Representations of birds and quadrupeds sometimes occur on vases; all are very archaic, particularly the quadrupeds, of which it is sometimes difficult to find out what the artist intended to represent.[182] Thus there often occur animals with very long legs, a body resembling that of a horse and the head like the beak of a stork, but with two horns like those of a gazelle.[183] Usually these animals have a uniform red colour; but sometimes they have an ornamentation of spiral lines. In a few instances animals are represented which perfectly resemble gazelles or he-goats.[184] The bird, in the representation of which the Mycenean artist has succeeded best is the swan.[185] Of the other birds the species is difficult to discern.[186] In the representation of men also the artist may be said to have succeeded; but the vases are broken into so many fragments that there are but few entire painted human figures. The small vase (No. 80) shows warriors with large round shields; and on a fragment (No. 47) is represented a man with a helmet on his head, leading with his right hand a horse, and holding in his left a lance. On other fragments are only the bodies of men without heads. No. 81 is the mouth-piece of a jug, on which a human head is modelled. There is also a human head painted on a fragment of pottery (No. 82); it has a very large eye, and a head-dress in the form of a Phrygian cap. All these representations are very archaic.

The greater number of the vases with a large opening are painted both outside and inside; and in many instances the internal paintings by far exceed those on the outside in originality and profusion of colours. Thus, for example, I found the fragment of a vase decorated outside with representations of deer, and inside with those of men and women.

I often find fragments of tripods of terra-cotta with two large handles, of which the three feet as well as the handles have two, three, four, or even five perforations, which can only have served for suspension with a string. On many vases without feet, the rim of the base is perforated on either side as many times as the handles.

No perforated lids were found, but I have no doubt that they existed, and that, as with nearly all those found in Troy, the perforations in the vases served not only for hanging them up, but also for fastening the lids, so as to secure the contents.

All the painted vases hitherto found have been made on the potter's wheel, except the very small ones, which are evidently hand-made. It is true that I found two fragments of coarse hand-made pottery, which can only be compared to the rudest pottery of the Danish "kitchen-middens" (Kjökkenmöddinge); but they had evidently been transported hither from another place.

As at Tiryns, the goblets are for the most part of white clay, and in the shape of large Bordeaux wine-glasses; nearly all have one handle (see No. 83). But there are a great many other goblets of the same form which have a uniform bright red colour, and others which, on a light red dead ground, have an ornamentation of numerous parallel dark red circular bands (see Nos. 84, 88).

It deserves very particular attention that goblets of perfectly the same form were found by me in Troy at a depth of 50 feet (see my 'Atlas des Antiquités Troyennes,' Plate 105, No. 2311); further, that fourteen goblets of exactly the same form were found in the tomb at Ialysus in Rhodes, already mentioned, and are now in the British Museum. Only the painted ornamentation of these latter goblets is different, for it represents mostly the cuttle-fish (sepia), but also spirals, or that curious sea-animal which so frequently occurs on the pottery of Mycenæ (see No. 213, a, b, p. 138), but never on the Mycenean goblets.

Since the 7th inst. I have been able to gather here more than 200 terra-cotta idols of Hera, more or less broken, in the form of a woman or in that of a cow.[187] Most of the former have ornaments painted in bright red on a dead ground of light red, two breasts in relief, below which protrudes on each side a long horn, so that both horns together form a half-circle; and, as I have said regarding the idols in Tiryns, they must either be intended to represent cow-horns, or the symbolic horns of the crescent moon, or both at once. The head of those idols is of a very compressed shape, and usually covered by a large "polos." The lower part is in the form of a gradually widening tube. It deserves particular attention that a terra-cotta idol of exactly the same form was found in the aforesaid tomb in Ialysus, and is now in the British Museum.

