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THE substance of the following pages was delivered in February last in a series of six lectures at The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. In volume form the matter has been somewhat re-arranged and the latter part expanded.

So many attempts have been made during the last century and a quarter to locate the Aryan cradle and to trace the wanderings of the Wiros, that it may be considered presumptuous for the author to venture on a further suggestion. He can only plead that most of the previous attempts have been made by philologists, usually with little or no archæological experience, while the discoveries of the last quarter of a century have placed the inquirer to-day in a position which is vastly superior to that of most of his predecessors. The evolution and distribution of the leaf-shaped swords seem to provide a crucial test by which to gauge the value of previous suggestions.

The author has felt that it would be for the convenience of the reader if he reduced the footnotes at the bottom of the page to the smallest possible dimensions, while describing each work quoted very fully in the bibliography at the end of the volume. In many cases, where the subject matter does not form the basis of his argument and the fact is not in dispute, he has thought that it would be more useful to quote a recent and readily accessible volume, preferably in English, in which authorities are fully cited, than to include all the original authorities in the notes and bibliography. This applies specially to Chapter II, and to some extent to those immediately following.

The author would like to take this opportunity of thanking his many friends, who have so kindly placed their knowledge and experience at his disposal, especially the Principal and other authorities of The University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, for inviting him to deliver the lectures, and Professors H. J. Fleure and H. J. Rose. He wishes also to thank the Rev. Professor A. H. Sayce, Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie and Miss M. A. Murray, who have sent him valuable notes, Mr. E. Sharwood Smith for much help with classical references, Professor J. L. Myres and Dr. S. Singer for many helpful suggestions. Especially are his thanks due to Mr. J. H. Le Rougetil, for procuring drawings of swords from the Buda-Pest Museum, to Sir Arthur Evans, Dr. A. J. B. Wace and Mr. S. Casson for photographs and drawings from Crete and Athens, to Dr. W. Šmid and Dr. F. Neumann for sketches and notes on the specimens at Graz and Laibach, and above all to Dr. Adolf Mahr, of the Naturhistorisches Museum at Vienna, for drawings of the swords and other objects in his museum and for an immense amount of help in other ways. He wishes also to thank the authorities of various museums for permission to publish drawings of specimens in their collections, and the Trustees of the British Museum for allowing him to reproduce Plate III.

These are only some of the many kind friends who have given him assistance and who have helped him with suggestions and in verifying references. To all these he returns his grateful thanks. He wishes also to acknowledge the great help afforded to him by the officials of the London Library, the Society of Antiquaries, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Hellenic Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, and to take this opportunity of thanking them for their unvarying courtesy.

HAROLD PEAKE.

29th June, 1922.