The three bodies which the sepulchre contained lay at a distance of about 3 ft. from each other, and had been burnt in the very same place where I found them. This was evident from the marks of the fire on the pebbles and on the rock below and also around the bodies, and to the right and left of them on the walls, as well as from the undisturbed state of the ashes. Only with the body which lay in the midst the case was different. The ashes had evidently been disturbed; the clay with which the two other bodies and their ornaments were covered, and the layer of pebbles which covered the clay, had been removed from this body. As, besides, it was found almost without any gold ornaments, it is evident that it had been rifled. This opinion is also confirmed by the twelve golden buttons, the small golden plates, and the numerous small objects of bone, which had been found together with small quantities of black ashes at different depths below the three sculptured tombstones which adorned this sepulchre. It is further confirmed by the fragments of the usual Mycenean pottery of later times, which in this tomb were mixed up with the very ancient hand-made or wheel-made vases. Most likely some one sank a shaft to examine the tomb, struck the body in question, plundered it recklessly, and for fear of being detected, carried off his booty in such a hurry that he only thought of saving the large massive gold ornaments, such as the mask, the large breast-cover, the diadems and the bronze, swords, and, in remounting to the surface, dropped many of the smaller objects, such as the twelve golden buttons, etc., which I found at intervals in digging down. There can be no doubt that this larceny occurred _before_ the capture of Mycenæ by the Argives (468 B.C.); for, if it had been committed while the later Greek city stood on the top of the prehistoric ruins, I should also have found fragments of Greek pottery in the tomb; but of these I saw no vestige. [Sidenote: THREE BODIES IN THE TOMB.] The three bodies of this tomb lay with their heads to the east and their feet to the west; all three were of large proportions, and appeared to have been forcibly squeezed into the small space of only 5 ft. 6 in. which was left for them between the inner walls. The bones of the legs, which are almost uninjured, are unusually large. Although the head of the first man, from the south side, was covered with a massive golden mask, his skull crumbled away on being exposed to the air, and only a few bones could be saved besides those of the legs. The same was the case with the second body, which had been plundered in antiquity.