But there were also found idols of this sort with a very low polos (No. 111), and perhaps a dozen idols without any horns; the whole upper part of the body, as far as the neck, being in the form of a disk (Nos. 90, 91, 92, 93, 112[188]); the head is uncovered, and the hair is often indicated by a long tress on the back. There have also been found some idols with a bird's head, covered or uncovered, large eyes, no horns, but two well-indicated hands joined on the breast (Nos. 99, 100, 101[189]). I also found the terra-cotta figure (six inches high) of an old and ugly woman, probably a priestess (No. 113); the features are certainly neither Assyrian nor Egyptian; the hands are broken off, but they have evidently been protruding; the figure has a very rude ornamentation of black lines on a dead ground of strong red; the waist is ornamented with a number of zigzag lines, which may possibly represent fire. The fragment (No. 110) seems, from its attitude, to have represented a rider on horseback.

Of idols in the form of a cow hundreds were found, but all are more or less broken. It is very remarkable that in the sepulchre at Ialysus there were also found two such cow-idols, which are now in the British Museum; they are very well preserved, and have the same painted ornamentation as the cow-idols from Mycenæ.

Iron was already known to the Myceneans, for I found some knives of this metal; also some curious keys, one of which is very thick, is 5·6 inches long, has four teeth, each 1·6 inch long, and has a ring at the other end (see No. 120). But judging by the form of these knives and keys, I make bold to express the opinion that they belong to a late period in the history of Mycenæ, and that they date even from the beginning of the 5th century B.C.

I also found a large number of button-like objects which seem to have served as ornaments in the house-doors or elsewhere.[190] They have a lustrous blackish colour, and according to the analysis of my esteemed friend Mr. Xavier Landerer, Professor of Chemistry at Athens, they consist of a strongly-burnt clay varnished with a lead glazing. Of bronze I discovered several well-preserved knives, one of which (No. 125) still has part of its bone handle; further, two arrow-heads of a pyramidal form without barbs (γλωχῖνες), like the Carthaginian arrow-heads, which I gathered last year in my excavations at Motyë, in Sicily.

Of stone implements, I found two beautifully-polished hatchets of serpentine (see No. 126, in the lower row); further, a number of weights of diorite and a number of hand millstones of trachyte, 8 inches long and 5¼ inches broad, in the form of an egg which has been cut lengthwise. The grain was bruised between the flat sides of two of these millstones; but only a kind of groats can have been produced in this way, not flour; the bruised grain could not have been used for making bread. In Homer,[191] we find it used for porridge, and also for strewing on the roasted meat.[192] Of gold only a small particle has been found; of silver none as yet; of lead a large quantity.

I also found a small and thick terra-cotta disk, with a furrow all round for suspension by a string; on one side, which is well polished, and seems to have been covered with wax, are engraved a number of 卍's, the sign which occurs so frequently in the ruins of Troy. Whorls are found here by hundreds; nearly all are of a beautiful blue stone without any ornaments (see No. 15, p. 17). Whorls of exactly the same kind were also found in the tomb at Ialysus. As yet only five whorls of terra-cotta have been found, and without any ornaments.

The Myceneans seem to have been musicians, for I found the beautifully ornamented fragments of a lyre of bone (No. 127), and a flute, of which we have the three pieces (Nos. 128, 129, 130), which were found at the same place, though at different depths, and evidently belong to the very same instrument. No. 129, which is the upper piece of the flute, consists, according to Professor Landerer, of bone; No. 128, which is the lower piece, consists of very hard-baked clay: both have a very symmetrical intaglio ornamentation. The fragment of the tube of the flute (No. 130a) consists of potstone, the lapis ollaris of Pliny, and we therefore have here a marvellous Mycenean flute consisting of bone, baked clay, and stone. But potstone seems to have been frequently used for flutes in antiquity, for I myself possess a flute of lapis ollaris found in a tomb in Ithaca: it bears the inscription ἱερῶθ,[193] and seems to belong to the 6th or 7th century B.C. Also a fragment of a crystal vase was found; and a comb (No. 130), which, by the analysis of Professor Landerer, consists of very hard white baked clay.

It was found at a depth of 12 feet; it has in the middle a hole for suspension with a string. I frequently find here flat pieces of terra-cotta with painted or impressed ornaments, which must have served for coating the interior walls of the houses (Nos. 137 and 139). At a depth of from 10 to 11 feet, and sometimes of only 6½ feet, below the surface, I am bringing to light Cyclopean house-walls, built of unwrought stones, joined without clay or cement, and founded on the natural rock, from 20 to 24 feet below the surface. The corner-stones of these mansions are remarkable for their massiveness.

