There are several groups of tombs, the most important being in Lycia. These are of interest, as they illustrate more completely the transition between wooden and stone building than any other examples. There are two kinds, the one consisting of sarcophagi standing isolated, and the other of excavations in the mountain-sides. The former are composed of a stylobate or pedestal, serving as a base to a coffer ornamented with uprights and cross-pieces and panelled doors imitating exactly a wooden original. The roofs are curved, having in section the form of a pointed arch, being probably the earliest instances of its employment as a decorative feature. The tombs cut in the face of the rock are of a similar description, having the same carpentry framework. The upper parts are terminated by a low pediment or by a row of stone logs supporting a horizontal moulding. Later on during the Greek occupation, these wooden forms were abandoned and replaced by porticos of the Ionic order. In various parts of Asia Minor, there are remains of tombs similar to these erected by the Pelasgi and Etruscans, which will be described in another chapter. IV. GREECE. The oldest architectural works in Greece are those erected by the Cyclopes or Pelasgi, a race who came originally from Lycia, and moved gradually Westward, peopling successively the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, the Peloponnesus, Sicily, and Italy. At Tiryns and Mycenæ, in the province of Argolis, are to be seen the most remarkable remains of the buildings of this people, which were always grouped together in walled cities, serving as strongholds to protect the inhabitants of the province from the wild tribes with whom they came in contact. These cities were generally placed upon a rocky eminence, difficult of access and commanding a view of the surrounding country. There are remains of high walls at Tiryns built of huge stones extracted from a neighbouring quarry and put together without cement or mortar, the interstices being filled with smaller stones. From the fallen blocks lying scattered at their base it is estimated that they originally measured sixty feet in height. At intervals these walls are pierced by triangular doors and windows, the sides of which are curved, forming arches obtained by corbelled or overlapping instead of wedged stones. These Cyclopean constructions date from the seventeenth century before Christ. The Acropolis of Mycenæ is entered by a doorway formed of two vertical monoliths of great size supporting a lintel, and called the Gate of the Lions, from the carving above, representing two rampant lions separated by an engaged column.