Puzzling transitions from the “Stone Age” to a higher civilization—The stone age reappears in force, mixed with pottery of fine workmanship, and the whorls in great number—Conjectures as to their uses: probablyEx votos—Priapiof stone and terra-cotta: their worship brought by the primitive Aryans from Bactria—Vessels with the owl’s face—Boars’ tusks—Varied implements and weapons of stone—Hand mill-stones—Models of canoes in terra-cotta—Whetstones—The one object of the excavations, to findTroy.
Puzzling transitions from the “Stone Age” to a higher civilization—The stone age reappears in force, mixed with pottery of fine workmanship, and the whorls in great number—Conjectures as to their uses: probablyEx votos—Priapiof stone and terra-cotta: their worship brought by the primitive Aryans from Bactria—Vessels with the owl’s face—Boars’ tusks—Varied implements and weapons of stone—Hand mill-stones—Models of canoes in terra-cotta—Whetstones—The one object of the excavations, to findTroy.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, November 3rd, 1871.
MYlast communication was dated the 26th of October, and since then I have proceeded vigorously with 80 workmen on an average. Unfortunately, however, I have lost three days; for on Sunday, a day on which the Greeks do not work, I could not secure the services of any Turkish workmen, for they are now sowing their crops; on two other days I was hindered by heavy rains.
To my extreme surprise, on Monday, the 30th of last month, I suddenly came upon a mass ofdébris, in which I found an immense quantity of implements made of hard black stone (diorite), but of a very primitive form. On the following day, however, not a single stone implement was found, but a small piece of silver wire and a great deal of broken pottery of elegant workmanship, among others the fragment of a cup with an owl’s head. I therefore thought I had again come upon the remains of a civilized people, and that the stone implements of the previous day were the remains of an invasion of a barbarous tribe, whose dominion had been of but short duration. But I was mistaken, for on the Wednesday the stone period reappeared in evengreater force, and continued throughout the whole of yesterday. To-day, unfortunately, no work can be done owing to the heavy downpour of rain.
I find much in this stone period that is quite inexplicable to me, and I therefore consider it necessary to describe everything as minutely as possible, in the hope that one or other of my honoured colleagues will be able to give an explanation of the points which are obscure to me.
In the first place, I am astonished that here on the highest point of the hill, where, according to every supposition the noblest buildings must have stood, I come upon the stone period as early as at a depth of 4½ meters (about 15 feet), whereas last year, at a distance of only 66 feet from the top of the hill, I found in my cutting, at the depth of more than 16 feet, a wall, 6½ feet thick, and by no means very ancient, and no trace of the stone period, although I carried that cutting to a depth of more than 26 feet. This probably can be explained in no other way than that the hill, at the place where the wall stands, must have been very low, and that this low position has been gradually raised by thedébris.
Further, I do not understand how it is possible that in the present stratum and upon the whole length of my cutting (which must now be at least 184 feet) to its mouth, that is, as far as the steep declivity, I should find stone implements, which obviously prove that that part of the steep side of the hill cannot have increased in size since the stone period by rubbish thrown down from above.
Next, I cannot explain how it is possible that I should find things which, to all appearance, must have been used by the uncivilized men of the stone period, but which could not have been made with the rude implements at their disposal. Among these I may specially mention the earthen vessels found in great numbers, without decorations, it is true, and not fine, but which however are of excellent workmanship. Not one of these vessels has been turnedupon a potter’s wheel, and yet it appears to me that they could not have been made without the aid of some kind of machine, such as, on the other hand, could not have been produced by the rude stone implements of the period.
I am further surprised to find, in this stone period, and more frequently than ever before, those round articles with a hole in the centre, which have sometimes the form of humming-tops or whorls (carrouselen), sometimes of fiery mountains. In the last form they bear, on a small scale, the most striking resemblance to the colossal sepulchral mounds of this district, which latter, both on this account and also because stone implements have been found in one of them (the Chanaï Tépé) belong probably to the stone period, and therefore perhaps to an age thousands of years before the Trojan war.[92]At a depth of 3 meters (about 10 feet), I found one of these objects made of very fine marble: all the rest are made of excellent clay rendered very hard by burning; almost all of them have decorations, which have evidently been scratched into them when the clay was as yet unburnt, and which in very many cases have been filled with a white substance, to make them more striking to the eye. It is probable that at one time the decorations upon all of these objects were filled with that white substance, for upon many of them, where it no longer exists, I see some traces of it. Upon some of the articles of very hard black clay without decorations, some hand has endeavoured to make them after the clay had been burnt, and, when looked at through a magnifying glass, these marks leave no doubt that they have been laboriously scratched with a piece of flint.
The question then forces itself upon us:For what werethese objects used?They cannot possibly have been employed in spinning or weaving, or as weights for fishing-nets, for they are too fine and elegant for such purposes; neither have I as yet been able to discover any indication that they could have been used for any handicraft. When, therefore, I consider the perfect likeness of most of these objects to the form of the heroic sepulchral mounds, I am forced to believe that they, as well as those with two holes which occurred only at a depth of 6½ feet, were used asEx votos.