At the north end of my trench I have brought to light part of a Cyclopean water-conduit, which is still more remarkable than those of Tiryns, for there at least the water-conduit rests on the natural rock, while here it is imbedded in the débris, and, as the uncut stones are joined without any binding material, it is really wonderful how a current of water could have passed along them without being lost through the interstices. Close to the Cyclopean water-conduit are twelve recesses, consisting of large slabs of calcareous stone and covered by smaller ones; in my opinion they cannot possibly be anything else than small cisterns. A few yards south of these reservoirs I have brought to light two tombstones, which stand in a direct line from north to south, and are ornamented with bas-reliefs of the highest interest. Unfortunately the tombstone to the north consists of a soft calcareous stone, in consequence of which it is broken in several places, and its upper part has not been preserved. It is 6 inches thick, 4 feet high, 4 ft. 2 in. broad below, and 3 ft. 8½ in. above; it shows one undivided picture, encompassed below as well as on both sides by a broad border, which is formed in the simplest way into rows, and it represents a hunting scene.[194] On a chariot, drawn by one horse, stands the hunter, who holds in his left hand the reins, in his right a long broad sword. Owing to fractures in the stone the upper part of the chariot is not distinctly visible, but the wheel can be well seen, with its four spokes forming a cross. The outstretched fore and hind legs of the horse appear to indicate his great speed. Below to the left is a tolerably well-formed dog, with a curved tail, chasing a flying deer, probably a roe, whose tail however is by far too long. Just above the roe's back, and between the horse's feet, lies an object which cannot be recognised; it may equally well represent a man lying prostrate, or a cart with two wheels. On either side, in the broad border formed by two vertical parallel fillets, are three ovals or cartouches, containing a very curious ornamentation, which at first sight seems to have a symbolic signification; but on close examination one finds that it is nothing more than a beautiful ornamentation of spiral lines. At the base are three horizontal fillets. Behind the chariot is a row of signs resembling letters, but this also is probably nothing more than ornamentation.

At a distance of one foot from this sepulchral stêlé and in the same line with it is the other (No. 140), which is of much harder calcareous stone, and has been therefore much better preserved. It is only damaged at the top, where a piece 6 to 8 inches high may be missing; its breadth at bottom is 3 ft. 10 in., and at top 3 ft. 7 in.; its height is 6 feet. It is divided into an upper and a lower compartment, which are separated by a horizontal fillet, and enclosed on three sides by two parallel bands. The upper compartment shows four horizontal parallel rows, each of six spirals, two complete and two imperfect; making in all twenty-four spirals united with each other and representing a band in relief, which covers the whole field with a network, and which, as my friend the well-known archæologist, Dr. Fr. Schlie, rightly observes, is in principle the same as the filling up with straight lines, horizontally and vertically combined, into what is called a fret or key-pattern (see p. 83).

The lower part of the sculpture represents a warrior in a chariot, rather in a sitting than in a standing posture, for the lower part of his body is not visible; and whilst, in a very primitive manner, his head is represented in profile, the front side of his breast is given almost without any perspective diminution. He holds in his left hand a sword which is still in the sheath, its handle ending in a large knob. In his right he holds a long object, which ends at the horse's mouth, and which, being at first thick and becoming gradually thinner, resembles much more a lance than the reins; and it is difficult to say which of the two the artist intended to represent. The chariot is drawn by a stallion, whose outstretched legs seem to indicate that he is running at great speed.[195] The tail of the animal stands upright, and its end only forms a curve. The legs and the tail are so thick in proportion to the body that, were it not for the head, one would think that the sculptor intended to represent a lion; the stallion's ears also appear more like horns than like real horse-ears. Just before the horse is standing a warrior, apparently naked, who grasps the animal's head with his right hand, and holds in his uplifted left hand a double-edged sword; he seems to be full of anguish; his head is represented in profile, while the rest of his body is shown without the slightest perspective reduction.

