These conical buildings, 50 ft. high, were constructed under the slope of a hill, and were destined to remain subterranean: for, as before stated, the outside surface of the stones is quite irregular, and the whole building is covered all round with a thick layer of stones, the weight of which holds the masonry fast together. I feel certain that the tradition is correct which says that these mysterious buildings served as the store-houses of the wealth of the early kings; but there can be no doubt that as long as they served as treasuries the "dromos" and the entrance gate were unobstructed, and the great question, therefore, arises, why and when were the "dromos" and the gate hidden under the tremendous masses of _débris_? [Illustration: No. 157. Piece of a Painted Vase, from the "dromos" of the Treasury near the Lions' Gate. (2½ M.) Half-size.] [Illustration: No. 158. Fragment of the same Pottery from the "dromos". (5 M.) Half-size.] [Sidenote: GEOMETRICALLY PAINTED POTTERY.] It has been asserted that they were buried at the time of the Dorian invasion; but did the excavation of the Treasury of Atreus in 1810 by Veli Pasha, the son of Ali Pasha, produce anything else than a stone table, a few sculptured slabs, and fragments of brazen plates? and was it worth while to bury empty treasuries? But it is a fact that they were buried, and, as to the chronology of the event, the pottery in the layer of _débris_, which covers the "dromos" of each, gives us fortunately some clue, for I find there continually very ancient painted pottery with geometrical patterns, resembling the Attic vases which until now have been considered as the most ancient terra-cottas in Greece; as well as very rude terra-cotta idols of Hera in the female and cow forms. The style of the pottery is seen in the annexed piece (No. 157), which shows to the right of the handle a 卍 of which only part is visible, and then follows a row of the frequently recurring animal in form of a crane, but which may have been intended to represent a horse, and after that follows a beautiful band of key-patterns. On another fragment (No. 158) is only a row of the same birds or horses between two bands, each of three parallel circular lines; also a small can, ornamented with vertical lines, was found there. Of course it is perfectly certain that the _débris_ which covers the entrance has been brought there from other places, but as it contains solely fragments of very ancient painted terra-cottas nearly all of them with geometrical patterns, the filling-up of the entrance must have been already effected in a remote antiquity, and the Treasury itself is doubtless more ancient than the Treasury of Atreus. [Illustration: No. 159. Idol of Terra-cotta, with a Cow's head, on the handle of a Vase. (4 M.) Actual size.]