DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.748#0050
INVESTIGATIONS AT ASSOS, 1881. 39
barbarous kitchen utensils, etc. Of the pavement of the
orchestra no traces whatever could be found. The only
decorative sculpture met with was a Hermes upon the west-
ern termination of the balustrade.
In connection with these preliminary studies at the stoa
and theatre, some attention was devoted to the great struc-
tural masses in the vicinity. A number of pits were dug
upon the lower terrace in front of the western half of the
stoa plateau. The walls of a Christian church, V, had made
it evident before the beginning of the excavations that the
later Byzantine occupation had greatly altered the level of
this terrace and the plans of the buildings upon it. A lit-
tle digging showed that a thorough removal of the consid-
erable accumulation of earth would be necessary before any
adequate understanding of the complex constructions could
be obtained. At a depth of from two to four metres the
pits revealed antique pavements, water-pipes, foundation
walls, and even the bases of columns in position, — the fur-
ther investigation of which, on account of the extent of the
work, we found ourselves obliged to reserve for another
year.
The case was similar with the interesting remains of a
portal, M, belonging to a building at the extreme east of
the upper plateau. The massive lintel blocks, fallen from
their position, were not to be moved without the help of the
winch, which did not arrive until after the completion of the
work at this point.
The ruins of an enclosure of considerable extent, within
the city walls and at the southwest of the Acropolis, attracted
the attention of several of the earlier travellers, — notably of
Prokesch von Osten, to whom we owe an admirable descrip-
tion of the state of these remains at the time of his visit.
A fragmentary inscription upon the epistyle blocks of a sur-
barbarous kitchen utensils, etc. Of the pavement of the
orchestra no traces whatever could be found. The only
decorative sculpture met with was a Hermes upon the west-
ern termination of the balustrade.
In connection with these preliminary studies at the stoa
and theatre, some attention was devoted to the great struc-
tural masses in the vicinity. A number of pits were dug
upon the lower terrace in front of the western half of the
stoa plateau. The walls of a Christian church, V, had made
it evident before the beginning of the excavations that the
later Byzantine occupation had greatly altered the level of
this terrace and the plans of the buildings upon it. A lit-
tle digging showed that a thorough removal of the consid-
erable accumulation of earth would be necessary before any
adequate understanding of the complex constructions could
be obtained. At a depth of from two to four metres the
pits revealed antique pavements, water-pipes, foundation
walls, and even the bases of columns in position, — the fur-
ther investigation of which, on account of the extent of the
work, we found ourselves obliged to reserve for another
year.
The case was similar with the interesting remains of a
portal, M, belonging to a building at the extreme east of
the upper plateau. The massive lintel blocks, fallen from
their position, were not to be moved without the help of the
winch, which did not arrive until after the completion of the
work at this point.
The ruins of an enclosure of considerable extent, within
the city walls and at the southwest of the Acropolis, attracted
the attention of several of the earlier travellers, — notably of
Prokesch von Osten, to whom we owe an admirable descrip-
tion of the state of these remains at the time of his visit.
A fragmentary inscription upon the epistyle blocks of a sur-