Gardner, Percy: Sculptured tombs of Hellas (London, 1896)

CHAPTER IV

the pre-historic age of greece

When we turn from the facts of Greek cult and belief
as to a future life to the monuments of the dead, and set
them in chronological order, the first group which commands
our attention is that which belongs to the pre-historic city
of Mycenae. We cannot here speak of the wealth of gold
and silver, of bronze and ivory, which the fortunate spade
of Dr. Schliemann brought to light within the sacred circle
in the Acropolis of the city K We must pass by the contents
of the graves of the wealthy pre-historic monarchs of Mycenae,
and confine our survey to the outward and sculptural adorn-
ments of their tombs. These fall into two well-marked and
clearly distinguished classes. First, we have the conical so-
called treasuries, of which several exist in the neighbourhood of
Mycenae, as well as at Orchomenus, Menidi and other spots
of Greece; secondly, we have the carved tombstones which
were set up over the graves in the Mycenaean Acropolis.

The larger and more elaborate of the so-called treasuries
of pre-historic Greece, such as the Treasury of Atreus at
Mycenae, and the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenus, consist
of two chambers, a larger outer chamber, which is circular
in plan and of conical form, resembling in fact the beehive

1 For this see, among other works, Schliemann, Mycenae and Tiryns;
Schuchhardt, Excavations of Schliemann (Eng. trans.); Perrot et Chipiez, La
Grece Primitive ; Gardner, New Chapters in Greek History.