The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . Vaphio Cups: 3^ inches high; 8 ounces each. Found at Vaphio, in thePeloponnesus, in 1889 , and dating back at least to 1800 or 2000 Cretan in origin. Very delicate and yet vigorous goldsmithwork. See the scroll on the page opposite. This name is still used sometimes for the last period of it, onthe mainland. But it is best to use the name Cretan civiliza-tion for the whole culture preceding the Homeric age. We arenow to trace the rise of that culture, and its character. 95. Native to the Aegean Regions, t—Explorations prov
The ancient world, from the earliest times to 800 AD . Vaphio Cups: 3^ inches high; 8 ounces each. Found at Vaphio, in thePeloponnesus, in 1889 , and dating back at least to 1800 or 2000 Cretan in origin. Very delicate and yet vigorous goldsmithwork. See the scroll on the page opposite. This name is still used sometimes for the last period of it, onthe mainland. But it is best to use the name Cretan civiliza-tion for the whole culture preceding the Homeric age. We arenow to trace the rise of that culture, and its character. 95. Native to the Aegean Regions, t—Explorations prove thatthis early civilization was not confined to Crete and Troy andMycenae. It spread along the coasts and islands of the Medi-terranean, in patches, from Cyprus to Sardinia. It was verynearly an Aegean civilization.^ It was the work of the slim,short, dark-skinned men of southern Europe, between 3500 and1200 This culture was native, not borrowed. Steady prog- 95] CRETAN CIVILIZATION 109. 110 PREHISTORIC HELLAS [§96 ress appears from rude stone tools and crude carvings, throughmany stages, up to magnificent bronze work and highly devel-oped art. There are no sudden leaps, or breaks in the chain ofdevelopment, such as might suggest the wholesale introductionof a foreign civilization. The oldest settlement that Schliemann unearthed on the bare rockunderlying the site of Troy, we have noted, was a village of the Stone 3500 or 4000 , people were living in such vil-lages (made up of round huts) all about the AegeanSea. Their pottery was made by hand, not with awheel; but the decoration shows skill and love ofbeauty. Everywhere, the better sort of knives andarrow-heads were made from a peculiar dark hardstone (obsidian), which, for these regions, is foundin any considerable quantity only in the island ofMelos. There must have been no little trade, then,during this Stone Age, to scatter this material sowidely. Before 2500 , Crete, at least, extended thistrade as
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