Cyclopean Walls Research Articles

Smart village - new strategy for the development of Piniq’s reality

Finiq is an Albanian municipality located near the ancient city of Phoeniciae in southern Albania. It is located a few kilometres from the Greek border and a few kilometers from the Ionian Sea. Finiq is located almost at the foot of the slope of the hill on which this ancient city had developed, almost to represent its contemporary continuity. Many problems have plagued this village, including depopulation, isolation from the main roads of the region, and a loss of identity. Analyzing the city of Finiq, however, many resources can be used for greater enhancement of the municipality. What characterizes them is the strategic position close to the elongated and characteristic hill, from whose summit you can admire all the pan- orama, from the plain to the hills to Lake Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ancient city of Phoinike has developed on top of the relief and is a settlement that finds its most accomplished monumental expression around the middle of the third century B.C. also becoming the capital of the region, of which today some traces remain, such as the cyclopean walls, the ancient entrance, the theatre. Among the most important archaeological emergencies of the area, in fact, there is the mon- astery of San Nicola, which stands on a hill, surrounded by the wide bend of the river Bistricta. The ancient complex included a large wall with seven watchtowers, of which today only a few traces remain. Within the walls survives only the Byzantine monument, still used by the community for the celebration of their religious rites. Other small villages were merged into the municipality of Finiq, such as Aliko, Dhiver, Livad- hja, and Mesopotam. Finiq and the other towns could be conceived from the perspective of a smart village, enhancing the strengths of rural reality, and starting a transformation from tourism: the naturalistic and historical cultural potential can allow the villages of the area to become an important attraction of the area, obtaining visibility and funding for its development. By smart village, we mean a rural area that, starting from its potential, tries to find solutions for its territory. At the basis of this challenge are the communities themselves that implement a series of strategies and shared projects to achieve a common goal: the development and growth of their rural area. In conclusion, this study aims to analyze other "smart" villages in Europe, which started from the enhancement of their heritage for the development of their area: each area is different from the others and each project is different from the others, but the common results are comparable. From these "case studies", it will be possible to under- stand how Finiq can become "smart", and which approach is needed to strengthen the area.

Review: Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance Buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo

Review: <i>Emulating Antiquity: Renaissance Buildings from Brunelleschi to Michelangelo</i>

Terra Incognita: Results of Polish excavations in Albania and Montenegro

One of the most important issues in Illyrian archeology today concerns the origins of Illyrian cities. The excavations at Rhizon have provided new data on the subject where many elements of the ancient urban architecture have been recorded. First, the monumental defense walls so called – Cyclopean wall. The lower town was divided into districts, but it was not an orthogonal plan. The architecture of the houses in generally Hellenistic in nature, but always a variation on the standard model in use each of the six insulae. Despite the limited size of the excavation compared to the overall size of the town, three separate bathrooms with terracotta baths have been unearthed, including a bathtub for children. In considering the urban structure of Rhizon the archaeologists had to come to grips with the question of the ruling authority and its architectural emanation. In terms of the functioning of royal authority in Illyria, the discovery of a palatial complex in Rhizon has added immensely to our knowledge. The older complex, included a megaron-type hall with a central hearth, storerooms and large courtyard The area was rebuilt after the event. The rubble was leveled, the storerooms reconstructed. The old megaron was turned into a kitchen and/or banquet hall attached to the new palace, which was built in part in the old courtyard. Part of the courtyard now served as a roadleading along the new palace facade. The younger palace was raised of neatly dressed ashlar blocks of limestone joined by the Greek technique of anathyrosis.&#x0D; Excavation in the other capital of Illyria, Scoder, open the way to interesting considerations in reference to the above. One of the most interesting discoveries was made during an investigation of a cistern constructed in Venetian times and rebuilt by the Turks. Two inscriptions, one whole and the other fragmentary, were immured into the central pillar supporting the roof of the cistern. Three inscriptions were preserved on one of these two blocks. On the one ofthe Latin text, Scoder is mentioned as a Roman colony. In late Roman times Scoder was the capital of the Praevalis province. The wall, excavated by us, surrounding the lower town dates to this period. One of the mysteries of Scoder was a bulwark below the north wall of the fortifications The present investigations have identified the wall as a defensive structure raised by the Venetians during the Turkish siege of 1478/1479. Three other interesting discoveries concern the 17th and 18th centuries. A set of almost 30 glass aryballoi were found in the ruins of one of the Turkish houses. Another hoard, found this time in a water sewer which is always interesting to the archaeologist, contained a small bag of silver coins struck in Dubrovnik in the early 17th century as well as a series of majolica vessels covered with a colored glaze and even some imported Chinese porcelain. An apothecary's shop in the lower town yielded the remains of scales, vessels and a well preserved small tin pyxis The inscription on its cover identifies its content as „thyriaca”, an antidote known to English apothecaries as Venice treacle.

