Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/219

 196 Primitive Greece: Mycenian Art. its rear, or opisthodom, might have been a very perplexing one, but for the excavations of ancient sites in Argolis, which permit us to answer it negatively, in that a certain class of monuments brought to light there has for ever dispelled the cobwebs which obscured our vision as to the prehistoric palace. Accordingly, the plan of the edifice under notice would be reduced to its essential elements, for at Hissarlik we find but one ante-room, whereas elsewhere two are met : a fore-chamber, and a second in Fig. 48. — Plan of palace. its rear. We have then no reason for believing in the existence of a back room, of which no trace exists at Tiryns or Mycenae. The restoration put forward by M. Dorpfeld is the most likely of any of those that have been proposed. The hearth was built exactly in the middle of the room, but a trifle nearer to the entrance than the farther wall. The spot is marked by a circular foundation made of clay, which still pro- trudes seven centimetres above ground. The excavations cut it in twain ; its diameter, however, must have been well within this