DOI article:
Waldstein, Charles: [Excavations and discoveries at Eretria, 1891-1895]
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8681#0129
A TOPOGRAPHICAL STUDY OF ERETRIA. 117
before these towers existed. "When these earlier defenses had been
destroyed, or were for some reason thought to be too weak for so im-
portant a line of defense, they were replaced by the existing towers.
Naturally, the lower branch-wall must have joined the lower tower to
make the line of defense complete. As no signs of a more intimate
union exist, it seems that the wall must have been merely built up
against the tower. By what sort of gate the entrance between the two
towers was closed does not appear. The holes at comparatively regular
intervals under the top course of stones of the upper tower appear, from
a comparison with other parts of the same structure, to have been
formed by the removal of the small stones used to fill up the openings
due to the polygonal shape of the larger blocks. Some 37 m. from A,
8 m. from the dividing-point of the two branches, is found one side of
the gateway leading within the acropolis itself. It is not possible to
make out the width of this entrance. The existing portion has the
same appearance as the sides of the gateway at b, on the west of the
hill. From h to k, there are in the wall a few traces of patching in
which lime-mortar appears for the first time. At k, is the last of the
four great acropolis-towers, 9.8 m. by 7 m. in area. It is more massive
than the other three, one corner-stone being 1 m. X 1 m. X 0.46 m.
The wall here extends across the tower, which must therefore have
been a later addition to the fortifications.
At the point/, the descent of the acrcmolis along the line of the
wall begins. The slope is gradual from this point to k. From k to
our starting-point at A, the angle of the slope is 17°, and the line runs
obliquely down the hillside. The extant portions for a part of this
distance are scanty but sufficient to determine the wall. Up to the
pointp, wherever measurable, the thickness is about 2.10 m. and the
usual wall-characteristics of the acropolis-wall appear. Just beyond
p, where measurement and accurate observation are again possible, the
width is 2.6 m. and the appearance is that of the wall of the lower city.
The cross-wall along the southern edge of the acropolis next claims
attention. Starting at 1, on the west side of the acropolis, are the re-
mains of two walls some 7 m. distant from each other. The ends are
merely built against the main line at this point. The lower of these
extends only a few metres, and is of as venerable appearance as the
walls of Tiryns. The upper one is the beginning of the real cross-
wall. Through the latter, a short distance from the beginning, is a
passage 1.8 m. wide. Foundation-stones across the bottom of the pas-
before these towers existed. "When these earlier defenses had been
destroyed, or were for some reason thought to be too weak for so im-
portant a line of defense, they were replaced by the existing towers.
Naturally, the lower branch-wall must have joined the lower tower to
make the line of defense complete. As no signs of a more intimate
union exist, it seems that the wall must have been merely built up
against the tower. By what sort of gate the entrance between the two
towers was closed does not appear. The holes at comparatively regular
intervals under the top course of stones of the upper tower appear, from
a comparison with other parts of the same structure, to have been
formed by the removal of the small stones used to fill up the openings
due to the polygonal shape of the larger blocks. Some 37 m. from A,
8 m. from the dividing-point of the two branches, is found one side of
the gateway leading within the acropolis itself. It is not possible to
make out the width of this entrance. The existing portion has the
same appearance as the sides of the gateway at b, on the west of the
hill. From h to k, there are in the wall a few traces of patching in
which lime-mortar appears for the first time. At k, is the last of the
four great acropolis-towers, 9.8 m. by 7 m. in area. It is more massive
than the other three, one corner-stone being 1 m. X 1 m. X 0.46 m.
The wall here extends across the tower, which must therefore have
been a later addition to the fortifications.
At the point/, the descent of the acrcmolis along the line of the
wall begins. The slope is gradual from this point to k. From k to
our starting-point at A, the angle of the slope is 17°, and the line runs
obliquely down the hillside. The extant portions for a part of this
distance are scanty but sufficient to determine the wall. Up to the
pointp, wherever measurable, the thickness is about 2.10 m. and the
usual wall-characteristics of the acropolis-wall appear. Just beyond
p, where measurement and accurate observation are again possible, the
width is 2.6 m. and the appearance is that of the wall of the lower city.
The cross-wall along the southern edge of the acropolis next claims
attention. Starting at 1, on the west side of the acropolis, are the re-
mains of two walls some 7 m. distant from each other. The ends are
merely built against the main line at this point. The lower of these
extends only a few metres, and is of as venerable appearance as the
walls of Tiryns. The upper one is the beginning of the real cross-
wall. Through the latter, a short distance from the beginning, is a
passage 1.8 m. wide. Foundation-stones across the bottom of the pas-