Page:Troy-and-its-remains by Heinrich Schliemann.djvu/76
visitor to my excavations may convince himself at the first glance, is perfectly impossible; because in all the strata of débris, from the native rock, at a depth of from 14 to 16 meters (46 to 52½ feet) up to 4 meters (13 feet) below the surface, we continually see remains of masonry, which rest upon strong foundations, and are the ruins of real houses; and, moreover, because all the numerous large wine, water, and funereal urns that are met with are found in an upright position. The next question is:—But how many centuries have been required to form a layer of débris, 40 and even 46½ feet thick, from the ruins of pre-Hellenic houses, if the formation of the uppermost one, the Greek layer of 6½ feet thick, required 1061 years? During my three years' excavations in the depths of Troy, I have had daily and hourly opportunities of convincing myself that, from the standard of our own or of the ancient Greek mode of life, we can form no idea of the life and doings of the four nations which successively inhabited this hill before the time of the Greek settlement. They must have had a terrible time of it, otherwise we should not find the walls of one house upon the ruined remains of another, in continuous but irregular succession; and it is just because we can form no idea of the way in which these nations lived and what calamities they had to endure, that it is impossible to calculate the duration of their existence, even approximately, from the thickness of their ruins. It is extremely remarkable, but perfectly intelligible from the continual calamities which befel the town, that the civilization of all the four nations constantly declined; the terra-cottas, which show continuous décadence, leave no doubt of this.
The first settlement on this hill of Hissarlik seems, however, to have been of the longest duration, for its ruins cover the rock to a height of from 4 to 6 meters (13 to 20 feet). Its houses and walls of fortification were built of stones, large and small, joined with earth, and manifold remains of these may be seen in my excavations. I thought last year that these settlers were identical with the Trojans of whom