ERKEN DEMİRÇAĞ’INDAN ORTAÇAĞ’A MANİSA KALESİ

Manisa Castle located on the northern slope of the Mount Spil (formerly known as Sipylus) overlooking the Gediz Valley. The castle consists of two main parts: ‘citadel’ on the top of the hill and ‘outer wall’ (i.e. outer castle, bailey) on the hillside and extending in parallel to Manisa city. The oldest name of the city is Magnesia and the exact date of its foundation is unknown. Manisa was an important military base and, later, a center of the bishopric during the Byzantine period until it was captured by Saruhan Bey in the early 14th century. The city was incorporated into the Ottoman Beylik in the early 15th century. The Manisa Castle hosted significant cultures and survived to our time, unfortunately, largely ruined. The castle was extensively researched but still needs further examination. The aim of this study is to determine and document the castle, survey the walls that indicate to different periods, examine the structures inside the castle and their functions. In this context, the latest situation of the castle, its inner and outer walls have been retained. We can say that the castle has three main stages. The cyclopean masonry, which was made from large stone blocks without mortar, represents the earliest stage. Although sporadically, traces of the cyclopean walls are still visible along the outer Wall. Byzantine architecture dominates the Manisa Castle. The extant part of the castle was shaped by the repairs and additions performed during the period of John III Doukas Vatatzes. Manisa gained importance after the 12th century in the Byzantine period and became the center of imperial treasury and mint during the reign of Laskarids. Moreover, sources write that John III Doukas Vatatzes built a palace within the citadel. In line with the information, the survey was focused on terraces and structure remains in the outer wall. High and long retaining walls, the terraces they form, and regularly placed corbels on the retaining walls are striking. Balconies and loggias carried by corbels were frequently used in the Byzantine palace architecture. Corbeled retaining walls and terraces of outer castle suggest that the palace in the Manisa Castle might be in the outer castle. When Saruhan Bey captured the city in 1313, Fetih Mosque and an adjacent fountain were built in the outer wall. The mosque’s location indicates that the initial Turkish settlement was inside the walls, which were repaired during the Turkish period. These repairs were documented in both architectural data and the archived data.

The Megalithic Building of S. Erasmo di Cesi: Architecture, Astronomy, and Landscape

One of the most enigmatic megalithic buildings of Italy is the structure which lies on the S. Erasmo hill near Cesi, in Umbria, a huge complex encompassing an area of around 8000 square meters and enclosed by refined cyclopean walls. Although its date is uncertain, suggested dates comprise the Iron Age and archaic period, down to the third century B.C. The building’s function is also uncertain. Usually identified as a fortified structure, in fact there is a megalithic platform at the southern end of the enclosure which could have served as foundation of a temple or palace and, from the top of Monte Torre Maggiore, a complex of temples dating from the fourth century B.C. overlooks the hill. Similar combinations of megalithic buildings resting half-way to temples placed on high peaks are known to exist. In order to clarify the function of this structure and its position in relation to the surrounding landscape, with particular attention to its visibility and to the directions of visibility from the complex, as well as to the possible astronomical alignments, we present a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the S. Erasmo complex, which includes the mapping of the sky at the various possible epochs of construction, the creation of a digital model of the landscape in forms of digital maps using Geographic Information System technologies, and a 3D model using various 3D software packages.

GEOMORPHOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE BROADER AREA OF THE MYCENAEAN DAM OF MEGALO REMA AND ANCIENT TIRYNS, SOUTHEASTERN ARGIVE PLAIN, PELOPONNESUS

Along the eastern margins of the Argive plain, in the torrent of Mégalo Rema and at a distance of 4 kilometers east of ancient Tiryns, lies the "Mycenaean dam of ancient Tiryns" a unique technological work of 13th century B.C. It is believed that it was constructed for the effective protection of the immediate environs of the Mycenaean acropolis of Tiryns from the great floods of Mégalo Rema torrent which was flowing just south of the citadel in Mycenaean times. This technical feat is survived in very good condition, having an almost N-S direction, a length of 80-100 meters, a base of 10 meters and an extant height of 8 meters. Its external side is lined with Cyclopean walls. The stability of the dam is strengthened by the presence of flysch on its southern end. The diversion of the channel of Mégalo Rema was accomplished by the digging of a 1.4 Km long artificial channel having a SSW direction and joining downstream with the natural channel of Agios Adrianos Rema which discharges in the Gulf of Argos farther south from ancient Tiryns. The course of this downstream part of the new Mégalo Rema was again diverted by the Venetians around 1500 A.D. The presence of this dam comprises a fundamental reference point for the geomorphological evolution of this area in the last 3200 years, given that when it was constructed the drainage network of Mégalo Rema had already incised in the Pleistocene sediments to a depth of about 10 meters as testified by its inactive channel behind the dam. The ensuing downcutting in the artificial channel during the last 3200 years is 2 meters below the depth of the inactive channel. The incision processes in this time period were not continuous resulting in the formation of a 3-4 meter inner alluvial terrace probably in post - Roman times. The construction of the Mycenaean dam for flood protective purposes seems to be valid, but the study of the evolution of the broader coastal environment of the Tiryns acropolis leads to an equally important hypothesis that the high sedimentation rates of Mégalo Rema had been creating serious problems in the sediment filling of this Mycenaean port whose operation was vitally important for the broader area of the Mycenaean Argive plain.

The western approach to the Athenian akropolis

The structures along the west side of the Athenian Akropolis have long delighted visitors approaching the site and have challenged scholars for generations. By happy coincidence a variety of different studies has recently been published which emphasized different aspects of the approaches to the citadel and once again remind us of the many problems still remaining to be solved.Ira S. Mark concentrated on the shrine of the Athena Nike. He dealt primarily with the Mycenaean bastion enclosed within the later ashlar masonry of the classical podium, the various early remains of the shrine, which lie roughly 1.30 m. below the floor level of the classical temple, and the historical background of the temple itself. He published a few of the many early drawings of the bastion made by Nikolaos Balanos and his associates and re-examined the early walls crowning the archaic bastion, which he divided into various stages. Although, in my opinion, his chronology needs adjustment, his division of the walls built along the edges of the basion into different phases helps us to understand in more detail the history of the site and is a welcome addition. One of these earlier walls, which had long been considered to be Mycenaean, was dated by Mark to a much later phase (Fig. 1, 15). He suggested that the wall was a post-Mycenaean addition built in this position to enclose the east side of the shrine. This wall lies parallel to the West Cyclopean Wall and had been thought to represent the eastern limit of the bastion. The fragmentary remains of this wall, which are no longer visible, were originally recorded by Panagiotis Kavvadias and Georg Kawerau and its existence has bedeviled all attempts to restore a Mycenaean gate in this area.

The Cyclopean Wall on the Isthmus of Corinth, Addendum

The Cyclopean Wall on the Isthmus of Corinth, Addendum

The Cyclopean Wall on the Isthmus of Corinth and Its Bearing on Late Bronze Age Chronology

The Cyclopean Wall on the Isthmus of Corinth and Its Bearing on Late Bronze Age Chronology

