Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/289

 364 Primitive Greece : Mycenian Art. One cannot help a feeling of surprise at the technical skill of a builder who could not only transport, but get in position these enormous masses, whose collective weight Dr. Adler esti- mates at 12,000 or 13,000 kilogrammes.' The quarry, it is true, was at no great distance from Tiryns, being situate at the foot of the rocks that bear the citadel of NaupHa, where traces of ancient stone-quarries are still visible.^ But even so, it is none the less surprising that with very imperfect appliances they should have been able to displace and handle such enormous blocks of limestone. These, however, are exceptional, and if the ot wall through the middle of the eastern face. weight of several stones averages 3,700 to 4,000 kilogrammes, the most part could be easily moved by one or two men.' The units throughout are not only larger than at Mycense, but larger than those of any other circuit in Greece. Travellers who have described these walls have all formally stated that the stones were loosely piled up one upon another without mortar, leaving the joints wide open. Like Pausanias, they contented themselves with pointing out that the builder had used smaller stones to fill in the interstices between the irregular blocks. M. Dorpfeld, who looked at closer quarters, 1 Tirym. ^ /Md. ' Ihtd.