High in the foothills of central Greece evidence is emerging that may explain one of the world's longest-lasting myths. Archaeologists are excavating the remains of what they believe is ancient Iolcus, the (1)________ ci which Jason and the Argonauts departed from to find the Golden Fleece.

Located on a former vegetable field in the Thessalian village of Dimini, the excavation lies below an important neolithic (2)________ (settle) from more than 7,000 years ago, long before the age of the Greek heroes. This particular excavation site also has a “tholos”: a beehiveshaped tomb, which is associated with Mycenaean culture 3,200 to 3,600 years ago.

Vasso Adrimi discovered the large Mycenaean settlement in central Greece nearly 25 years ago. But linking reality (3)________ legend was no easy business. “I spent two months examining the site and was most perplexed,”she says,“It came as a shock , a very big (4)________ , when my professor connected the site with the two Mycenean royal 'tholos' tombs we also have here. He said: Keep going, I have no doubt that this is the ancient Mycenean city of Iolcus. You have stumbled across the find of your life,'says Ms Adrimi, who kept going with (5)________ gr determination.

Now, assisted by modern technology, she has pieced (6)________ enough evidence to suggest that the Jason legend may have been based on the exploits of a seafaring people who sailed on the Black Sea.

“We may never know who Jason was, or (7)________ he ever existed, but I think it is safe to say the myth of the Argonauts is the product of historical memory, (8)________ (dress) up with lots of dramatic fiction,”she says.

Ms Adrimi belongs to a small group in Greece who believe in “breaking the barrier of time”by studying even the most mundane aspects of ancient life. (9)________ (she) is a painstaking method of enquiry, which is not interested in the glory that goes in hand with a more sensational type of archaeological find.

The claim of identifying Iolcus is based on a composite picture of life around a palace, but it was the discovery of moulds for making jewellery, weapons and tools that set her thinking. “The raw materials, (10) li________ gold, obviously needed to be obtained from somewhere - maybe the myth of the Argonauts was inspired by the memory of the quest to bring them back.”