Again, to my surprise, I frequently find the Priapus, sometimes represented quite true to nature in stone or terra-cotta, sometimes in the form of a pillar rounded off at the top (just such as I have seen in Indian temples, but there only about 4 inches in length). I once also found the symbol in the form of a little pillar only about 1 inch in length, made of splendid black marble striped with white and beautifully polished, such as is never met with in the whole of this district. I consequently have not the slightest doubt that the Trojan people of the stone period worshipped Priapus as a divinity, and that, belonging to the Indo-Germanic race, they brought this religion from Bactria; for in India, as is well known, the god of production and of destruction is represented and worshipped in this form. Moreover, it is probable that these ancient Trojans are the ancestors of the great Hellenic nation, for I repeatedly find upon cups and vases of terra-cotta representations of the owl’s head, which is probably the great-great-grandmother of the Athenian bird of Pallas-Athena.
With the exception of the above-mentioned piece of silver wire and two copper nails, I have as yet found no trace of metal in the strata of the stone period.
As in the upper strata, so in those of the stone period, I find a great many boars’ tusks, which, in the latter strata, have without exception been pointed at the end, and have served as implements. It is inconceivable to me how themen of the stone period, with their imperfect weapons, were able to kill wild boars. Their lances—like all their other weapons and instruments—are, it is true, made of very hard black or green stone, but still they are so blunt that it must have required a giant’s strength to kill a boar with them. Hammers and axes are met with of all sizes and in great numbers.[93]I likewise find very many weights of granite, also a number of hand-mills of lava, which consist of two pieces about a foot in length, oval on one side and flat on the other, between which the corn was crushed. Sometimes these mill-stones are made of granite. Knives are found in very great numbers; all are of flint, some in the form of knife-blades, others—by far the greater majority—are jagged on one or on both sides, like saws. Needles and bodkins made of bone are of frequent occurrence, and sometimes also small bone spoons. Primitive canoes, such as I frequently saw in Ceylon, formed out of a hollowed trunk of a tree, are often met with here in miniature, made of terra-cotta, and I presume that these small vessels may have served as salt-cellars or pepper-boxes. I likewise find a number of whetstones about 4 inches in length and nearly as much in breadth, which are sometimes made of clay, sometimes of green or black slate; further, a number of round, flat stones a little under and over two inches in diameter, painted red on one side; also many hundreds of round terra-cottas of the like size and shape, with a hole in the centre, and which have evidently been made out of fragments of pottery, and may have been used on spindles. Flat stone mortars are also met with.
I also find in my excavations a house-wall of the stone period, consisting of stones joined by clay, like the buildings which were discovered on the islands of Therasia and Thera(Santorin) under three layers of volcanic ashes, forming together a height of 68 feet.
My expectations are extremely modest; I have no hope of finding plastic works of art. The single object of my excavations from the beginning was only to find Troy, whose site has been discussed by a hundred scholars in a hundred books, but which as yet no one has ever sought to bring to light by excavations. If I should not succeed in this, still I shall be perfectly contented, if by my labours I succeed only in penetrating to the deepest darkness of pre-historic times, and enriching archæology by the discovery of a few interesting features from the most ancient history of the great Hellenic race. The discovery of the stone period, instead of discouraging me, has therefore only made me the more desirous to penetrate to the place which was occupied by the first people that came here, and I still intend to reach it even if I should have to dig another 50 feet further down.
Note.—The “Stone Period” described in this chapter seems to be that of thethird stratumupwards from the rock (4 to 7 meters, or 13 to 23 feet deep); but the description does not make this perfectly clear.—{ED.}
(9M.) (7M.) (14M.)
Nos. 42-44. Terra-cotta Whorls. No. 44 Is remarkable for the depth at which it was found.Nos. 42-44. Terra-cotta Whorls.No. 44 Is remarkable for the depth at which it was found.
Another passage from the Stone Age to copper implements mixed with stone—The signs of a higher civilization increase with the depth reached—All the implements are of better workmanship—Discovery of supposed inscriptions—Further discussion of the use of the whorls—Troystill to be reached—Fine terra-cotta vessels of remarkable forms—Great numbers of stone weights and hand millstones—Numerous house-walls—Construction of the great cutting—Fever and quinine—Wounds and arnica.
Another passage from the Stone Age to copper implements mixed with stone—The signs of a higher civilization increase with the depth reached—All the implements are of better workmanship—Discovery of supposed inscriptions—Further discussion of the use of the whorls—Troystill to be reached—Fine terra-cotta vessels of remarkable forms—Great numbers of stone weights and hand millstones—Numerous house-walls—Construction of the great cutting—Fever and quinine—Wounds and arnica.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, November 18th, 1871.
No. 45. Copper Implements and Weapons from the Trojan stratum (8 M.). a, Axe of an unusual form; b, c, Battle-Axes of the common form; d, e, g, Knives; f, a Nail.No. 45. Copper Implements and Weapons from the Trojan stratum (8 M.). a, Axe of an unusual form; b, c, Battle-Axes of the common form; d, e, g, Knives; f, a Nail.[95]
No. 46. A Mould of Mica-schist for casting Copper Implements (8 M.).No. 46. A Mould of Mica-schist for casting Copper Implements (8 M.).