Two Statuettes from Mycenae

The destruction of by the Argives ca. 468 B.C. seems to have been so thorough that two ancient authors imply that the site was abandoned after the event. Diodorus, who tells the story of that destruction so dramatically (11.65), adds that Mycenae remained uninhabited until our day, while Strabo, echoing this impression, wrote a trace of the city was to be seen in his day (8.6.io). The work of the excavators of Mycenae, however, has proved that these authors were not accurately informed. Tsountas especially and after him Wace revealed within the citadel of abundant remnants of houses proving that the site was re-inhabited. It is definitely established that in the third century B.C. the people of Argos built a kome, a township on the hill of Mycenae. It was then that the Cyclopean walls of were patched with polygonal masonry, that the breeches made in the destruction of 468 were bridged. Within the citadel many houses were built, often using the Mycenaean retaining walls and foundations, and the temple on top of the hill was reconstructed on a larger scale. In addition, part of the ridge to the west of the citadel was enclosed by fortification walls and transformed into a Lower City. Of the public buildings in the Lower City, the remains of an imposing fountain, perhaps the Perseia of Pausanias, were cleared by Wace in 1952 and the scanty remains of a theater were revealed, built across the dromos of the so-called Tomb of Clytemnestra. None of the houses excavated was described in detail, and the pottery found in the early excavations was summarily mentioned. Of the other objects discovered only the inscriptions were carefully studied and published, and it is from these inscriptions that we learn of the abduction of the Ephebes of at the very beginning of the second century B.C. by Nabis, the King of Sparta.' Plutarch also has preserved the information that in 235 B.c. the Argive tyrant Aristippos, after an unsuccessful attack on Kleonai, was killed at Mycenae.2 No statuary from the Hellenistic era has been recorded as having been found among the ruins of the Hellenistic village. We have to bear in mind these general facts of the later history of when we try to evaluate works of art found in its ruins. The two statuettes presented here were discovered in our campaign of 1961 on the north slope of the acropolis of Mycenae. They are of small artistic merit perhaps, but since they are the only pieces of sculpture found, or at least recorded, from the Hellenistic township they may prove of some interest. We offer them as a humble tribute from to a distinguished scholar and real friend who has devoted a lifetime to the study and appreciation of Greek statuary. Both were found on the floor of a Hellenistic room built against the Mycenaean terrace wall which formed the south margin of the road leading from the Lion Gate to the foot of the north stairway of the Palace. The context will place them in the second half of the third century B.c. Figures I and 2, pl. 80, illustrate the bronze statuette found on top of fragments of an unpainted pithos lying on the floor of the room. The profile of the rim of the pithos will place it midway between the pithos' fragments from the Agora area published by Thompson,3 i.e. in the third century s.c. and probably in the second half of that century. It stands 6.5 cm. in height and is tolerably well preserved. It represents a kouros holding a phiale in his right hand and a round object in his clenched left. The phiale would seem to indicate a votary preparing to sacrifice. The beardless face and the long hair, done in a pleasant manner combining plasticity and graphic but smooth linear patterns especially noticeable in the rear view, could suggest Apollo, but the phiale indicates a votary. In spite of the fact that the face is rather crudely modeled,

Introduction; and Addendum

In 1956 the Greek Archaeological Council decided that there should be no excavations at Mycenae. The Anastelosis Department was still busy with the rebuilding of the Cyclopean walls of the Citadel along the western side and along the stretch of ashlar work in conglomerate from the Lion Gate to the north-western angle. At the actual north-western angle the Cyclopean work of the northern wall of the acropolis had originally met the conglomerate work in ashlar with a straight vertical joint. This has now been obscured in the rebuilding. The Archaeological Service was also planning and preparing to put into effect various measures to protect the site from damage by the large numbers of tourists who visit it every year.Since we were thus not able to excavate, we devoted ourselves to studying and preparing for publication the finds from the excavations of previous years in the museums at Athens and Nauplia. In Athens the Director of the National Museum, Dr. Karouzos, and his wife, Mrs. Semne Karouzou, made us very welcome and afforded us every possible facility. Mrs. Sakellariou and Mr. Papathanasopoulos, assistant curators in the museum, also gave us much friendly help. At Nauplia Mr. N. Verdeles, the Inspector of Antiquities, and Miss Protonotariou, the Epimeletes, made special arrangements for our work and gave us every support.

