"In the upper strata of the north western and western excavations we came upon another great quantity of heads of beautiful terra-cotta figures of the best Hellenic period, and at a depth of twenty-three feet upon some idols, as well as the upper portion of a vase with the owl's face and a lid in the form of a helmet. Lids of this kind, upon the edge of which female hair is indicated by incisions, are frequently found in all the strata between thirteen and thirty-three feet deep, and as they belong to vases with owls' faces, the number of lids gives us an idea of the number of the vases with the figure of the owl-headed Athene, which existed here in Troy.
"Homer rarely mentions temples, and, although he speaks of the Temple of Athene, yet, considering the smallness of the city, it is very doubtful whether it actually existed. It is probable that the tutelar goddess at that time possessed only the sacrificial altar which I discovered, and the crescent form of which greatly resembles the upper portion of the ivory idol found in the lowest strata as well as the one end of the six talents contained among the Treasure.
"Valuable stones, such as those large flags which cover the road leading from the Scæan Gate to the Plain, as well as the stones of the enclosing wall and of the Great Tower, have been left untouched, and not a single stone of the Scæan Gate is wanting. Nay, with the exception of the houses which I myself destroyed, it would be quite possible to uncover the 'carcasses' of all the houses, as in the case of Pompeii. The houses must have been very high, and a great deal of wood must have been used in their construction, for otherwise the conflagration could not have produced such an enormous quantity of ashes and rubbish.
"Upon and beside the gold and silver articles, I found thirteen copper lances, from nearly seven to above twelve and one-half inches in length, and from above one and one-half to two and one-third inches broad at the broadest point; at the lower end of each is a hole, in which, in most cases, the nail or peg which fastened the lance to the wooden handle is still sticking. The pin-hole is clearly visible in a lance-head which the conflagration has welded to a battle-ax. The Trojan lances were therefore quite different from those of the Greeks and Romans.
SPEARS, LANCES, AX AND CHAIN.[ToList]
SHEARS, KNIVES AND SPEARS.[ToList]