Puzzling transitions from the “Stone Age” to a higher
civilization--The stone age reappears in force, mixed with pottery
of fine workmanship, and the whorls in great number--Conjectures as
to their uses: probably _Ex votos_--_Priapi_ of stone and
terra-cotta: their worship brought by the primitive Aryans from
Bactria--Vessels with the owl’s face--Boars’ tusks--Varied
implements and weapons of stone--Hand mill-stones--Models of canoes
in terra-cotta--Whetstones--The one object of the excavations, to
find TROY.
On the Hill of Hissarlik, November 3rd, 1871.
My last communication was dated the 26th of October, and since then I
have proceeded vigorously with 80 workmen on an average. Unfortunately,
however, I have lost three days; for on Sunday, a day on which the
Greeks do not work, I could not secure the services of any Turkish
workmen, for they are now sowing their crops; on two other days I was
hindered by heavy rains.
To my extreme surprise, on Monday, the 30th of last month, I suddenly
came upon a mass of _débris_, in which I found an immense quantity of
implements made of hard black stone (diorite), but of a very primitive
form. On the following day, however, not a single stone implement was
found, but a small piece of silver wire and a great deal of broken
pottery of elegant workmanship, among others the fragment of a cup with
an owl’s head. I therefore thought I had again come upon the remains of
a civilized people, and that the stone implements of the previous day
were the remains of an invasion of a barbarous tribe, whose dominion had
been of but short duration. But I was mistaken, for on the Wednesday the
stone period reappeared in even greater force, and continued throughout
the whole of yesterday. To-day, unfortunately, no work can be done owing
to the heavy downpour of rain.
I find much in this stone period that is quite inexplicable to me, and I
therefore consider it necessary to describe everything as minutely as
possible, in the hope that one or other of my honoured colleagues will
be able to give an explanation of the points which are obscure to me.
In the first place, I am astonished that here on the highest point of
the hill, where, according to every supposition the noblest buildings
must have stood, I come upon the stone period as early as at a depth of
4½ meters (about 15 feet), whereas last year, at a distance of only
66 feet from the top of the hill, I found in my cutting, at the depth of
more than 16 feet, a wall, 6½ feet thick, and by no means very
ancient, and no trace of the stone period, although I carried that
cutting to a depth of more than 26 feet. This probably can be explained
in no other way than that the hill, at the place where the wall stands,
must have been very low, and that this low position has been gradually
raised by the _débris_.
Further, I do not understand how it is possible that in the present
stratum and upon the whole length of my cutting (which must now be at
least 184 feet) to its mouth, that is, as far as the steep declivity, I
should find stone implements, which obviously prove that that part of
the steep side of the hill cannot have increased in size since the stone
period by rubbish thrown down from above.
Next, I cannot explain how it is possible that I should find things
which, to all appearance, must have been used by the uncivilized men of
the stone period, but which could not have been made with the rude
implements at their disposal. Among these I may specially mention the
earthen vessels found in great numbers, without decorations, it is true,
and not fine, but which however are of excellent workmanship. Not one of
these vessels has been turned upon a potter’s wheel, and yet it appears
to me that they could not have been made without the aid of some kind of
machine, such as, on the other hand, could not have been produced by the
rude stone implements of the period.
I am further surprised to find, in this stone period, and more
frequently than ever before, those round articles with a hole in the
centre, which have sometimes the form of humming-tops or whorls
(_carrouselen_), sometimes of fiery mountains. In the last form they
bear, on a small scale, the most striking resemblance to the colossal
sepulchral mounds of this district, which latter, both on this account
and also because stone implements have been found in one of them (the
Chanaï Tépé) belong probably to the stone period, and therefore perhaps
to an age thousands of years before the Trojan war.[92] At a depth of 3
meters (about 10 feet), I found one of these objects made of very fine
marble: all the rest are made of excellent clay rendered very hard by
burning; almost all of them have decorations, which have evidently been
scratched into them when the clay was as yet unburnt, and which in very
many cases have been filled with a white substance, to make them more
striking to the eye. It is probable that at one time the decorations
upon all of these objects were filled with that white substance, for
upon many of them, where it no longer exists, I see some traces of it.
Upon some of the articles of very hard black clay without decorations,
some hand has endeavoured to make them after the clay had been burnt,
and, when looked at through a magnifying glass, these marks leave no
doubt that they have been laboriously scratched with a piece of flint.