SINCEmy report of the 3rd of this month I have continued my excavations with the greatest zeal, and although interrupted sometimes by the rain, and sometimes by Greek festivals, and also in spite of the continually increasing difficulty in removing the rubbish, I have now reached an average depth of 10 meters or about 33 English feet.[94]Much that was inexplicable to me has now become clear, and I must first of all correct an error made in my last report, that I had come upon the stone period. I was deceived by the enormous mass of stone implements of all kinds which were daily dug up, and by the absence of any trace of metal, except two copper nails, which I believed to have come in some way from one of the upper strata into the deeper stratum of the stone period. But since the 6th of this month there haveappeared not only many nails, but also knives, lances, and battle-axes of copper of such elegant workmanship that they can have been made only by a civilized people. Hence I must not only recal my conjecture that I had reached the stone period, but I cannot even admit that I have reached the bronze period, for the implements and weapons which I find are too well finished. I must, moreover, draw attention to the fact, that the deeper I dig, from 7 meters (23 feet) downwards, the greater are the indications of a higher civilization. At a depth of from 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet) the stone implements and weapons were of a coarse description; the knives were of flint, generally in the form of small saws, and rarely in that of a blade; but there were a very great number of sharp pieces of silex, which must likewise have served as knives. Sincethen, however, the stone implements, such as hammers and axes, are of much better workmanship; there still occur a quantity of silex knives in the form of saws, but they are much better made than those of the upper strata, and at a depth below 23 feet double-edged knife-blades of obsidian, which are so sharp that they might serve as razors. In these depths, moreover, as I have already said, we again meet with weapons and quantities of nails, knives, and implements of copper.
Stone Instruments from the Trojan stratum (8 M.). Nos. 47, 48, 49, of Green Stone, probably Lance-Heads; No. 50, of Diorite, use unknown.Stone Instruments from the Trojan stratum (8 M.).Nos. 47, 48, 49, of Green Stone, probably Lance-Heads; No. 50, of Diorite, use unknown.
But what above all other circumstances seems to prove that I never reached the stone period, and that, after digging further down into the strata of rude races between 13 and 23 feet, I have again come upon the remains of a more civilized nation, are two inscriptions, one of which, found at a depth of 7½ meters (about 25 feet), seems to be Phœnician, but consists of only about five letters, which have been scratched by a pointed instrument, into that side of a small terra-cotta disc which had been painted white, the disc being only about 2-1/3 inches in diameter. The letters, in any case, must have stood out very distinctly in the white colour, but the greater portion of it has disappeared,and thus two of the five written characters cannot G 2 easily be distinguished. I hope, however, that the inscription may nevertheless be deciphered.[96]
The other inscription was found at a depth of 8½ meters (27¾ feet) upon one of those small round articles of terra-cotta with a hole in the centre, which, from a depth of 6½ feet downwards, occur in immense numbers in the form of the humming-top, the carrousel, and the volcano. I have already expressed my opinion that they may have been used asEx votos, and I may now suggest whether they might not even have been idols, and especially whether those in the form of a volcano do not represent Hephæstus? This thought struck me principally from the great resemblance between these objects and the colossal sepulchral mounds on the Plain of Troy, which cover the ashes of the corpses of the heroes, which were burnt by the fire of Hephæstus. At all events, the decorations introduced upon all of these objects—which seem to have been executed with very great care, especially on those made of immensely hard burnt terra-cotta—and also the white substance with which these decorations are filled so as to be more striking to the eye, leave no doubt that they have served important purposes. It was upon one of these small articles of terra-cotta, in the form of a top, that I found the second inscription.[97]It is so admirably engraved, that one is astonished to find such work possible in terra-cotta. As the writing runs right round the small whorl, and is formed on both sides alike, it seems to me, in my complete ignorance of the language, impossible to perceive with which letter it commences, or which is the upper or lower portion of it.
Upon an ordinary stone I at the same time found the characterleft-leaning LI should be immensely delighted if any one were able to read these inscriptions, and thus be in a position to give an explanation about the use of these remarkable objects, about the people who made them, and about the epoch in which I found myself at the depth of from 25 to 28 feet.
When, at the time of writing my last report, I saw stone implements and weapons brought to light, and none but stone, and was forced to believe that I had penetrated into the stratum of the people belonging to the stone period, I really began to fear that the actual object of my excavations, to find here the Pergamus of Priam, had failed; that I had already reached a period long anterior to the Trojan war, and that the colossal sepulchral mounds in the Plain of Troy were perhaps thousands of years older than the deeds of Achilles. But as I find ever more and more traces of civilization the deeper I dig, I am now perfectly convinced that I have not yet penetrated to the period of the Trojan war, and hence I am more hopeful than ever of finding the site of Troy by further excavations; for if there ever was a Troy—and my belief in this is firm—it can only have been here, on the site of Ilium. I think that my excavations of 1868 on the heights of Bunarbashi have proved the impossibility of a city or even a village ever having stood there, except at the extreme end of Balidagh, where Consul Hahn has made excavations, but where, owing to the small space, which is limited by precipices, there can only have been a small town of 2000 inhabitants at most. Upon the site of the Ἰλιέων κώμη, which place was regarded as the site of ancient Troy by Strabo—who had never visited the Plain of Troy—in accordance with the theory of Demetrius of Scepsis, which I discussed in my report of the 26th of last month—I have, since Tuesday the 21st, employed ten workmen to lay bare a portion of the surrounding wallwhich seems to be indicated by a low but long rise of the ground. I do this, however, simply in the interest of science, and I am far from fancying that I shall find Troy there.
