DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4945#0063
52
CHAPTER IV.
THE PRIMITIVE STRUCTURES.
Temples A, B, C (Atlas, I., II.).
By D. G. Hogarth and A. E. Henderson.
The Primitive remains, so far as they were of structural character, were
found to be contained within the area of the Croesus cella, with one
exception to be mentioned later. On various grounds, which will be stated
presently, we conclude that they represent three successive small Temples,
each of which was a modification of its predecessor. These will be designated
hereafter Temples A, B, and C. Although the whole Primitive period of
the Artemision was perhaps short, the structural evidence, particularly that
afforded by the Central Basis, leaves us no choice but to divide it into these
three sub-periods of construction. Apart from possible destruction by invaders,
such as the Cimmerians, a reasonable explanation of such frequent modifications
may be found in the water-logged nature of the site. The early builders, as
there is abundant evidence to show, found the instability of the ground and
the constant rise of ground-moisture a continual difficulty ; and though they
repeatedly raised the floor of the shrine to higher levels, that difficulty was not
overcome even by the Croesus architect who undertook the draining of the
site and put in for the first time really massive foundations on the top of
previous constructions : for even thereafter considerable settlements occurred
at many points of the platform, and the latest builders found it expedient to
make a gigantic addition to the massive work of their predecessors, and to
raise the solid pile of foundation-blocks to a total thickness of over three metres,
before they ventured to erect the cella and colonnade, whose great height and
size evoked such admiration in Hellenistic and Roman times.
Temple A.
The site of the Artemision we know to have been originally a marsh, formed
by the deposits of two left-bank tributaries of the Cayster, or two arms of one
tributary ; and since the lowest foundations, found by us upon the site, are not
more than two metres above sea-level, this marsh may be assumed to have
CHAPTER IV.
THE PRIMITIVE STRUCTURES.
Temples A, B, C (Atlas, I., II.).
By D. G. Hogarth and A. E. Henderson.
The Primitive remains, so far as they were of structural character, were
found to be contained within the area of the Croesus cella, with one
exception to be mentioned later. On various grounds, which will be stated
presently, we conclude that they represent three successive small Temples,
each of which was a modification of its predecessor. These will be designated
hereafter Temples A, B, and C. Although the whole Primitive period of
the Artemision was perhaps short, the structural evidence, particularly that
afforded by the Central Basis, leaves us no choice but to divide it into these
three sub-periods of construction. Apart from possible destruction by invaders,
such as the Cimmerians, a reasonable explanation of such frequent modifications
may be found in the water-logged nature of the site. The early builders, as
there is abundant evidence to show, found the instability of the ground and
the constant rise of ground-moisture a continual difficulty ; and though they
repeatedly raised the floor of the shrine to higher levels, that difficulty was not
overcome even by the Croesus architect who undertook the draining of the
site and put in for the first time really massive foundations on the top of
previous constructions : for even thereafter considerable settlements occurred
at many points of the platform, and the latest builders found it expedient to
make a gigantic addition to the massive work of their predecessors, and to
raise the solid pile of foundation-blocks to a total thickness of over three metres,
before they ventured to erect the cella and colonnade, whose great height and
size evoked such admiration in Hellenistic and Roman times.
Temple A.
The site of the Artemision we know to have been originally a marsh, formed
by the deposits of two left-bank tributaries of the Cayster, or two arms of one
tributary ; and since the lowest foundations, found by us upon the site, are not
more than two metres above sea-level, this marsh may be assumed to have