Part I. Neolithic Mycenae

Stamatakes's excavations in the Grave Circle area revealed, although it was not recognized until much later, that Mycenae had been inhabited in the Early Bronze Age, the Early Helladic Period. This was confirmed by subsequent researches which produced Early Helladic material from the foot of the Ramp, outside the Grave Circle, beneath the South House and below the Palace. Now the recent work of Dr. Papademetriou and ourselves has yielded fresh evidence. He has found more E.H. material in Schliemann's Grave Circle and some possible Neolithic sherds as well. In the area of the Prehistoric Cemetery outside the Cyclopean walls to the north-west of the Lion Gate we have found in a mixed unstratified layer at the eastern foot of the mound or tumulus which covered the dome of the ‘Tomb of Aegisthus’ many fragments of E.H. pottery, both decorated and plain. Since the plain E.H. ware found is of a simple, thickish fabric hand-polished and usually of a dull red or of a mud colour, we had at times wondered whether some of these fragments might not almost be classed as Neolithic. This was especially so in the case of some of the fragments from the lowest strata at the foot of the Ramp. Unfortunately these fragments were lost during the war in the Nauplia Museum and cannot now be checked.The discovery of Neolithic B pottery at the Argive Heraeum, and still more recently Dr. Caskey's most successful excavations at Lerna, encouraged us in the idea that a site like Mycenae was probably inhabited in Neolithic times also. Since the Early Helladic material is not stratified, except in areas like the foot of the Ramp or below the South House, it was hardly to be expected that Neolithic remains, if found, would be stratified. It is always possible, however, that some part of the site, not yet explored, may have escaped later disturbance or overbuilding. We have therefore now paid particular attention to the unstratified debris found above the Prehistoric Cemetery at the eastern foot of the Aegisthus mound. Among this we have found two sherds which are in our opinion almost certainly Neolithic.

Part IV. Prehistoric Cemetery: A Deposit of L.H. III Pottery

In 1939, following up the suggestion of Tsountas that Schliemann's Grave Circle with the tombs found under the houses round it had once formed part of a Prehistoric Cemetery which had been, so to speak, cut in two when the Lion Gate and Cyclopean Citadel Wall were built, we excavated an area north-west of the Lion Gate outside the walls in the hope of finding tombs belonging to the Cemetery. We were not disappointed and we found fifteen tombs ranging in date from Middle Helladic to Late Helladic II. A report of this discovery with an account of the tombs has already been published.In 1950 one of the objects of our excavation was to extend the exploration outside the Cyclopean walls of this area, now known as the Prehistoric Cemetery. The south-west corner of the area already excavated had proved to be rich in M.H. tombs (Graves XI, XIII–XV). We decided, therefore, to clear the immediately adjoining section to the south-east, where we hoped to find other graves of the Cemetery. The excavation was entrusted to Miss D. H. F. Gray, and her notebook has been freely drawn upon in the preparation of this report.The part excavated divides naturally, as will be seen by the plan (Fig. 2), into a northern and a southern division which are separated by an east–west cross–wall (A–A on the plan). This wall is the eastern continuation of a wall found in the south-western area in 1939 just to the south of Grave XIII. Immediately to the east of Grave XIII the wall is crossed by a north–south wall, B–B, at a higher level. This later wall seems almost certainly Hellenistic, for it belongs to the uppermost strata of the area which contained Hellenistic tiles, loom weights, and pottery. It runs northwards for about 2·50 m. to 3·00 m. and then returns at a right angle eastwards, C–C, forming the southern boundary of the area excavated in 1939. The return at its east end runs into another, rather irregular north–south Hellenistic wall, D–D, which we took as the limit of our excavations in this direction.

Part II. The Prehistoric Cemetery: Graves below The House of the Warrior Vase

The exploration of the Grave Circle within the Cyclopean Walls near the Lion Gate, which we began in 1920, resulted in the discovery or identification of several groups of graves, which led us to the conclusion that a Prehistoric Cemetery had lain on the hillside at this point before the fortifications were constructed and that the Shaft Graves were a group of royal graves enclosed within that cemetery.In 1939, following a suggestion made by Tsountas, we explored the area to the north-west of the Lion Gate outside the walls and found there fifteen graves belonging to the Prehistoric Cemetery which was in use from Middle Helladic to Late Helladic II times. Subsequent exploration outside the walls in this region has resulted in the discovery of yet more graves, and those so far noted and explored outside the walls now number forty. To these we should probably add one more, a disturbed grave found recently by the Anastelosis Section of the Greek Archaeological Service in its operations at the north-west angle of the bastion on the west of the entrance to the Lion Gate.