No. 51. No. 52. Trojan Terra-cottas (8 M.)No. 51. No. 52.Trojan Terra-cottas (8 M.).No. 51. A Vase-cover. No. 52. A Two-handled Cup.
No. 53. Small Trojan Vase (9 M.).No. 53. Small Trojan Vase (9 M.).
Nos. 54, 55. Trojan Terra-cotta Vases (8 M.).Nos. 54, 55. Trojan Terra-cotta Vases (8 M.).
I must also add, in regard to the round articles of terra-cotta, that, after a depth of 7 meters (23 feet), those in the form of the volcano occur less frequently, and almost all are the shape of the top (carrousel). At this depth also, the idols of Vishnu, in the form of the Priapus, are no longer met with. But I still very frequently find at a depth below 23 feet the owl’s head on the earthen vessels, which, although only of one colour and without any decorations, are elegant in their simplicity, and become the more elegant and finer the deeper I dig. I have to draw especial attention to the bright red cups, which are sometimes found in the form of a bell with a kind of coronet below,[98]sometimes in the shape of immense champagne-glasses with two large handles. In neither form can they stand upon the lower end like the cups of the present day, but only upon the upper part, just as we should be obliged to set down a bell, if we used it as a drinking-cup. I must next mention the small pots with three little feet, and the large ones with a neck bent back, then the large vessels with two handles and two others in the form of upraised arms; and, lastly, the very large funereal urns, frequently more than a meter (3¼ feet) in height and breadth, which are met with in such numbers that they hinder us in our work, but which have hitherto been so much broken that I have been unable to save even one of them. It is impossible to cement together the pieces of these broken urns, as the clay is from an inch and a half to nearly 2 inches thick.
At a depth below 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) down to the depth of 10 meters (33 feet), we find a great many pieces of clay an inch and a half thick, from about 4 to 5 inches in height, and from about 3 to 4 inchesin breadth, with a perforated hole, either on the broad upper side or on the narrow side, and which appear to have been used as weights; we also frequently meet with cylinders of the same clay, which are from 3-1/3 inches in length to 2½ inches in breadth. The enormous quantities of stone weights and hand-mills of lava, continually brought to light, give an idea of the number of the houses, through the ruins of which I daily penetrate. I have placed great numbers of these mills and other stone implements in the niches of the walls in my excavations for the inspection of the admirers of Homer who may visit the Plain of Troy.
At a depth of from 8 to 10 meters (26 to 33 feet), I have found numerous fragments of a substance, about 2¾ inches broad and 1¾ thick, which is on the inside as hard as stone and of a resinous colour, and on the outside it has a brilliant gloss, which has evidently been produced artificially. It has clearly been poured into a mould when in a liquid state, for it is channelled on all four sides. Doubtless in the continuation of my excavations I shall obtain an explanation of how these pieces (the length of which I do not yet know, as I have hitherto only met with fragments) were made, and what they were used for.[99]
The numerous house-walls, the ruins of which I have daily to remove, are, at the depth of from 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet), all built of ordinary unhewn stones joined with clay; and from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) they are made of unburnt bricks, dried only in the sun. The foundations and the door-cills of these brick houses, however, consist of large stones, such as we have not met with since 2 meters (6½ feet) below the surface.
Lastly, as regards the inclination of the walls of my great cutting, the nature of thedébrisallowed me only in three places, each of about 49 feet in length, to make itat an angle of 85 degrees; in all other places it is at an angle of 67½ degrees. In order to make this more clear, I may add that my walls of 33 feet high at an angle of 85 degrees deviate only about 25½ inches, but those of 67½ degrees deviate about 8½ feet from the perpendicular.
It would give me much pleasure if, in my next communication, I could report some very interesting discovery.
November 21st.—The heavy rainfall of yesterday and the day before, which continued till this morning, rendered it impossible to dispatch this report before the evening; for I am here living in a wilderness at eight hours’ distance from the nearest post-office, that is, from the Dardanelles. I hope that the ground will have become sufficiently dry by to-morrow morning for me to proceed with my work. I intend, at all events, to continue the excavations till the appearance of winter, and then to begin again in April.
The constant warm damp weather produces a very malignant fever, and my services as a doctor are daily sought. Fortunately, I have a large stock of quinine by me, and can thus help everyone. But as I do not understand anything about medicine I should, no doubt, make great mistakes. Fortunately, however, I remember that once when I was at the point of death with a fever contracted in the marshes of Nicaragua, the excellent German physician, Tellkampf of New York, saved my life by a dose of 64 grains of quinine. Hence I give a similar quantity here, but onlyin one dosewhen the case is a very bad one; the quantity I generally give is four doses of 16 grains. I am also daily called upon not only to cure wounded men, but camels, donkeys, and horses. I have hitherto been successful in all cases by using tincture of arnica. I have also, thus far, cured all the fever patients who have applied for my help. Not one of them, however, has ever come to thank me; indeed, gratitude does not appear to be one of the virtues of the present Trojans.
