joints carefully squared at c, polygonal at b, with horizontal courses and oblique joints at o; thus yielding another instance of the danger of dating ancient structures from a small portion only. Builders in early days placed their materials exactly as they came from the quarry, without troubling themselves as to the effect they would ultimately produce. Blocks cut of the required shape, which should harmonize with a given style, were a late development.
It remains to notice two curious details. A ditch, approached by steps, enabled the defenders to take refuge in it when assaulted and obliged to withdraw into the fortress. The north-east angle of the external wall (b, Fig. 11), facing the ditch, was strengthened by a retaining semicircular wall, four courses of which still exist, and at a distance look like an unfinished tower. A quadrangular salience will be observed in the north face of the rampart which surrounds the eastern court (f, Fig. 11). This is divided into two equal sections by a partition of polygonal masonry, akin to the Acropolis properly
Fig. 12.—Northern wall of the Acropolis, seen from the outside. Weber, Plate I.
so called, save that the stones are smaller. The western court was a veritable redoubt, and numerous traces and fragments of walls bear witness to the effort of the builder to render it as strong as possible and capable of resisting sudden attacks from without. A hole towards the north-east corner, with rubbish lying in a circle, probably covers the site of an ancient cistern. The spade alone would reveal its true character, as also the real use of the walls at e, built of stones carefully dressed, forming a central square in the redoubt, measuring six or eight metres each way.
By no means the least interesting item of this Acropolis is the gateway (a, Fig. 11), with sides sloping upwards, giving it the appearance of a truncated arch (Fig. 13). It is closed at the top by two massive lintels of equal length, placed one behind the other. The exterior slab measures two metres by seventy-four centimetres, whilst the inner is ninety centimetres in height. It gave access