Part IV. The ‘Gallery’ in the North Wall

Almost midway between the Postern Gate and the north-west angle of the Cyclopean Walls there is against the inside of the wall a chamber with a roof in the form of an inverted V, called by Steffen on his plan ‘Galerie’. Schliemann does not refer to it, and the ‘gallery’ he mentions is the drain through the wall east of the secret cistern. Tsountas and Manatt say: ‘What had long been taken for a gallery in the north wall proves to be nothing but a little chamber measuring less than 7 by 12 feet.’In this connection it must be remembered that at Mycenae there is usually a narrow passage between the inside of the Cyclopean wall and the buildings within. The chamber mentioned has therefore probably been formed by covering this passage with an inverted V roof resting on one side against the Cyclopean Wall and on the other against the rock which rises rather steeply southwards at this point within the walls. This was probably done at a comparatively late stage in the history of the prehistoric citadel as indicated by Mr. Kenneth Rowe below.

Mycenae, 1953

The British excavations at Mycenae in 1953 had the following main objectives: the further exploration of the Prehistoric Cemetery outside the Cyclopean walls to the west of the Lion Gate, the area south of the Perseia Krene where a fine wall of ashlar poros was discovered in 1952, the houses to the north and south of the House of the Oil Merchant, and further investigation of the Cyclopean Terrace Building. At the same time work was begun on the excavation of the area within the Acropolis between the South House and Tsountas' House. The excavations were supported by a research grant from the American Philosophical Society, with contributions from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, the British Academy, the Bollingen Foundation, and the British School at Athens, under whose aegis the work was conducted.In the Prehistoric Cemetery several tombs of the Middle Helladic period were discovered. On the northern edge of the cemetery an interesting group of graves was found, one of the latest Mycenaean period, L.H. IIIC, and two of the developed Geometric period. With the larger of the latter, a cist grave, nineteen vases were found which included undecorated vases of excellent fabric and a shallow bowl of ‘Pie Ware’ which demonstrate the contemporaneity of these styles. These vases, together with two others from a Proto-Geometrie grave dug into the ruins of the House of Shields, form a series illustrating the gradual evolution of culture at Mycenae from the end of the Bronze Age into the Iron Age. They show that there was no sudden break in its development, but only a slow evolution as in Attica. The ‘Dorian Invasion’ was not a cultural revolution.

Outline for a History of City Planning from Prehistory to the Fall of the Roman Empire. III: Greece and the Greek Colonies

Remains of their civilization are found at Crete, Mycenae, and elsewhere, giving a fairl.y clear idea of how these peoples built their palaces such as the palace at Knossos and protected their cities (remains of Cyclopean walls) from a purely architectural point of view. Sometime between the year 2000 B. C. and 1500 B. C. a new race, the Achaeans, overran the pcwer of these older kingdoms, establishing the civilization of the so-called Mycenaean period described in Homer' s poems. Whether or not the war against Troy started and developed as is told, it is certain that the Mycenaean Greeks were civilized enough to travel, trade and fight in all territories around the Aegean Sea.