Interruptions from Rain—Last works of the season, 1871—The supposed ruins of Troy reached—Great blocks of stone—Engineering contrivances—Excavations at the “Village of the Ilians:” no traces of habitation, and none of hot springs—Results of the excavations thus far—Review of the objects found at various depths—Structure of the lowest houses yet reached—Difficulties of the excavations—The object aimed at—Growth of the Hill of Hissarlik.
Interruptions from Rain—Last works of the season, 1871—The supposed ruins of Troy reached—Great blocks of stone—Engineering contrivances—Excavations at the “Village of the Ilians:” no traces of habitation, and none of hot springs—Results of the excavations thus far—Review of the objects found at various depths—Structure of the lowest houses yet reached—Difficulties of the excavations—The object aimed at—Growth of the Hill of Hissarlik.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, November 24th, 1871.
SINCEmy last report, of the 18th and 21st instant, I have had three days’ work in spite of the continual wet weather; but unfortunately I find myself now compelled to cease the excavations for the winter, intending to begin again on the 1st of April, 1872. It is not likely that winter will set in before the middle of December, and I should gladly have continued my work till then, in spite of the rain, especially as I now most firmly believe that I am already among the ruins of Troy. Since the day before yesterday, I find on the whole extent of my excavations scarcely anything but large stones—sometimes hewn, sometimes unhewn—and some of them are enormous blocks. This morning, for instance, I worked for three hours with 65 workmen in removing a single threshold by means of ropes and rollers.
I have been obliged to abandon the two large side-passages, when already at a depth of 23 feet, and I have since caused all the rubbish and small stones to be brought in baskets and wheel-barrows through the large exit-channel, and thrown down at its end upon the sides of the steep declivity. This channel—the walls of which have a slope of 67½ degrees—is now, at the present depth of 33 feet,no longer wide enough for carrying away such enormous blocks of stone, and it must first of all be made at least 13 feet wider. This is, however, a gigantic piece of work, which, owing to the daily rain, I dare not venture to begin with winter close upon me.
On account of the many huge stones, no terra-cottas were found either yesterday or on the preceding day. To day, however, during the last hour’s work, I found a small pot, only about 2 inches high, with three feet; the whole of the upper portion is in the form of a globe, and is divided into five large and five small fields, changing alternately in regular succession. All of the large fields are filled with imprinted little stars. The mouth or opening is only about 1/3 of an inch in diameter. I presume that this small and wonderful Trojan vessel was used by ladies for holding scented oil, which we know was applied after the bath. It cannot have been used as a lamp, for Homer, who lived 200 years after the destruction of Troy, does not as yet know of lamps. I also found this morning two copper arrow-heads, and one of those small terra-cotta “volcanoes,” which for some days have been less frequently met with. Further, a small leaden plate, nearly an inch and a half in length as well as in breadth, with the charactercane-likein the centre and a hole in one corner, which leaves no doubt that the small piece used to be hung up.
Although the word γράφειν only occurs twice in Homer, and both times only signifies “to scratch into,” yet I am firmly convinced that an alphabetical language was known in ancient Troy, and I cherish the hope of being able next spring to discover inscriptions and other monuments, which will leave no doubt, that, since yesterday, at the depth of 33 feet,[100]I have begun to uncover the ruins of the city of Troy, so long looked for theoretically andnow at last practically. All the objects that I find, I shall, of course, describe in the most faithful and careful manner.
My excavations at the village of the Ilians (Ἰλιέων κώμη), as was to be expected, have decidedly turned out unfavourable for Strabo and Demetrius of Scepsis; for the steep continuous elevation contains no trace of walls, and consists of coarse sand without the slightest admixture ofdébris. Neither do I believe, contrary to the assertion of the proprietor of Thymbria, my worthy friend Mr. Frederick Calvert, in the existence of a hot spring at the foot of the hill of the Ἰλιέων κώμη, for I have now searched the whole marsh, with a thermometer in my hand, and I nowhere find, either in the stagnant or the running water, the faintest difference in temperature. Of cold springs there are certainly more than one, but it will be impossible to state how many till the marsh has been thoroughly drained; it consists at present of floating islands.
