DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0271
254 RUSELL^l. [chap, xi.iv.
Castiglion della Pescaja is seen on the shore at the foot of
the hills which rise behind the promontory of Troja.
Scarcely a trace of the necropolis has been discovered
at Rusellse. The hardness of the rock and the dense
woods which for ages have covered the hill, in great mea-
sure account for this. It is probable that here, as on other
sites of similar character, the tombs were of masonry,
heaped over with earth. Such is the character of one on
the ascent to the city from the south, not far from the
walls. It is a chamber only seven feet by five, fined with
small blocks of unhewn masonry like the Tirynthian in
miniature, and covered with large slabs, about eighteen
inches thick. The chamber was originally of greater depth,
being now so choked with earth that a man cannot stand
upright in it. It can be entered only by a hole in the
roof, where one of the cover-slabs has been removed; for
the original doorway, which opened in the slope of the
hill, and which is covered with a horizontal lintel, is
now blocked up. As it is therefore a mere pit, without
any indications above the surface, it is not easy to find.
Prom the peculiarity of the masonry, and from the general
analogy this tomb bears to those of Saturnia, I do not
hesitate to pronounce it of high antiquity. This was the
only sepulchre I could perceive, or that I could hear of,
in the vicinity of Rusellse, though many others probably
exist among the dense woods below the walls. No excava-
tions have been made on this site within the memory of
man.6
Grosseto) of the attempts made at various are long, passage-like sepulchres of rude
periods and by different means to reduce stones, and covered in with unhewn
the extent of stagnant water, and lessen slabs. De la Marmora, Voyage en Sar-
the unhealthiness of this district. daigne,pl.IV.pp.21—35; and Bull. Inst.
6 This tomb has a great resemblance 1833,p. 125,e«sej.tav d'Agg.; Abeken,
in construction, if not in form, to the Mittelitalieri, p. 240, taf. IV. 6a—d.
Sepolture di Giganti of Sardinia, which Micali (Mon. Ined. tav. XVII. 11,
Castiglion della Pescaja is seen on the shore at the foot of
the hills which rise behind the promontory of Troja.
Scarcely a trace of the necropolis has been discovered
at Rusellse. The hardness of the rock and the dense
woods which for ages have covered the hill, in great mea-
sure account for this. It is probable that here, as on other
sites of similar character, the tombs were of masonry,
heaped over with earth. Such is the character of one on
the ascent to the city from the south, not far from the
walls. It is a chamber only seven feet by five, fined with
small blocks of unhewn masonry like the Tirynthian in
miniature, and covered with large slabs, about eighteen
inches thick. The chamber was originally of greater depth,
being now so choked with earth that a man cannot stand
upright in it. It can be entered only by a hole in the
roof, where one of the cover-slabs has been removed; for
the original doorway, which opened in the slope of the
hill, and which is covered with a horizontal lintel, is
now blocked up. As it is therefore a mere pit, without
any indications above the surface, it is not easy to find.
Prom the peculiarity of the masonry, and from the general
analogy this tomb bears to those of Saturnia, I do not
hesitate to pronounce it of high antiquity. This was the
only sepulchre I could perceive, or that I could hear of,
in the vicinity of Rusellse, though many others probably
exist among the dense woods below the walls. No excava-
tions have been made on this site within the memory of
man.6
Grosseto) of the attempts made at various are long, passage-like sepulchres of rude
periods and by different means to reduce stones, and covered in with unhewn
the extent of stagnant water, and lessen slabs. De la Marmora, Voyage en Sar-
the unhealthiness of this district. daigne,pl.IV.pp.21—35; and Bull. Inst.
6 This tomb has a great resemblance 1833,p. 125,e«sej.tav d'Agg.; Abeken,
in construction, if not in form, to the Mittelitalieri, p. 240, taf. IV. 6a—d.
Sepolture di Giganti of Sardinia, which Micali (Mon. Ined. tav. XVII. 11,