To fill up the vacant space, there is represented below this figure and below the horse a pattern of volutes, whose second, third, and fourth spirals are much larger, in proportion to the space, than the other five spirals. Mr. Postolaccas calls to my notice that the curious relief-band above the horse resembles the pelta lunata of the Amazons on the ancient vases; this relief-band consists of two horizontal spirals opposite to each other. The chariot gives us a unique and most precious specimen of the Homeric chariot, of which we had before but a confused idea. The body of the chariot (πείρινς) does not form a semicircle, as we were wont to imagine from the sculptures of classical antiquity and from the ancient chariot preserved in the museum at Munich, but it is quadrangular; according to the Iliad,[196] the chariot-box was fastened on the chariot every time it was used. We see on three sides of the chariot-box a band or fillet, which is what Homer[197] doubtless means by the word ἄντυξ, translated by the Earl of Derby 'rail.'

Unlike Homer's chariot of the gods, the wheels of which (κύκλα) had eight spokes, the wheels of the chariot before us have only four spokes, which form a cross around the axle (ἄξονι ἀμφίς).[198] Just behind the warrior in the chariot there is a very curious sign, the lower part of which forms a long hook, the upper part a spiral line. M. Postolaccas reminds me that this same sign very frequently occurs on the medals of Roman families, as, for example, on those of Julius Cæsar, Marcus Antonius, and so forth, and in his opinion it is nothing else than the augur-staff, in Latin "lituus."

On carefully examining the sculpture of the tombstones, I find such a marvellous accuracy and symmetry in all the spiral ornamentation, that I feel almost tempted to think such work can only have been produced by a school of sculptors which had worked for ages in a similar style. On the other hand, the men and the animals are made as rudely and in as puerile a manner as if they were the primitive artist's first essay to represent living beings. But still there is a great resemblance between the bodies of the animals and those of the two lions on the gate; there is the same style of art, and much of the coarseness in the animals on the tombstones may be due to the inferiority of the calcareous stone; probably the primitive sculptor who chiselled them would have produced something better if he had had to work on the beautiful hard breccia of which the sculpture above the Lions' Gate consists. I have therefore not the slightest objection to admit that the sculptured sepulchral slabs may be of nearly the same epoch as the lions over the gate.

CHAPTER IV.

Wages and worth of labour at Mycenæ—The double circle of slabs—Two more sculptured stêlæ—Unsculptured stêlæ—Ashes and bones, probably of sacrifices—Fragments of other sculptured tombstones—The style of these stêlæ unique—Their probable age about 1500 B.C.—A Cyclopean house filled with ashes, bones, &c.—Objects found there and in the twelve reservoirs—Great significance of the tombstones found in the Acropolis—They mark the Royal Tombs, mentioned by Pausanias from tradition only—Excavation of the Treasury close to the Lions' Gate: about as large as that of Atreus—Antiquity of the covering-up proved by the ancient vases, idols, &c. in the débris above—Hera-idols, and others, found in the dromos, and in the Acropolis—Their vast abundance—Cow-heads on handles of vases, as at Troy—Moulds for earrings and other ornaments of gold and silver, and curious clay cones—Other ornaments of glazed clay, potstone, &c.—Numerous objects of bronze—Curious wheels—Necklace beads of various stones, with intaglios of animals, and similar objects of other shapes—Two-handled goblets; the δέπας ἀμφικύπελλον of Homer—Depth of the débris—Breach in the great Cyclopean wall, repaired by an ancient wall of small stones—The quarry of Mycenæ.

Mycenæ, Sept. 9, 1876.

Since the 19th of August I have continued the excavations with an average number of 125 workmen and 4 horse-carts, and have made good progress. As it may interest the reader to know what wages are paid here, I mention that the daily wages of a common labourer are 2½ drachmas,[199] the wages of my overseers 5 to 6 drachmas, and the cost of each cart 8 drachmas, but the labourers here work much better and are much more honest than those in the Troad.

In the trench close to the Lions' Gate I have been obliged to stop the work for a time, the Archæological Society of Athens having promised to send an engineer to repair the Cyclopean wall above and beside the gate, and to fasten the sculpture of the two lions with cramp-irons, so as to secure it against the shock of an earthquake.

