At a depth of from 4 to 7 meters (13 to 23 feet) we also met with fragments of terra-cotta serpents, whose heads are sometimes represented with horns. The latter must certainly be a very ancient and significant symbol of the greatest importance, for even now there is a superstition that the horns of serpents, by merely coming in contact with the human body, cure a number of diseases, and especially epilepsy; also that by dipping them in milk the latter is instantly turned into cheese, and other notions of the same sort. On account of the many wholesome and useful effects attributed to the horns of serpents, they are regarded as immensely valuable, and on my return here at the end of January one of my last year’s workmen was accused by a jealous comrade of having found two serpents’ horns in an urn at a depth of 52½ feet, and of having made off with them. All my assurances that there are no such things as serpents horns could not convince the men, and they still believe that their comrade has robbed me of a great treasure. The serpents’ heads not ornamented with horns generally represent the poisonous asp; above the mouth they have a number of dots, and the head and back are divided by cross lines into sections which are filled with dots.[221] These flat serpents’ heads have on the opposite side lines running longitudinally like female hair. We also found terra-cotta cones an inch and a half high, with three holes not pierced right through. At a depth of from 3¼ to 6½ feet we have discovered several more terra-cotta vases without the owl’s face, but with two female breasts and a large navel, and with two small upright handles in the form of arms. In all the strata below 13 feet we meet with quantities of implements of diorite, and quoits of granite, sometimes also of hard limestone. Hammers and wedges (battle-axes) of diorite and of green stone were also found, in most cases very prettily wrought. The hammers do not all possess a perforated hole; upon many there is only a cavity on both sides, about 1/5 to 2/5 of an inch deep.
