Kassos
An island in the S Aegean near Karpathos, cited in the Iliad (2.676) among the participants in the Trojan War. In historic times a Doric dialect was spoken there; and Kassos appeared in the tribute lists of the Delio-Attic League. During the 3d c. it came under the domination of Rhodes. Several villages now occupy the site of the ancient city of Kassos (Strab. 10.5.18); near one of them, Poli, are remnants of walls and of necropoleis with burials indicated by inscribed lenticular discs, mainly from the 4th and 3d c. B.C. Near Haghia Marina the mouth of a grotto, Ellinokamara, is closed by a wall of isodomic blocks with two gates. The grotto has yielded ceramics of various periods, including the Mycenaean.
BIBLIOGRAPHYL. Bürchner, RE X, 2 (1919) 2268-69; G. Susini, “Supplemento epigrafico di Caso, Scarpanto ecc.,” ASAtene (1963-64) 204ffMI; R. Hope Simpson & J. F. Lazenby, “Notes from the Dodecanese,” BSA 57 (1962) 168; 65 (1970) 69MPI; 68 (1973) 169.
M. G. PICOZZI