Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/202

 Troy. i yg reached its full development. It required the keen eye and ex- perience of Dorpfeld to discern architectural differences in these fortifications ; for in truth they are so slight as to have been over-looked by the first explorers, who thought they were all built at one time. Apparently the construction is uniform throughout, and consists of a stone substructure surmounted by a wall of unbaked brick. Internally and externally, the lining of these foundations is formed of large slabs, laid in mud, and set out in almost horizontal beds ; the core being made up of very small stones, loosely heaped up the one upon the other. Some of these slabs found in the wall of the second period are forty- five centimetres in length and twenty-five centimetres in height. The outer face of the rampart, almost throughout its extent, slopes at an angle of forty-five degrees, but its inner side is vertical. By this means a broader footing, and in consequence of it greater resisting power, were given to the wall, which on an average measures ctr. three metres fifty centimetres to four metres at the top. Hence it is that nowhere has it given way to the enormous pressure of soil and ruin weighing on its sides. The height of this mighty substructure was flush with the surface of the esplanade ; from which rose the rampart strictly so called, built of dessicated brick also bonded with clay. This portion of the wall is by far the most damaged. The surface was roughly plastered with fine clay ; but when the town perished the outer coating peeled off, the rain penetrated the mass and washed away the mortar which filled the joints ; and the units, being no longer held together, fell out and carried with them large pieces of the wall. If some rare fragments still exist, it is because they were betimes buried under a covering of earth and potsherds, which shielded them against the weather. This is the case on the east side of the enclosure, where I saw pieces of the mud wall still standing to a height of two metres fifty centimetres to three metres, and exhibiting patches of clay plaster on its surface. The very slight incline of the substructure would not prevent the invader from scaling it ; for he could easily get a footing and hold on to the irregular and ill-jointed stones. That it was throughout surmounted by a brick wall is certain, even where no traces of it remain, but there is some doubt as to the manner of its ending — was it by crenelations ? How easily a crenelated top can be made o f brick is well known ; here however the state