The question then forces itself upon us: _For what were these objects
used?_ They cannot possibly have been employed in spinning or weaving,
or as weights for fishing-nets, for they are too fine and elegant for
such purposes; neither have I as yet been able to discover any
indication that they could have been used for any handicraft. When,
therefore, I consider the perfect likeness of most of these objects to
the form of the heroic sepulchral mounds, I am forced to believe that
they, as well as those with two holes which occurred only at a depth of
6½ feet, were used as _Ex votos_.
Again, to my surprise, I frequently find the Priapus, sometimes
represented quite true to nature in stone or terra-cotta, sometimes in
the form of a pillar rounded off at the top (just such as I have seen in
Indian temples, but there only about 4 inches in length). I once also
found the symbol in the form of a little pillar only about 1 inch in
length, made of splendid black marble striped with white and beautifully
polished, such as is never met with in the whole of this district. I
consequently have not the slightest doubt that the Trojan people of the
stone period worshipped Priapus as a divinity, and that, belonging to
the Indo-Germanic race, they brought this religion from Bactria; for in
India, as is well known, the god of production and of destruction is
represented and worshipped in this form. Moreover, it is probable that
these ancient Trojans are the ancestors of the great Hellenic nation,
for I repeatedly find upon cups and vases of terra-cotta representations
of the owl’s head, which is probably the great-great-grandmother of the
Athenian bird of Pallas-Athena.
With the exception of the above-mentioned piece of silver wire and two
copper nails, I have as yet found no trace of metal in the strata of the
stone period.
As in the upper strata, so in those of the stone period, I find a great
many boars’ tusks, which, in the latter strata, have without exception
been pointed at the end, and have served as implements. It is
inconceivable to me how the men of the stone period, with their
imperfect weapons, were able to kill wild boars. Their lances--like all
their other weapons and instruments--are, it is true, made of very hard
black or green stone, but still they are so blunt that it must have
required a giant’s strength to kill a boar with them. Hammers and axes
are met with of all sizes and in great numbers.[93] I likewise find very
many weights of granite, also a number of hand-mills of lava, which
consist of two pieces about a foot in length, oval on one side and flat
on the other, between which the corn was crushed. Sometimes these
mill-stones are made of granite. Knives are found in very great numbers;
all are of flint, some in the form of knife-blades, others--by far the
greater majority--are jagged on one or on both sides, like saws. Needles
and bodkins made of bone are of frequent occurrence, and sometimes also
small bone spoons. Primitive canoes, such as I frequently saw in Ceylon,
formed out of a hollowed trunk of a tree, are often met with here in
miniature, made of terra-cotta, and I presume that these small vessels
may have served as salt-cellars or pepper-boxes. I likewise find a
number of whetstones about 4 inches in length and nearly as much in
breadth, which are sometimes made of clay, sometimes of green or black
slate; further, a number of round, flat stones a little under and over
two inches in diameter, painted red on one side; also many hundreds of
round terra-cottas of the like size and shape, with a hole in the
centre, and which have evidently been made out of fragments of pottery,
and may have been used on spindles. Flat stone mortars are also met
with.
I also find in my excavations a house-wall of the stone period,
consisting of stones joined by clay, like the buildings which were
discovered on the islands of Therasia and Thera (Santorin) under three
layers of volcanic ashes, forming together a height of 68 feet.
My expectations are extremely modest; I have no hope of finding plastic
works of art. The single object of my excavations from the beginning was
only to find Troy, whose site has been discussed by a hundred scholars
in a hundred books, but which as yet no one has ever sought to bring to
light by excavations. If I should not succeed in this, still I shall be
perfectly contented, if by my labours I succeed only in penetrating to
the deepest darkness of pre-historic times, and enriching archæology by
the discovery of a few interesting features from the most ancient
history of the great Hellenic race. The discovery of the stone period,
instead of discouraging me, has therefore only made me the more desirous
to penetrate to the place which was occupied by the first people that
came here, and I still intend to reach it even if I should have to dig
another 50 feet further down.
_Note._--The “Stone Period” described in this chapter seems to be that
of the _third stratum_ upwards from the rock (4 to 7 meters, or 13 to 23
feet deep); but the description does not make this perfectly
clear.--{ED.}
(9M.) (7M.) (14M.)
[Illustration: Nos. 42-44. Terra-cotta Whorls.
No. 44 Is remarkable for the _depth_ at which it was found.]