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

REPORTS ON EXCAVATION'S AT SPARTA IN 1893.

In the reports on the excavations of the American School
of Classical Studies at Athens in 1892 to the President of
the Arch geological Institute of America,1 as well as to the
Chairman of the Managing Committee of the School,2 mention
was made of the excavations at Sparta in the spring of that
year. The chief definite result of these excavations was the
apparent discovery of the "circular building" spoken of by
Pausanias3 as being close to the Skias.

Before the work of excavating was begun the site pre-
sented the appearance of a round mound of earth about
forty-four metres in diameter at the base, lying on the
gentle slope of a ridge with the summit of which the upper
surface of the mound was continuous at the northwest. The
sides of the mound rise steeply, and the summit, though
nearly level, has a slight slope from northwest to southeast.
The surface of the mound is highest above the slope of the
ridge at its southern side (about six metres).

The excavations conducted in 1893 revealed the existence
of a large wall of Hellenic construction following the line of
the circumference of the mound for some distance in an
easterly direction from the point marked Z on Fig. 1. At
the easternmost point of this line there were evident traces
of repair in a subsequent period of the history of this build-
ing ; while a few feet to the southeast of the wall, at this
point, there were Roman remains of a brick structure in fair
preservation. On the upper surface of the mound last year's
work also brought to light a large basis for a statue, or group

1 Thirteenth Annual Report, p. 66, seq.

2 Eleventh Annual Report of the Managing Committee, Director's Report, p. 31.

8 3. xii, 9. irpbg d& r-tj 1>KLa6t otKoddfi?jfid tart TrepLtpepeg, ev de avrC Aib(; Kal 'Atppo-
dirric ayakfiara iir'iArjaw 'O^vfnviuv tovto 'Eirwevidi/v KaraoKevdoai teyovoiv, o\>x
6p.o?<oyovvT£(; rd £f avrbv 'Apyeiotg, ottov fir/de irolefiyaat tyacL ~pbg Kvuatovc.

206