[Illustration: No. 108. _a_, Hand Millstone of Lava (15 M.). _b_, Brilliant black Dish with side Rings for hanging it up (14 M.). _c_,_c_,_c_,_c_, Small decorated Rings of Terra-cotta (10-14 M.).]
[Illustration: No. 109. Rude Terra-cotta Idol (14 M.).]
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]