DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0117
96
THE GEOLOGY OF THE HERAEUM REGION
times o£ flood. A similar action, aided by the detritus washed downward by the rain,
is seen at Sardis, which is buried to a great depth by the deposit of sediment from the
overhanging heights of Sart Kalessi, the ancient Acropolis. This height is composed of
loose, crumbling, sandy marls, which are easily washed away, not only by brooks but by
falling rain. To such an extent has this erosion taken place that the mountain crest
is a mass of fantastic pinnacles and turrets, and of the ancient Acropolis but a very small
part remains. The rest is gone to bury the city at its base, thus preserving the dead
remains of what it protected in life.
In the case of sites near the seashore and at the mouths of large rivers, under certain
conditions the sea is a prominent factor, causing a deposition of sediment where the
river current is checked on entering the sea, gradually closing up harbors, forming
deltas, and adding to the land. Ephesus and Miletus are prominent examples of this
class.
Another agency in which water plays an important part are landslides. Here
the water acts by loosening strata or by lessening the friction between two layers of
earth or rock, so that large sections of a mountain-side may slip suddenly down, over-
whelming all that lies in their path. Instances of this will be recalled by any one who
has visited Switzerland, and landslides from Mount Cronium aided materially in burying
Olympia.
Finally we must note the deposition of carbonate of lime or travertine, etc., from
solution in water. This action is extremely local and of little importance in classical
archaeology, though in the case of cave deposits it has been the means of preserving for
us most important remains of prehistoric man.
Volcanoes. — As a final inorganic agency may be mentioned the action of volcanoes
which bury sites at their bases, not only by lava streams, but by flows of mud and by
the ejection of immense quantities of ashes and scoriae. Pompeii and Herculaneum will
occur to every one in this connection, and the prehistoric remains of Santorini may also
be cited.
Organic Agencies. — Of the organic agencies, man is by far the most important, at
least in the region of classical archaeology. The superposition of one building on the
remains of an older, the growth of a new settlement on the site of an older one, the
general use of mud brick for private houses in antiquity, the immense accumulation of
stone, brick, earth, mud, and rubbish of all kinds wherever man abides, are exemplified
at Troy, Nineveh, Athens, Rome, in fact, Avherever the excavator's pick has penetrated.
This mode of burial is in many respects the best known to archaeologists, partly
through its obvious features, and partly through the importance of the superincumbent
artificial masses. It is needless to enlarge on this factor, but reference may be made to
the striking remarks by Lancianil on the burial of Rome.
Of other animals than man only one, the humble earthworm, constitutes a factor
of any importance. This animal brings up earth from its burrows and deposits it at the
surface in the form of the familiar worm-casts. In one of his shorter but very interest-
ing books Darwin2 devotes much space to the development of the theory that worms are
to a large extent responsible for the burial of small objects lying on the surface of the
ground, and even of ruins. He gives several instances of the pavements of recently
excavated Roman villas in England being gradually buried beneath such deposits and
slowly sinking. Though Darwin is perhaps inclined to attribute to the worms more
1 Op. cit. pp. 98 ff. 2 Vegetable Mould and Earthworms.
THE GEOLOGY OF THE HERAEUM REGION
times o£ flood. A similar action, aided by the detritus washed downward by the rain,
is seen at Sardis, which is buried to a great depth by the deposit of sediment from the
overhanging heights of Sart Kalessi, the ancient Acropolis. This height is composed of
loose, crumbling, sandy marls, which are easily washed away, not only by brooks but by
falling rain. To such an extent has this erosion taken place that the mountain crest
is a mass of fantastic pinnacles and turrets, and of the ancient Acropolis but a very small
part remains. The rest is gone to bury the city at its base, thus preserving the dead
remains of what it protected in life.
In the case of sites near the seashore and at the mouths of large rivers, under certain
conditions the sea is a prominent factor, causing a deposition of sediment where the
river current is checked on entering the sea, gradually closing up harbors, forming
deltas, and adding to the land. Ephesus and Miletus are prominent examples of this
class.
Another agency in which water plays an important part are landslides. Here
the water acts by loosening strata or by lessening the friction between two layers of
earth or rock, so that large sections of a mountain-side may slip suddenly down, over-
whelming all that lies in their path. Instances of this will be recalled by any one who
has visited Switzerland, and landslides from Mount Cronium aided materially in burying
Olympia.
Finally we must note the deposition of carbonate of lime or travertine, etc., from
solution in water. This action is extremely local and of little importance in classical
archaeology, though in the case of cave deposits it has been the means of preserving for
us most important remains of prehistoric man.
Volcanoes. — As a final inorganic agency may be mentioned the action of volcanoes
which bury sites at their bases, not only by lava streams, but by flows of mud and by
the ejection of immense quantities of ashes and scoriae. Pompeii and Herculaneum will
occur to every one in this connection, and the prehistoric remains of Santorini may also
be cited.
Organic Agencies. — Of the organic agencies, man is by far the most important, at
least in the region of classical archaeology. The superposition of one building on the
remains of an older, the growth of a new settlement on the site of an older one, the
general use of mud brick for private houses in antiquity, the immense accumulation of
stone, brick, earth, mud, and rubbish of all kinds wherever man abides, are exemplified
at Troy, Nineveh, Athens, Rome, in fact, Avherever the excavator's pick has penetrated.
This mode of burial is in many respects the best known to archaeologists, partly
through its obvious features, and partly through the importance of the superincumbent
artificial masses. It is needless to enlarge on this factor, but reference may be made to
the striking remarks by Lancianil on the burial of Rome.
Of other animals than man only one, the humble earthworm, constitutes a factor
of any importance. This animal brings up earth from its burrows and deposits it at the
surface in the form of the familiar worm-casts. In one of his shorter but very interest-
ing books Darwin2 devotes much space to the development of the theory that worms are
to a large extent responsible for the burial of small objects lying on the surface of the
ground, and even of ruins. He gives several instances of the pavements of recently
excavated Roman villas in England being gradually buried beneath such deposits and
slowly sinking. Though Darwin is perhaps inclined to attribute to the worms more
1 Op. cit. pp. 98 ff. 2 Vegetable Mould and Earthworms.