The origins of the Bronze Age Minoan and Mycenaean cultures have puzzled archaeologists for more than a century. We assembled genome-wide data from nineteen ancient individuals, including Minoans from Crete, Mycenaeans from mainland Greece, and their eastern neighbours from southwestern Anatolia. We show that Minoans and Mycenaeans were genetically similar, having at least three quarters of their ancestry from the first Neolithic farmers of western Anatolia and the Aegean 1 , 2 , and most of the remainder from ancient populations like those of the Caucasus 3 and Iran 4 , 5 . However, the Mycenaeans differed from Minoans in deriving additional ancestry from an ultimate source related to the hunter-gatherers of eastern Europe and Siberia 6 – 8 , introduced via a proximal source related to either the inhabitants of either the Eurasian steppe 1 , 6 , 9 or Armenia 4 , 9 . Modern Greeks resemble the Mycenaeans, but with some additional dilution of the early Neolithic ancestry. Our results support the idea of continuity but not isolation in the history of populations of the Aegean, before and after the time of its earliest civilizations.

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New evidence is reported here using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and laser reflectance for the nature of the black glossy decoration layer present on the Attic black or red figure vases of the sixth to fourth century BC. The black layer, of total thickness about 20 μm, consists mainly of poly crystalline magnetite (Fe3O4) particles of dimensions from 0.2 μm down to extremely fine sizes embodied in an amorphous vitreous matrix. On the outer surface of the black paint we discovered for the first time a thin clear glassy film of approximate thickness 0.1 μm which is rich in Al and Fe and poor in Si. This film must be responsible for the characteristic sheen of the surface. This is verified with the reflection of laser light mostly in specular direction, a unique property compared with black paints of other areas and other periods.

The effect of quartz temper on the physical and mechanical properties of clay ceramics and the elucidation of the underlying mechanisms that are responsible for these efsects are presented here. Characteristics studied included bulk density, open and closed porosity, density of impervious portion and fracture morphology. Mechanical behaviour was studied by measuring energy dissipation during fracture, Young's modulus, initial fracture toughness and strength in flexure. The signifcant increase in toughness with quartz volume fraction is explained by the development of a model that accounts for the crack distribution around the grains. The archaeological implications of the work are discussed on the basis of all the parameters that might affect the potter's choices of raw materials.V. Kilikoglou, G. Vekinis, Y. Maniatis and P. M. Day workability, reduces shrinkage, assists in even drying and promotes some mechanical properties at the expense of some others (Rice 1986; Rye 1976). The most common rock tempering materials can be classified in two groups: calcite-based materials that chemically react with the clay minerals during firing and materials that are essentially inert at the usual firing temperatures (quartz, feldspar, etc.). The effects of temper on the performance, including mechanical performance, of ceramics was first studied and discussed in the pioneering work of Shepard (1965). Since then several studies have been reported in the literature. Much attention has been given to the explanation of the beneficial effects of certain tempering materials used in the prehistoric New World, with particular reference to crushed shell in comparison to sand. The main shell-tempered pottery characteristics studied have been thermal shock resistance (Steponaitis 1984;Bronitsky and Hamer 1986), strength (Bronitsky and Hamer 1986;Feathers 1989) and toughness (Feathers and Scott 1989). It has been demonstrated generally, through simulation tests, that shell can produce stronger and tougher ceramics than sand, which was replaced as a temper during the Late Woodland period in eastern North America. The same applies to limestone, although it was not used systematically, compared to grit or grog (Hoard et al. 1995). Besides enhanced mechanical properties, there are further benefits in the use of calcite-based tempers, summarized by Hoard et al. (1995): increase of workability, similar thermal expansivity to clay and a plate-like structure that aids crack propagation arrest, in a similar way to modem fibre-reinforced ceramics. However, calcite can be problematic at high firing temperatures (Maniatis and Tite 1981; Rice 1986) and, therefore, it can only be used as temper at low-firing temperatures, less than c. 700"C, where ceramic bodies remain essentially unvitrified and the maximum strength they develop is, thus, close only to their green strength.On the other hand, there have been many cases of high-fired and quartz-based-tempered pottery. A typical example is that of Punic amphorae transported as containers whose specifica...