Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 1.djvu/348

 MVCEN^. 323 Schliemann's observation ; as a rule, iherefore, he expresses himself as if, like us, he thought that the body had been laid out in its regal dress ; at other times he apparently conceives the funerals of his heroes as having been celebrated after the manner recorded in the Epic. In trying to get out of the difficulty in which he found himself, he had recourse to the whimsical alternative of partial cremation : a small fire which would slowly consume the bodies, but not strong enough to reduce their equipment. Hence he thought that a fire had Fig. ioS.~Go1<i pectoral. □ m. 525 bru.ad, by o m. 365 liigh been lit immediately over the bed of pebbles supporting the corpses, which latter, acting as a sort of ventilator, allowed the air to penetrate between the single units and quickened the flame. Granting that the corpses were disposed of in this manner, the heat generated by the fire made in these pits would never have been intense enough to devour the flesh and reduce the bones to a lime condition. Then, too, how could the dead have been decked out in all their war-paint, when half consumed the circumstances, can we wonder that the previous metals should have assumed a brownish and soiled appearance ?