Now when I collect the result of my excavations:—I found close to the surface only, and in rare cases as far as a depth of 1 meter (3¼ feet), copper medals of Sigeum, Alexandria Troas, and Ilium—the latter belonging to the first centuries before and after Christ; then small solid round articles of terra-cotta, like lamps, with two holes, which occur in great numbers, as far as a depth of 2 meters (6½ feet). These, however, have no ornaments except the potter’s stamp, in which there is sometimes an altar with a bee or fly above it, sometimes a child with its hands stretched forth, sometimes two horses, sometimes a bull or a swan. Below this depth they cease all at once.[101]In place of them I found, at depths of from 2 to 10 meters (6½ to 33 feet), the often described terra-cottas in the form of small volcanoes, humming-tops or whorls, which, at a depthof 3 meters only (nearly 10 feet), were frequently met with in blue stone, but were in all other cases of terra-cotta, and almost all of them with decorations. At 6½ feet below the surface I found a Roman well, which I dug out to a depth of more than 36 feet, but which seems to be sunk down as far as the Plain. At all depths we met with many mussel-shells, boars’ tusks, and fish-bones; but the bones of sharks only at the depth of from 11 to 13 feet below the surface. The ruins of houses built of hewn stone, joined with cement or lime, seldom extend lower than 3¼ feet, and the ruins of buildings built of large hewn stones not joined by any kind of cement, never below 6½ feet: visitors to the Plain of Troy can convince themselves of this with their own eyes, by looking at the walls of my cuttings. From a depth of 3 to 4 meters (6½ to 13 feet) downwards, we met with few or no stones; and the calcined ruins of innumerable layers ofdébrisseem to prove that all of the buildings which existed there during the course of centuries were built of wood, and were destroyed by fire. Consequently in these depths I have hitherto only found fragments of good earthenware; the only things brought out in an uninjured condition were small pots of the coarsest description.
No. 56. No. 57. No. 58. No. 59. No. 60. No. 61. Stone Implements of the earliest Settlers (11 and 14 M.). Nos. 56 and 57. An Axe and Hammer of Diorite. Nos. 58, 59, 60. Knives of White Silex. No. 61. Probably an Arrow-head.No. 56. No. 57.
No. 58. No. 59. No. 60. No. 61. Stone Implements of the earliest Settlers (11 and 14 M.). Nos. 56 and 57. An Axe and Hammer of Diorite. Nos. 58, 59, 60. Knives of White Silex. No. 61. Probably an Arrow-head.No. 58. No. 59. No. 60. No. 61.Stone Implements of the earliest Settlers (11 and 14 M.).Nos. 56 and 57. An Axe and Hammer of Diorite. Nos. 58, 59, 60. Knives of White Silex.No. 61. Probably an Arrow-head.
No. 62. Small Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta, with Decorations (8 M.).No. 62. Small Trojan Vase of Terra-cotta, with Decorations (8 M.). No. 63. A Trojan Vase-cover of red Terra-cotta (7 M.).
At a depth of 4 meters (13 feet), I found a fragment of pottery with a drawing of a bust, of Phœnician workmanship. Directly upon it were an immense quantity of stone implements and weapons of hard black stone, which continued to a depth of 7 meters (23 feet). Simultaneously with these, but extending to a depth of 10 meters (33 feet), I found elegant pottery of one colour and without any kind of ornament beyond the owl’s face; small pots and vases of a larger size with three little feet; then, but only as far as a depth of 23 feet, the Priapus of terra-cotta in its natural form, and also in the form of a pillar rounded off at the top. From 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet) deep, there were a great many flint knives, the majority of which have the shape of saws, orconsist only of sharp pieces, rarely in the form of blades; needles and little spoons made of bone, as well as an enormous number of terra-cotta discs with a hole through the centre; and two copper nails. As is proved by the numerous house-walls which I have cut through in these depths, many of which are in the earth-wall of my excavations, the houses were built of small stones joined with earth. From 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet), I found a great many copper nails, frequently 5 inches in length, and a few lances andbattle-axes of elegant workmanship. At every foot of earth that we dig down, after a depth of 23 feet, we find the traces of a much higher civilization; stone weapons are still occasionally met with, but they are of splendid workmanship. I found many copper knives, but also immense numbers of flint knives, which, however, are incomparably better made than those of the preceding strata. We also found, although not often, very sharp double-edged knife-blades of obsidian, 2¾ inches in length. The pots and vases continue to be more elegant; there were also bright red vase-covers in the form of a bell with a coronet above, or like gigantic champagne glasses with two large handles; very many elegant vessels with or without three little feet, but with little rings on the sides and holes in the mouth in the same direction, so that they could not only stand, but also be carried on a cord; likewise a number of very small vases with three little feet. All the terra-cottas are of a brilliant red, yellow, green, or black colour; only the very large urns are colourless. From 2 to 10 meters deep (6½-33 feet) we note the complete absence of painting. At a depthof 7½ meters (24¾ feet) was a small terra-cotta disc with five letters, which I consider to be Phœnician; at 28 feet one of those frequently mentioned terra-cottas in the form of a top with six written characters. At the same depth, upon a stone, one letter, which to all appearance belongs to a different language; and lastly, at a depth of 10 meters, or 33 English feet, a leaden plate with one letter.
Now as regards the construction of the houses belonging to the strata at a depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet), only the foundations and thresholds were composed of large stones—as anyone may convince himself by a glance at the earthen walls of my excavations. The house-walls, on the other hand, were composed of unburnt sun-dried bricks. At a depth of 10 meters (33 feet), I again found the buildings to be of stone, but of colossal proportions. Most of the stones are very large, many of them hewn, and we meet with a great many massive blocks. It appears to me that I have already brought to light several walls at this depth; but I have unfortunately not yet succeeded in arriving at an opinion as to how they were actually built and what their thickness was. The stones of the walls seem to me to have been separated from one another by a violent earthquake. I have hitherto seen no trace of any kind of cement between them, either of clay or lime.
