Excavations in the Plain of Lasithi. I.: The Cave of Trapeza.

The plain of Lasithi (a corruption of La Sitia, a name which in Venetian days included the whole of the eastern end of Crete) lies in the centre of the Dikte massif some 2750 feet above sea-level (Fig. 1). Originally it was probably of a marshy nature, but, owing to the deforestation of the surrounding mountains and the subsequent washing down of the earth from them, a great depth of soil has collected to form a flat plain, which is now one of the most fertile parts of Crete, especially since the introduction on the potato some forty years ago.