at the University of Oxford, which was already using activation analysis. The director and assistant director of the laboratory considered the question so important that they flew immediately to Greece to obtain permission from the government to acquire and experiment on samples from 20 Theban pots. The pots were analyzed, but the analysis produced no definitive answers. Oxford and the British School continued to work together analyzing pots until in the late 1960s M.J. Aitken of the Oxford laboratory proposed that the British School initiate its own laboratory. The proposal was kept secret until the British School could obtain permission from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture with the assistance of Spyridon Marinatos, Inspector-General of the Archaeological Service. Permission obtained, the managing committee of the British School openly sought funding from the British Academy. They agreed to underwrite expenses once it was established and equipped . The Oxford laboratory offered to provide initial equipment and training. There remained a gap in the funding required to start the laboratory. The Fitches, who had helped build the stratigraphic museum at Knossos, stepped forward. The laboratory became operational in 1974. Since 1974 the laboratory has been continually in use either for educational purposes or for conducting research. There has been no lack of funding from many private sources. The laboratory specializes in petrology and analysis of inorganic materials, especially ceramics, by x-ray fluorescence. For the petrology it has two research polarising microscopes supported by a digital photography system. The analysis is performed by a Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (WD-XRF) unit, which diffracts the sample-emitted x-rays into a spectrum of different wavelengths. The laboratory's course on ceramic petrology is standard. All samples are archived on the second floor. The archive contains about 3000 rock samples from various geological formations covering a range of clay beds, and 10,000 archaeological samples. The laboratory also collects animal bones and seeds for reference. Recognizing that research can best be performed by a pool of facilities at different laboratories, the Fitch Laboratory is part of a formal network of laboratories. Archaeological fieldwork During its long history, the BSA has been involved in a multitude of archaeological projects, including surveys in Laconia, Boeotia, Methana (Argolid), and in the islands of Ithaca (Ionian islands), Kea, Melos, Kythera (Cyclades), Chios (North Aegean) and Crete (Ayiopharango Survey, Ayios Vasilios Survey, Knossos Survey, Praisos Survey) and excavations at Nea Nikomedeia, Sitagroi, Servia and Assiros (Greek