Of the terrible difficulties of the excavations, where such large pieces of stone are met with, only those can have any idea who have been present at the work and have seen how much time and trouble it takes, especially during the present rainy weather—first to get out the small stones round one of the many immense blocks, then to dig out the block itself, to get the lever under it, to heave it up and roll it through the mud of the channel to the steep declivity.
But these difficulties only increase my desire, after so many disappointments, to reach the great goal which is atlast lying before me, to prove that the Iliad is founded on facts, and that the great Greek nation must not be deprived of this crown of her glory. I shall spare no trouble and shun no expense to attain this result.
I must still draw attention to the remarkable growth of this hill. The huge square stones of the foundations of the house on the summit of the hill (where I found the inscription which appears to belong to the third centuryB.C.), which in its day must have been on the surface, are now in some places only 13 inches, in others only 3¼ feet below the earth. But as the colossal ruins, which I positively maintain to be those of ancient Troy, lie at a depth of 33 feet, the accumulation ofdébrison this part must have amounted to more than 30 feet during the first 1000 years, and only from 1 to 3 feet during the last 2000 years.
But, strange to say, on the north side of the hill, with its steep declivity, at the place where I am digging, the thickness of the hill has not increased in the slightest degree. For not only do the ruins of the innumerable habitations in all cases extend to the extreme edge of the declivity, but I also find up to this point the same objects that I find on the same horizontal line as far as the opposite end of my excavations. Hence it is interesting to know that the declivity of the hill on the north side was exactly as steep at the time of the Trojan war as it is now, namely, that even at that time it rose at an angle of 40 degrees.
No. 64. A stone Implement of unknown use. Weight 472 grammes. (2 M.)No. 64. A stone Implement of unknown use. Weight 472 grammes. (2 M.) No. 65. A strange Vessel of Terra-cotta (15 M.).
New assistants for 1872—Cost of the excavations—Digging of the great platform on the North—Venomous snakes—A supporting buttress on the North side of the hill—Objects discovered: little idols of fine marble—Whorls engraved with thesuastika卐 andblock-style cross—Significance of these emblems in the old Aryan religion—Their occurrence among other Aryan nations—Mentioned in old Indian literature—Illustrative quotation from Émile Burnouf.
New assistants for 1872—Cost of the excavations—Digging of the great platform on the North—Venomous snakes—A supporting buttress on the North side of the hill—Objects discovered: little idols of fine marble—Whorls engraved with thesuastika卐 andblock-style cross—Significance of these emblems in the old Aryan religion—Their occurrence among other Aryan nations—Mentioned in old Indian literature—Illustrative quotation from Émile Burnouf.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, April 5th, 1872.
MYlast report was dated November 24th, 1871. On the first of this month, at 6 o’clock on the morning of a glorious day, accompanied by my wife, I resumed the excavations with 100 Greek workmen from the neighbouring villages of Renkoï, Kalifatli, and Yenishehr. Mr. John Latham, of Folkestone, the director of the railway from the Piræus to Athens, who by his excellent management brings the shareholders an annual dividend of 30 per cent., had the kindness to give me two of his best workmen, Theodorus Makrys of Mitylene, and Spiridion Demetrios of Athens, as foremen. To each of them I pay 150 fr. (6l.) per month, while the daily wages of the other men are but 1 fr. 80 cent. Nikolaos Zaphyros, of Renkoï, gets 6 fr., as formerly; he is of great use to me on account of his local knowledge, and serves me at once as cashier, attendant, and cook. Mr. Piat, who has undertaken the construction of the railroad from the Piræus to Lanira, has also had the kindness to let me have his engineer, Adolphe Laurent, for a month, whom I shall have to pay 500 fr. (20l.), and his travelling expenses. But in additionthere are other considerable expenses to be defrayed, so that the total cost of my excavations amounts to no less than 300 fr. (12l.) daily.
Now in order to be sure, in every case, of thoroughly solving the Trojan question this year, I am having an immense horizontal platform made on the steep northern slope, which rises at an angle of 40 degrees, a height of 105 feet perpendicular, and 131 feet above the level of the sea. The platform extends through the entire hill, at an exact perpendicular depth of 14 meters or 46½ English feet, it has a breadth of 79 meters or 233 English feet, and embraces my last year’s cutting.[102]M. Laurent calculates the mass of matter to be removed at 78,545 cubic meters (above 100,000 cubic yards): it will be less if I should find the native soil at less than 46 feet, and greater if I should have to make the platform still lower. It is above all things necessary for me to reach the primary soil, in order to make accurate investigations. To make the work easier, after having had the earth on the northern declivity picked down in such a manner that it rises perpendicularly to the height of about 8½ feet from the bottom, and after that at an angle of 50 degrees, I continue to have thedébrisof the mighty earth wall loosened in such a manner that this angle always remains exactly the same. In this way I certainly work three times more rapidly than before, when, on account of the small breadth of the channel, I was forced to open it on the summit of the hill in a direct horizontal direction along its entire length. In spite of every precaution, however, I am unable to guard my men or myself against the stones which continually come rolling down, when the steep wall is being picked away. Not one of us is without several wounds in his feet.
