Manners and Monuments of Prehistoric PeoplesNadaillac, Jean-François-Albert du Pouget, marquis de
History
Manners and Monuments of Prehistoric Peoples
Nadaillac, Jean-François-Albert du Pouget, marquis de
Archaeology; Prehistoric peoples
The pottery discovered is of an infinite variety, and includes jars
from 4¾ feet to 7¾ feet high (Fig. 91), of Which Schliemann found more
than six hundred, nearly all of them empty. Their size need not
surprise us, for Ciampini49 speaks of a pottery _dolium_ of such vast
size and height that a ladder of ten or twelve rungs was needed to
reach the opening.50 With these jars were found some large goblets,
some long-necked vessels (Fig. 92), some amphoræ, and vases with three
feet (Fig. 93). Some of the vases had lids the shape of a bell (Fig.
94), others were provided with flaps or horns by which to lift them
(Fig. 95). The potter gave free vent to his imagination, but the
decorations representing fish-bones, palm branches, zigzags, circles,
and dots, are all of very inferior execution.
[Illustration: 96.]
Earthenware pig found at a depth of 13 feet.
[Illustration: 97.]
Vase surmounted by an owl’s head. Found beneath the ruins of Troy.
Two series of terra-cotta objects deserve special mention, one
representing animals, generally pigs (Fig. 96), though an example has
been found of a hippopotamus; a fact of very great interest, as this
animal does not live at the present day anywhere but in the heart of
Africa. We know from this terra-cotta representation that it lived in
Greece in the days of Troy. Pliny speaks of it in Upper Egypt in his
day, and according to Mariette it lived thirty-five centuries before
the Christian era in the delta formed by the mouth of the Nile. The
second series of objects referred to above as of special interest are
vases representing the heads of owls with the busts of women (Fig. 97).
It is easy to make out the beak, eyes, and ears of the bird, and the
breasts and navel of the woman. In some instances the face, breasts,
and sexual organs of a woman are represented by a series of dots
forming a triangle with the point downwards.51 Other dots represent a
necklace, and very similar designs are to be seen on the Chaldean
cylinders. Can we then connect them in any way with the relics of Troy,
and is it possible that the Trojans and Chaldeans were of common
origin? However that may be, the constant repetition of these signs
proves that they were of hieratic character. Terra-cotta was also used
for a very great number of other purposes, as was the case everywhere
before the introduction of metals. Some deep and some flat plates made
of very common clay have been found, together with buttons, funnels,
bells, children’s toys, and seals on which, some authorities think,
Hittite characters can be made out. No lamps, or anything that could
serve their purpose, have been found. The Trojans probably used torches
of resinous wood or braziers, when they required artificial light.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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