In the large second trench I have brought to light a second wall of smaller stones, 12 feet high, which runs parallel with the great circuit wall, and thus forms a curve of about the third part of a circle. It enters the adjoining field, which is now being excavated, and its direction parallel with the great circuit wall seems to have been unintentional. It is not, however, vertical, but its western face slopes at an angle of 75 degrees with the horizon, like the great tower of Ilium. It deserves attention that here and there we see in this wall wrought flat slabs, which give the impression that the wall belongs to a later period than the Cyclopean circuit wall. On this wall are two parallel rows of large, closely-joined slabs of a calcareous stone, which show the same inclination as the wall, and appear to form, with the part in the adjoining field, a full circle. If so, the wall, on which these rows of slabs stand, can only have been built for the purpose of supporting them in this lower part of the Acropolis, and of raising them to the level of their prolongation on the much higher neighbouring ground. It deserves particular attention that on the inner side of the supposed circle, namely, on the side towards which the parallel rows of slabs incline, the vacant space has evidently been filled up with débris to the very top of the wall immediately after its completion.[200]

I frequently found here, at a depth of from three to four feet, ashes of burnt animal matter, also masses of bones of animals, but no bones which I can identify as human, for no skull has turned up. The space between the two slanting parallel rows of slabs was filled with débris, mixed with innumerable fragments of beautiful archaic pottery, and a great many Hera-idols, but no bones were found there. Within the curve, and very near to the two parallel rows of slabs, I brought to light two more sculptured tombstones of a hard calcareous stone (see Nos. 141, 142), one of which is in the same line with the two sculptured slabs which I have already described, and only 1 ft. 5 in. south of them. It is 3 ft. 8¾ in. broad at the base, and 3 ft. 7½ in. at top; 6 in. thick, and 4 ft. 2 in. long; and thus the line of the three tombstones together is 13 ft. 8 in. long. This newly discovered third tombstone (No. 141) shows, like the two others, on its western side, a sculpture in bas-relief, which is divided by a horizontal fillet into two compartments, and is encompassed on all sides by two parallel fillets. Of the upper part of the stone a piece, apparently about one foot high, is missing. In the upper compartment is represented a warrior, whose head and neck are not now visible on account of the breaking of the stone. He is represented standing on a chariot drawn apparently by only one horse[201], the outstretched hind and fore legs and the uplifted tail of which seem to indicate that he is running with great velocity, just as on the two tombstones already described; the fore and hind legs of the horse are not separated, but appear as one broad leg. In this case the reins with which the warrior guides the horse are well indicated by one broad band; also the horse's tail is less bushy and better proportioned, but the rest of the animal's body is a perfect copy of that of the horse on the preceding bas-relief. The chariot-box is here exceedingly low, and very small when compared with that of the chariot on the other tombstone, but it is not less remarkable, because it is surrounded by a band or fillet (ἄντυξ), which is double on the lower part. Just behind this chariot-box is represented an enormously broad two-edged knife, the handle of which terminates in a very thick knob. As such a knife can never have existed, I presume that the artist intended to represent here a two-edged sword with a thick knob at the end of the handle, but that for want of space he made it very short, without however diminishing its breadth, for which there was room enough. The one wheel which is visible is much like that of the chariots on the other tombstones, for it has also only four spokes, forming a cross round the axle. The adversary on foot, who is visible on the right side, and whose upper part is likewise missing owing to the breaking of the stone, does not stand on the same level as the horse and the chariot, but he appears as if hovering in the air, on a level with the warrior in the chariot. He assaults the latter with a long lance, on which can be seen an object of a peculiar form, which much resembles one of the plain Trojan idols,[202] and must have served to attach the lance to the shoulder.

In the lower compartment we see two large circles, forming a figure of eight, lying horizontally, and in each of the two circles six spirals, of which the adjacent parts are linked together alternately, on the inside and outside, by curved bands in relief. Below the sculpture at the foot of the tombstone we see two spiral ornaments imperfectly scratched in the stone, as if the artist had made a trial sketch of what he was going to carve on the tablet. Our present artists make their sketches on paper, but the early Mycenean sculptor had neither paper and pencil nor pen and ink at his disposal, and so he made his trial sketch on the stone itself, but on its lower part, which was to be sunk into the ground and was therefore hidden from the eye.