What Happened at Athens

IN THE history of the incursions into Greece from the north at the end of the Mycenaean age, known as the Dorian invasion, Athens holds a peculiar place. We learn from ancient writers that Attica was by-passed when the invaders descended into the Hellenic peninsula. The Athenians were forever reminded by their orators of the fact that Athens had never been subject to a foreign power, that its citizens had never seen their properties invaded. It will be my task tonight to show how far the archaeological remains in Athens itself substantiate this tradition. Until a comparatively few years ago, Mycenaean Athens was all but unknown. Sections of the Mycenaean fortification of the Acropolis had been discovered in the earlier excavations, but accurate observation of the stratification associated with these remains were not made at that time, and as a result the wall itself constituted practically all our knowledge of Mycenaean Athens. Then in the nineteen-thirties excavations in various parts of the city brought forth much new evidence which throws light on the period under consideration. The first of these excavations was that of the German Archaeological Institute in the Kerameikos close to the Dipylon Gate. Here a series of graves were excavated, the very earliest of which date from the end of the period which is the subject of our discussion tonight, and later graves in the same area carry the history of the city down to classical times. This discovery was fundamental for an understanding of the role which Athens played in the time of the Dorian invasion and the centuries following. The excavations in the Athenian Agora, beginning about the same time, resulted in the discovery of several Mycenaean tombs belonging to the period preceding the Dorian invasion. Our excavations on the North Slope of the Acropolis, which will be discussed in greater detail below, brought us right into the midst of the era with which we are dealing. These were begun in 1931 and carried on with some interruptions until 1939. About the same time, Mr. N. Balanos, of the Greek Archaeological Service, began dismantling the Athena Nike temple with a view toward a more accurate restoration, and in the course of these investigations the Mycenaean Tower, upon which the temple rests, became exposed. Finally, in 1938 Professor Kolbe, examining the evidence for the date of the earlier Parthenon, was led to an investigation of the Mycenaean wall itself. In the undisturbed fill between the inner and outer face of the wall he discovered some potsherds which must be contemporary with, or earlier than, the construction of the fortification. Some of these are fragments of unpainted kylikes, of a type in common use near the end of the Mycenaean period. This pottery shows conclusively that the so-called Pelasgian or Cyclopean wall around the Acropolis dates from the second half of the 13th century B.C. These five areas of excavation furnished our information regarding Athens in Mycenaean times and throughout the era with which we are dealing tonight. I shall now describe in more detail the Mycenaean remains unearthed in the excavations conducted on the North Slope of the Acropolis by the American School of Classical Studies. In the early campaigns of these excavations we discovered the continuation of the stairway leading from the lower city to the postern gate at the northeast corner of the Acropolis. The upper part of this stairway which had been laid bare in the earlier excavations

The Cyclopean Walls at Tarragona

If the description of the 6th century Massalian Periplus, preserved in the Ora Maritima of Rufus Festus Avienus,l does not refer to Tarragona, as almost all scholars agree with Professor Bosch Gimpera2 in believing, then one can only say that to no other city of the Spanish coast can that account of its walls be applied with greater appropriateness.Seldom does it happen, as at Tarragona, that the ancient walls retain intact throughout the ages the embodiment of history amid the modern life of the city, and nowhere else with such charm and grandeur as that of Cesse with its true Iberian atmosphere. Usually the huge blocks of the primitive cyclopean wall are overlaid with reconstructions and refacings of the Roman, Visigothic and Medieval periods and of the modern Spanish fortifications.

Part III. Commentary

Tsountas, as a result of his own excavations in the prehistoric cemeteries of Mycenae, came to the conclusion that the geographical distribution of the tombs in well-defined groups was not accidental, but designed. He found that the tombs were arranged in groups of eight, ten, or more lying close together in definite localities clearly separated from one another. This division of the cemeteries which lie near the Acropolis of Mycenae to the north, north-west, west, and south-west at the foot of the mountain of Hagios Elias, and in the sides of the various ridges that run south-westwards from it, he interpreted as meaning that the inhabitants of Mycenae lived in small villages or townships on these hills, and buried their dead in cemeteries hewn out of the sides of the ridges whereon they dwelt. The Acropolis was little more than a fortified palace protecting with its cyclopean walls the royal house, the great officers of state, chamberlains, captains of the guard, and the necessary servants or slaves, together of course with enough trusty guards to defend the walls in case of danger. The inhabitants of the separate villages were the ordinary civilian population, and Tsountas suggests that they lived in clans or groups of families, and that they continued in the tomb the clanship they had maintained in life. With the knowledge at present available these conclusions of Tsountas are eminently reasonable, and nothing found in the course of our excavations in the prehistoric tombs of Mycenae leads us to disagree with him on these points, for, as has been seen above and as will be explained below, the tombs we excavated have every appearance of being family sepulchres used by the same families over a considerable period of years.