Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (6.1890-1897 (1897))

EXCAVATIONS IN" THE THEATRE AT SICYON

EST 1891.

[plate l]

In the " General Report of the Excavations " at Sicyon by-
Mr. McMurtry,1 under the sub-heading, "The Orchestra,"
some description is given of "an elaborate drainage-system "
in the theatre. In my " Supplementary Report," Ibid.,
p. 25, mention is made of the "so-called vnovoixos" and of
the uncertainty as to " whether it served as reservoir, drain,
or for some other purpose," an uncertainty which it was at
that time impossible to dispel.

At the suggestion of Professor Merriam, Dr. Charles Wald-
stein, Director of the School, procured for me from the Greek
authorities permission to resume work at the theatre of Sicyon.
The excavations were carried on between July 27 and August
4, 1891, having as their object the solution of the problem of
the theatre's subterranean structure. The results obtained
are as follows:

The v7tovo)Ao?, or underground passage, in its main extent
begins at a point between the walls E and D, in the plan
annexed to the above mentioned reports (see also the
accompanying plan of vertical and horizontal sections p. 2)
about 1.80 m. from E. It is cut down straight through the
crust of native rock to the clay which lies below, its depth
being about 2.25 m. or a trifle more. Its width here is about
.56 m. At a depth of 1.60 m. below the upper surface of the
native rock, and 1.25 m. below the shelf cut for the reception
of the cover-stones, appears the mouth of a tunnel, which is
of equal breadth with the vnovofio? and is now almost entirely

''Papers of the Am. Scltool at Athens, v. p. 1.

1