During the first three days of the excavations, indigging down the slope of the hill, we came upon an immense number of poisonous snakes, and among them a remarkable quantity of the small brown vipers calledantelion(Ἀντήλιον), which are scarcely thicker than rain worms, and which have their name from the circumstance that the person bitten by them only survives till sunset. It seems to me that, were it not for the many thousands of storks which destroy the snakes in spring and summer, the Plain of Troy would be uninhabitable, owing to the excessive numbers of these vermin.
Through the kindness of my friends, Messrs. J. Henry Schröder and Co., in London, I have obtained the best English pickaxes and spades for loosening and pulling down the rubbish, also 60 excellent wheel-barrows with iron wheels for carrying it away.
For the purpose of consolidating the buildings on the top of the hill, the whole of the steep northern slope has evidently been supported by a buttress, for I find the remains of one in several places. This buttress is however not very ancient, for it is composed of large blocks of shelly limestone, mostly hewn, and joined with lime or cement. The remains of this wall have only a slight covering of earth; but on all other places there is more or less soil, which, at the eastern end of the platform, extends to a depth of between 6½ and 10 feet. Behind the platform, as well as behind the remains of the buttress, thedébrisis as hard as stone, and consists of the ruins of houses, among which I find axes of diorite, sling-bullets of loadstone, a number of flint knives, innumerable handmills of lava, a great number of small idols of very fine marble, with or without the owl’s-head and woman’s girdle, weights of clay in the form of pyramids and with a hole at the point, or made of stone and in the form of balls; lastly, a great many of those small terra-cotta whorls, which have already been so frequently spoken of in my previous reports. Two pieces of this kind, withcrosses on the under side, were found in the terramares of Castione and Campeggine,[103]and are now in the Museum of Parma. Many of these Trojan articles, and especially those in the form of volcanoes, have crosses of the most various descriptions, as may be seen in the lithographed drawings.[104]The formblock-style crossoccurs especially often; upon a great many we find the sign 卐, of which there are often whole rows in a circle round the central point. In my earlier reports I never spoke of these crosses, because their meaning was utterly unknown to me.
Nos. 66, 67, 68. Trojan Sling-bullets of Loadstone (9 and 10 M.).Nos. 66, 67, 68. Trojan Sling-bullets of Loadstone (9 and 10 M.).
This winter, I have read in Athens many excellent works of celebrated scholars on Indian antiquities, especially Adalbert Kuhn,Die Herabkunft des Feuers; Max Müller’sEssays; Émile Burnouf,La Science des ReligionsandEssai sur le Vêda, as well as several works by Eugène Burnouf; and I now perceive that these crosses upon the Trojan terra-cottas are of the highest importance to archæology. I therefore consider it necessary to enter more fully into the subject, all the more so as I am now able to prove that both theblock-style crossand the 卐, which I find in Émile Burnouf’s Sanscrit lexicon, under the name of “suastika,” and with the meaning εὖ ἐστι, or as the sign of good wishes, were already regarded, thousands of years beforeChrist, as religious symbols of the very greatest importance among the early progenitors of the Aryan races in Bactria and in the villages of the Oxus, at a time when Germans, Indians, Pelasgians, Celts, Persians, Slavonians and Iranians still formed one nation and spoke one language. For I recognise at the first glance the “suastika” upon one of those three pot bottoms,[105]which were discovered on Bishop’s Island near Königswalde on the right bank of the Oder, and have given rise to very many learned discussions, while no one recognised the mark as that exceedingly significant religious symbol of our remote ancestors. I find a whole row of these “suastikas” all round the famous pulpit of Saint Ambrose in Milan; I find it occurring a thousand times in the catacombs of Rome.[106]I find it in three rows, and thus repeated sixty times, upon an ancient Celtic funereal urn discovered in Shropham in the county of Norfolk, and now in the British Museum.[107]I find it also upon several Corinthian vases in my own collection, as well as upon two very ancient Attic vases in the possession of Professor Kusopulos at Athens, which are assigned to a date as early, at least, as 1000 years before Christ. I likewise find it upon several ancient coins of Leucas, and in the large mosaic in the royal palace garden in Athens. An English clergyman, the Rev. W. Brown Keer, who visited me here, assures me that he has seen the 卐 innumerable times in the most ancient Hindu temples, and especially in those of Gaïna.[108]I find in the Ramayana that the ships of kingRama—in which he carried his troops across the Ganges on his expedition of conquest to India and Ceylon—bore the 卐 on their prows. Sanscrit scholars believe that this heroic epic (theRamayana) was composed at the latest 800 years before Christ, and they assign the campaign of Rama at the latest to the thirteenth or fourteenth centuryB.C., for, as Kiepert points out in his very interesting article in theNational-Zeitung, the names of the products mentioned in the 2nd Book of Kings, in the reign of King Solomon, as brought by Phœnician ships from Ophir, as for example, ivory, peacocks, apes and spices, are Sanscrit words with scarcely any alteration. Hence we may surely regard it as certain, that it took at least three or four centuries before the language of the conquerors was generally introduced into the immensely large and densely peopled country of India, especially as the number of the conquerors cannot have been very large. In the myths of the Rigvêda, which were written before the expedition into Northern India (Heptopotamia), the Aryan population is always represented as inconsiderable in numbers.