In the deepest strata we also meet with simple black cups, resembling our drinking-glasses; likewise black cups (vase-covers) with a handle below, so that they can only stand upon their mouth. I also find on the primary soil weights made of granite, the exact specific weights of which I shall state in a separate table;[156] hammers and axes, as well as a number of large and small wedges of diorite, of splendid workmanship; sometimes also small beautifully-cut instruments in the form of wedges, made of very beautiful transparent green stone.[157] Besides these, we come upon quantities of round black and red terra-cotta discs, generally nearly 2 inches in diameter, with a hole in the centre; and stone quoits (δίσκοι), about 6 inches in diameter, with a hole in the centre for throwing them. Further, a number of idols of very fine marble, which form the only exception to the rule that at an increasing depth the objects are of much better workmanship than those above. In fact, the idols met with in the Trojan [pre-Trojan] strata of débris from 2 to 4 meters (6½ to 13 feet) above the primary soil, that is, at a depth of from 12 to 14 meters (39¼ to 46 feet), are so coarsely wrought, as may be seen from the drawings (on [page 36]), that one might be inclined to believe that they were the very first attempts of an uncivilized people at making plastic representations of a deity. There was only one mutilated idol of terra-cotta found among these ruins, a drawing of which I give; all the others are of very fine marble. I must also mention another Priapus, of fine marble, which was discovered at a depth of 13 meters (42½ feet).
In these depths we likewise find many bones of animals, boars’ tusks, small shells, horns of the buffalo, ram, and stag; as well as the vertebræ of the shark.
The houses and palaces, in which the splendid terra-cottas were used, were large and spacious, for to them belong all those mighty heaps of large stones hewn and unhewn, which cover them to the height of from 13 to 20 feet. These houses and palaces were easily destroyed, for the stones were only joined with earth, and when the walls fell everything in the houses was crushed to pieces by the immense blocks of stone. The primitive Trojan people disappeared simultaneously with the destruction of their town, for in none of the succeeding layers of débris do we find the style of architecture to consist of large blocks of stone joined with earth; in none do we find the terra-cottas—with the exception of the round articles in the form of tops and volcanoes—to possess any resemblance with the excellent and artistic earthenware of the people of Priam.[158]
Upon the site of the destroyed city new settlers, of a different civilization, manners and customs, built a new town; but only the foundation of their houses consisted of stones joined with clay; all of the house-walls were built of unburnt bricks. Many such walls may be seen at a depth of from 7 to 10 meters (23 to 33 feet) in the earthen sides of my excavations; they have been preserved through the very fact that the houses were burnt out, and the walls of unburnt bricks, through the great heat, received a sort of brick-crust, or became actually burnt bricks.
In my memoir of the 23rd of last month, I spoke of a stone wall, found at a depth of 33 feet, which I hoped would extend down to the primary soil. Unfortunately, however, it proved to be merely the foundation of a house belonging to the immediate successors of the ancient Trojans, and these foundations only extended to a depth of 1¾ foot.
The remains of the ruined walls belonging to ancient Troy had, of course, to be levelled by the new settlers, whose mode of life and style of architecture were entirely different. This explains how it is that, with the exception of a small wall in the northern entrance of my large trench, I have hitherto not been able to point out a single wall belonging to ancient Troy; and that, until now, I have only been able to present archæology with a few splendid urns, vases, pots, plates, and dishes, and with but one bowl (crater). (See Cut, No. 41, p. 74.) Yet I have found thousands of fragments of other excellent vessels, the sad memorials of a people whose fame is immortal.
I cannot conclude the description of the lowest stratum without mentioning that among the huge blocks of stone, at a depth of from 12 to 16 meters (39½ to 52½ feet), I found two toads; and at a depth of 39½ feet a small but very poisonous snake, with a scutiform head. The snake may have found its way down from above; but this is an impossibility in the case of the large toads—they must have spent 3000 years in these depths. It is very interesting to find in the ruins of Troy living creatures from the time of Hector and Andromache, even though these creatures are but toads.[159]
I must also draw attention to the fact that I have found the 卐 twice on fragments of pottery, one of which was discovered at a depth of 16 meters (52½ feet), the other at 14 meters (46 feet). The primitive Trojans, therefore, belonged to the Aryan race, which is further sufficiently proved by the symbols on the round terra-cottas.