At a distance of only 10 feet south of the sculptured tombstone last described, and almost in a straight line with the three slabs, is the fourth tombstone (No. 142), carved with a bas-relief which likewise faces the west. This stêlé is also a trapezium, 6 in. thick, 6 ft. high, 4 ft. broad at the lower end, and 3 ft. 10½ in. at the upper end. Of the upper end a piece, probably about a foot long, is missing. That side of the stêlé which faces the west has a broad border to the right and left, and the remaining space is divided into three vertical compartments of equal breadth, which reach down to more than half the height of the stone. With the exception of two vertical lines, which form a border to the right and left, the middle compartment is left unsculptured, and was probably intended to represent a column. The two side compartments contain a broad wave-pattern, which represents the coils of a serpent, and descends vertically from the top to the bottom, following the direction of the fillets. Though it is only in low-relief, it appears to be vigorously carved. If, as Dr. Fr. Schlie observes to me, we had to show this pattern (a) by broken straight lines, we should do it in the manner shown by the pattern (b).

Immediately to the south of this tombstone, in the same line with it, and separated from it by only one foot, is another tombstone, unsculptured. Two more unsculptured sepulchral slabs stand close to each other, 23 feet to the east of the first three sculptured tombstones; and at a distance of 40 feet directly to the south of the former, stand two more unsculptured tombstones, 4 feet apart. All the unsculptured slabs likewise stand vertically and face the west.

At the foot of the sculptured tombstone first described I found a handful of black ashes, and among them a large button of wood, covered with a thick leaf of gold, on which is engraved · a circle, and within it a triangle containing the representations of three long broad knives, the handles of which are formed by beautiful spiral lines. I also found at the feet of most of the tombstones grey ashes of burnt animal matter, which I at first thought was from human bodies; but as I found together with them bones which on closer investigation turn out to be those of animals, I now think the ashes must be from sacrifices. There certainly appear to have been some more sculptured tombstones here, for I find in this and in the adjoining field, at a depth of 10 to 13 feet below the surface, a number of fragments of sepulchral stêlæ.

Of these the most interesting (No. 143) consists of hard calcareous stone, and is 15 in. long, 11 in. broad, and 6½ in. thick. It represents a boy, apparently naked, who had no doubt been made standing on a chariot, for he holds in his left hand the reins, indicated by a broad band: his right hand is also stretched out, but not holding anything: his head-dress is indicated by two curved lines on the head: the two vertical lines to the left were part of the border of the stêlé. A second fragment is 22 in. long, 17 in. broad, and 6 in. thick, and consists of a soft calcareous stone, in consequence of which the sculpture is much defaced and quite indistinct.

The third fragment (No. 144), 2 ft. 6 in. long, 2 ft. broad, and 6 in. thick, is evidently the upper right-hand part of a stêlé. This also consists of a soft calcareous stone, and the sculpture is consequently much defaced. It is divided by broad fillets into three compartments, of which the upper one as well as that to the right contain spirals, whilst we see the fore-part of two horses in that to the left below.

Another fragment (No. 145) is apparently the left upper part of a stêlé: it is 1 ft. 8 in. broad, 2 ft. 2 in. high, and 4 in. thick, and likewise consists of a soft calcareous stone. It has to the left a border of two fillets, at the top the slight remnant of one fillet, and is divided by a horizontal fillet into two compartments, of which the upper one has beautiful spirals, forming the same pattern as on No. 140, whilst of the lower compartment only a small part remains, the sculpture of which is effaced.

I also show three fragments of tombstones, all of a harder calcareous stone, and therefore better preserved. The upper one (No. 146), which is 1 ft. high, 10¾ in. broad, and 4¾ in. thick, has a border of two broad and three narrower bands, above which only the foot of a horse is visible. The two lower fragments (Nos. 147, 148) show spirals; the former is 10¾ in. long and broad, and 4¾ in. thick; the latter is 10¾ in. long, 10 in. broad, and 4¾ in. thick. Of two more fragments of stêlæ of a soft calcareous stone (Nos. 149, 150), the first represents to the left spirals, to the right a horse; the second, which has only spirals, is 1 ft. 6 in. high, 16 in. broad, and 4 in. thick.

