Editing Lemnos (section)

===Prehistory===
The ruins of the oldest human settlement in the Aegean Islands found so far have been unearthed in archaeological excavations on Lemnos by a team of Greek, Italian and American [[archaeology|archaeologists]] at the Ouriakos site on the Louri coast of Fyssini in Moudros municipality. The excavation began in early June 2009 and the finds brought to light, consisting mainly of high quality [[stone tools]], are from the [[Epipaleolithic|Epipaleolithic Period]], indicating a settlement of [[hunter-gatherer|hunters and gatherers]] and fishermen of the [[12th millennium BC]].
 
A rectangular building with a double row of stepped seats on the long sides, at the southwest side of the hill of [[Poliochne]], dates back to the [[Early Bronze Age]] and was possibly used as a kind of [[Bouleuterion]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}}

In August and September 1926, members of the [[Italian School of Archaeology at Athens]] conducted trial excavations on the island.<ref>A short account of their excavations appeared in the ''Messager d'Athènes'' for January 3, 1927.</ref> The overall purpose of the excavations was to shed light on the island's pre-Hellenic "Etrusco-Pelasgian" civilization, following the discovery of the "[[Lemnos stele]]", bearing an inscription philologists related to the [[Etruscan language]]. The excavations, with then-current political overtones, were conducted on the site of the city of [[Hephaistia]] (i.&nbsp;e., Palaiopolis) where the Pelasgians, according to Herodotus, surrendered to [[Miltiades the Younger|Miltiades]] of Athens in 510 BC, initiating the social and political [[hellenization]] of the island. There, a necropolis (ca. 9th–8th centuries BC) was discovered, revealing bronze objects, pots, and over 130 [[Ossuary|ossuaries]]. The ossuaries contained distinctly male and female funeral ornaments. Male ossuaries contained knives and axes whereas female ossuaries contained earrings, bronze pins, necklaces, gold-diadems, and bracelets. The decorations on some of the gold objects contained spirals of [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] origin, but had no Geometric forms. According to their ornamentation, the pots discovered at the site were from the Geometric period. However, the pots also preserved spirals indicative of Mycenaean art. The results of the excavations indicate that the Early Iron Age inhabitants of Lemnos could be a remnant of a Mycenaean population and, in addition, the earliest attested reference to Lemnos is the Mycenaean Greek ''ra-mi-ni-ja'', "Lemnian woman", written in [[Linear B]] syllabic script.<ref>[http://www.palaeolexicon.com/ShowWord.aspx?Id=16906], Word study tool of ancient languages</ref> Professor Della Seta reports:<ref>Heffner, Edward H. "Archaeological News: Notes on Recent Archaeological Excavations and Discoveries; Other News" (July–December 1926). ''American Journal of Archaeology''. Vol. 31, No. 1 (January 1927), pp. 99–127, especially pp. 123–124.</ref>

<blockquote>The lack of weapons of bronze, the abundance of weapons of iron, and the type of the pots and the pins gives the impression that the necropolis belongs to the ninth or eighth century B.C. That it did not belong to a Greek population, but to a population which, in the eyes of the Hellenes, appeared barbarous, is shown by the weapons. The Greek weapon, dagger or spear, is lacking: the weapons of the barbarians, the axe and the knife, are common. Since, however, this population … preserves so many elements of Mycenaean art, the Tyrrhenians or Pelasgians of Lemnos may be recognized as a remnant of a Mycenaean population.</blockquote>