CHAPTER X.

_On the Hill of Hissarlik, June 18th, 1872._

A third platform dug--Traces of former excavations by the Turks--Block of triglyphs, with bas-relief of Apollo--Fall of an earth-wall--Plan of a trench through the whole hill--Admirable remains in the lowest stratum but one--The plain and engraved whorls--Objects of gold, silver, copper, and ivory--Remarkable terra-cottas--The pottery of the _lowest stratum_ quite distinct from that of the next above--Its resemblance to the Etruscan, in quality only--Curious funereal urns--Skeleton of a six months’ embryo--Other remains in the lowest stratum--Idols of fine marble, the sole exception to the superior workmanship of this stratum--The houses and palaces of the lowest stratum, of large stones joined with earth--Disappearance of the first people with the destruction of their town.

The _second settlers_, of a different civilization--Their buildings of unburnt brick on stone foundations--These bricks burnt by the great conflagration--Destruction of the walls of the former settlers--Live toads coëval with Troy!--Long duration of the second settlers--Their Aryan descent proved by Aryan symbols--Various forms of their pottery--Vases in the form of animals--The whorls of this stratum--Their interesting devices--Copper weapons and implements, and moulds for casting them--Terra-cotta seals--Bracelets and ear-rings, of silver, gold, and electrum--Pins, &c., of ivory and bone--Fragments of a lyre--Various objects.

The _third stratum_: the remains of an Aryan race--Hardly a trace of metal--Structure of their houses--Their stone implements and terra-cottas coarser--Various forms of pottery--Remarkable _terra-cotta balls_ with astronomical and religious symbols--Whorls--Stone weapons--Whetstones--Hammers and instruments of diorite--A well belonging to this people--This third town destroyed with its people.

The _fourth settlers_: comparatively savage, but still of Aryan race--Whorls with like emblems, but of a degenerate form--Their pottery inferior, but with some curious forms--Idols of Athena--Articles of copper--Few stones--Charred remains, indicating wooden buildings--Stone weights, handmills, and knives and saws of flint--With this people the pre-Hellenic ages end--The stone buildings and painted and plain terra-cottas of _Greek Ilium_--Date of the Greek colony--Signs that the old inhabitants were not extirpated--The whorls of very coarse clay and patterns--Well, and jars for water and wine--Proofs of the regular succession of nations on the hill--Reply to the arguments of M. Nikolaïdes for the site at Bunarbashi--The Simoïs, Thymbrius, and Scamander--The tomb of Ajax at In-Tépé--Remains in it--Temple of Ajax and town of Aianteum--Tomb of Achilles and town of Achilleum--Tombs of Patroclus and Antilochus--The Greek camp--The tomb of Batiea or Myrina--Further discussion of the site 143