I have also been fortunate enough to discover, only 3 ft. below the surface, a piece of a quadrangular column of red porphyry, 12⅔ in. long, 10⅔ in. broad, and 8 in. thick, ornamented with a splendid low relief of palmettos lying horizontally (No. 151). Two of these stand opposite to each other, and are united by a rectangular middle piece, which, within an upper and a lower horizontal border, is divided on both sides, to the right and left, by three vertical band-like cuts into seven upright rectangular fields, of which the middle one is as broad as the three on either side. This middle piece reminds one of the Doric triglyphs. To the right and left of the palmettos we see the fragments of other ornaments of a similar kind, and it seems that the whole column has been decorated in this way. Above the palmettos there is a row of denticles, and there has no doubt been a similar row below. The two middle palmettos resemble a saloon furnished with seats all round. I further found at a depth of about 11 ft. 6 in. the fragment of another column or frieze of red porphyry, 8¾ in. long, 10 in. broad, and 4¼ in. thick, carved with a beautiful spiral (see No. 152).

Although, as Dr. Fr. Schlie thinks, the technical treatment of the low-relief of all these stêlæ may not be vastly different from a whole series of archaic reliefs of ancient Greek art, yet such figures and such an ornamentation have never been found yet on Greek sculptures. The stêlæ of Mycenæ are, therefore, unique in their kind. It is true that the manner of filling up with manifold beautiful spiral ornaments the space not covered by the forms of men and animals reminds us of the principles of the painting on the so-called orientalizing vases. But nowhere do we see on the sculptures of Mycenæ the ornamentation of plants, which is so characteristic of this class of ancient Greek representations. The whole style is rather a linear ornamentation with forms in powerful low-relief, and herein we obtain an interesting guide to that epoch in the development of Greek art, which preceded the so-called Græco-Phœnician period, that is the time when its course was determined by oriental influences. The beginning of this latter period Mr. Newton fixes with certainty not later than B.C. 800. But these Mycenean representations, which are decorated exclusively with linear ornamentation in relief, are again remarkable because we see in them living beings such as man, the horse, the dog, and the deer, which are not reduced to a more or less linear design, such as those on the Trojan whorls,[204] but which are given, though rudely, and in a puerile way, in full bodily form, precisely as the nature of the relief requires.

These reflections lead us to the conviction that the Mycenean reliefs must be brought into relation with the ancient architecture of Mycenæ. Let us compare with them only the preserved remnants of the ornamentation of the gateway of the "Treasury of Atreus" and its semi-column, as restored by Professor Donaldson.[205] Therefore it cannot appear an unfounded assumption, if we claim for these ancient monuments the middle of the second millennium B.C., and if we insert them for the future as an important link into the history of art. As Mr. A. S. Murray, of the British Museum, justly observed to me, the spiral ornamentation is no proof whatever of an orientalizing influence, because every wire must have given to the early artist the idea of the spiral ornamentation; nay, we find the spiral ornamentation even on the ancient Mexican and Peruvian monuments.

Close to the twelve small reservoirs on the north side of my second trench, is a Cyclopean house without a roof, which even now is on its south side 24 ft. high. It contains only one chamber, 17 ft. long and 9½ ft. broad; its east wall is 3 ft. 4 in., and its west wall 3 ft., thick. On the south side it has two walls, the inner one 3 ft. 4 in., the outer one 3 ft. 8 in., thick; against its north wall, which is 3 ft. thick, leans another, 6½ ft. thick; and thus the passage of the door, which is on this side, is not less than 9½ ft. long. I excavated in this house, and found it filled with ashes both of wood and of animal matter, intermixed with bones, particularly of swine, and with millions of fragments of painted archaic vases. But I found nothing worth mentioning, except a certain quantity of baked wheat and vetches, a weight of jasper with a perforated handle for suspension (No. 155), some well-preserved archaic vases, the fragment (No. 156) of a vase with sieve-like perforations, and a certain number of whorls of blue stone. One of these vases is particularly interesting for its painted ornamentation, showing two swans, which hold their heads together, much like the two eagles in the Russian arms.