DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0012
PREFACE
This work is at once old and new, and I cannot fairly
launch it afresh without some account of its origin.
Ten years ago a young Greek archaeologist, Chrestos
Tsountas, was commissioned by his government to con-
tinue the exploration of Mycenae which Dr. Schliemann
had begun. It could hardly have seemed an inspiring task
to glean after the great explorer who had dazzled the world
with the treasure of the Royal Tombs; but it was a task
that demanded thorough training, keen insight, and un-
limited patience. Armed with these qualities, Dr. Tsountas
went to work and a busy decade has passed without seeing
the end of it. Meantime he has restored to us the Palace
of the Pelopid kings; he has unearthed and studied the
humbler abodes of their retainers and menials; he has
traced the fortress walls through all the stages of con-
struction and extension, and discovered the secret water-
way which enabled the citadel to hold out against a siege;
in short, he has laid bare the old Achaean capital in its
great enduring features, and has thus revealed to modern
eyes the typical Acropolis of the Heroic Age. More than
that, he has explored the lower town and particularly the
clan or village cemeteries, each composed of a group of
rock-hewn tombs whose disposition and contents have shed
new light on the civic and religious life of the time. While
patiently pursuing this great task, he has now and again
This work is at once old and new, and I cannot fairly
launch it afresh without some account of its origin.
Ten years ago a young Greek archaeologist, Chrestos
Tsountas, was commissioned by his government to con-
tinue the exploration of Mycenae which Dr. Schliemann
had begun. It could hardly have seemed an inspiring task
to glean after the great explorer who had dazzled the world
with the treasure of the Royal Tombs; but it was a task
that demanded thorough training, keen insight, and un-
limited patience. Armed with these qualities, Dr. Tsountas
went to work and a busy decade has passed without seeing
the end of it. Meantime he has restored to us the Palace
of the Pelopid kings; he has unearthed and studied the
humbler abodes of their retainers and menials; he has
traced the fortress walls through all the stages of con-
struction and extension, and discovered the secret water-
way which enabled the citadel to hold out against a siege;
in short, he has laid bare the old Achaean capital in its
great enduring features, and has thus revealed to modern
eyes the typical Acropolis of the Heroic Age. More than
that, he has explored the lower town and particularly the
clan or village cemeteries, each composed of a group of
rock-hewn tombs whose disposition and contents have shed
new light on the civic and religious life of the time. While
patiently pursuing this great task, he has now and again