apparent. This, and the careful depiction of all the figures on the reliefs, suggest that different breeds of horses were represented.

Dr James H. Dickson and Mrs Camilla A. Dickson, Department of Botany, University of Glasgow, and Dr David J. Breeze, Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, Scottish Development Department, Edinburgh, examine the possibility that cereal debris found in a Roman military ditch at Bearsden may be wholemeal flour or even bread.