The chief differences from the Hissarlik vases are in the forms and methods of decoration, but resemblances may be noted in the long narrow necks, and the rings for suspension, as in the plastic forms when they do occur. That the fabric is a local one hardly admits of doubt, but it is interesting to note the occurrence of a bowl of white-slip ware from Cyprus in Thera,[880] and conversely the appearance of a vase of Thera fabric at Mycenae.[881] Thus we have evidence of extensive commercial relations. Some tombs of the Hellenic period seem to have been dug right down into the volcanic deposit, for they contained pottery with Geometrical decoration.[882] The discovery of primitive stone idols in Thera shows that it belonged to the Cycladic civilisation, which extended from 2500 to 1600 B.C., filling up the gap between Hissarlik and Mycenae. It has been suggested that these Cycladic peoples were Carians,[883] subsequently driven to the Asiatic mainland by Minos, who typifies the rising power of Crete and the Mycenaean world.[884] This Cycladic civilisation is also exemplified in the earliest finds from other islands, such as Amorgos, Syra, Paros, and Antiparos, and in other instances noted early in the century by the observant traveller Ross.[885] The pottery from these sites is, however, less advanced than that of Thera, but varies in character. Painted patterns were found on vases from Amorgos and Syra, the latter in the form of brown foliage on yellow ground. It would not be right to conclude this section without some notice of the remarkably interesting pottery excavated at Phylakopi in =Melos= by the British School in 1896–99, which is important as forming a connecting link between the Cycladic wares and the fully-developed Mycenaean style. Space forbids more than a brief abstract of the results obtained, which have just been given to the world in an admirable publication.[886] Mr. C. C. Edgar, to whom the task of studying the pottery was allotted, distinguishes four main groups: 1. (_a_) Primitive pottery of the cist-tomb type, corresponding to that of Hissarlik; (_b_) more advanced ware of the same kind. 2. Painted Geometrical wares. 3. Local pottery in Mycenaean style with spiral and naturalistic designs, falling into two divisions, earlier and later. 4. Imported Mycenaean pottery of the third and fourth styles (see below, p. 271). Generally speaking the pottery is of local make, and Phylakopi seems to have been an important centre in the early Mycenaean period, having considerable intercourse with Crete. The earliest wares (class 1) include plain pottery, hand-made, with burnished brown surface or simple incised patterns; those of class 2 are painted in lustrous or matt black on a white slip, or in white on lustrous black or red, with simple patterns; they appear to be hand-made. The Mycenaean pottery is more or less akin to that found elsewhere in the Aegean.