DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0110
68 THE. MYCENAEAN AGE
Of the other private houses inside the fortress, some are
of very shabby construction, others fairly well built. From
the nature of the case, however, we cannot safely judge
the abodes of the people from these dwellings upon the
acropolis, which must have been occupied mainly by masters
and menials. Still it is a noteworthy fact that we find many
Two-story two-story houses — some of them entirely above
Houses ground, others with an underground basement.
But as the lower story is often without either door or
window, it would seem that only the upper floor was used
as a dwelling. This second-story habitation would be
entered directly from the street or reached by an outer
stairway according as the first floor was under or above
ground.1 The lower rooms of these houses have no other
flooring than the earth, and in clearing them out
housekeep- the deeper layers of debris were found to be
thickly strewn not only with potsherds, but also
with the bones of various animals. It would seem from
this that these upper-story people were not over-nice at
table, and habitually flung their leavings downstairs or
through chinks in the floor. However, we need not be
shocked at this, considering the table manners we some-
times meet with in Homeric society. The noble wooers of
Penelope are no more refined in their feeding. Not only
do we see them flinging the bare bones on the floor, but
there lie the hoofs of beeves ready to hand when a missile
is wanted, and the bloody hides for non-combatants to
1 So at Athens, we are told, many of the most ancient houses, whose founda-
tions we still see hewn in the rocks on and about the Pnyx, consisted of ground-
floor chambers without doors, and of upper stories accessible directly from the
street. This singular arrangement is to be explained, we believe, only as a remi-
niscence of a still more primitive age and a widely different mode of life
namely, that of lake-dwellers. But the discussion of the subject must be post-
poned to a later chapter.
Of the other private houses inside the fortress, some are
of very shabby construction, others fairly well built. From
the nature of the case, however, we cannot safely judge
the abodes of the people from these dwellings upon the
acropolis, which must have been occupied mainly by masters
and menials. Still it is a noteworthy fact that we find many
Two-story two-story houses — some of them entirely above
Houses ground, others with an underground basement.
But as the lower story is often without either door or
window, it would seem that only the upper floor was used
as a dwelling. This second-story habitation would be
entered directly from the street or reached by an outer
stairway according as the first floor was under or above
ground.1 The lower rooms of these houses have no other
flooring than the earth, and in clearing them out
housekeep- the deeper layers of debris were found to be
thickly strewn not only with potsherds, but also
with the bones of various animals. It would seem from
this that these upper-story people were not over-nice at
table, and habitually flung their leavings downstairs or
through chinks in the floor. However, we need not be
shocked at this, considering the table manners we some-
times meet with in Homeric society. The noble wooers of
Penelope are no more refined in their feeding. Not only
do we see them flinging the bare bones on the floor, but
there lie the hoofs of beeves ready to hand when a missile
is wanted, and the bloody hides for non-combatants to
1 So at Athens, we are told, many of the most ancient houses, whose founda-
tions we still see hewn in the rocks on and about the Pnyx, consisted of ground-
floor chambers without doors, and of upper stories accessible directly from the
street. This singular arrangement is to be explained, we believe, only as a remi-
niscence of a still more primitive age and a widely different mode of life
namely, that of lake-dwellers. But the discussion of the subject must be post-
poned to a later chapter.