PLAIN OF TROY. 123 
nor can we assign any other cause for their ap- ^?^^* 
pearance, than the superstitious veneration paid ^- — ^— ' 
to the tombs of Tiioas in all the ages of its 
history, until the introduction of Christianity. 
Whether they be considered as the remains of 
offerings and libations made by the Greeks, or 
by the Romans, they are indisputably not of mo- 
dern origin. The antiquity of earthenware, from 
the wheel of a Grecian potter, is as easily 
to be ascertained as any remains of antient art 
which have been preserved for modern obser- 
vation ; and, in endeavouring to discover the 
site of Grecian cities, towns, and public 
monuments, such fragments of their terra-cotta 
may be deemed, perhaps, equal in importance 
to medals and imcriptions. 
From this Tomh we rode along the top of 
the Mound of the Plain, in a south-western 
direction, towards Callifat. After we had pro- 
ceeded about half its length, its inclination 
became southward. Having attained its extre- 
mity in that direction, we descended mto the 
Plain, when our guides brought us to the 
western side of it, near to its southern termination, 
to notice a tumulus, less considerable than the 
last described, about three hundred paces from 
the Mound, almost concealed from observation 
by being continually overflowed, upon whose 
I 2 
