PLAIN OF MARATHON. 23 
trophies, in the open Plain towards the sea; chap. 
being anxious to discover if any thing yet re- J- ' 
mained, which might be considered as still pre- 
serving, upon the spot, a memorial of the famous 
battle oi Marathon. A loftv Sepulchral Mound Tomb of 
11 11 -1 • theAthe- 
nas been already mentioned, as a conspicuous nians. 
object from all parts of this territory. We pur- 
sued our course towards it, in a south-easterly 
direction. We had no sooner reached this 
Tumulus, which stands about six furlongs from 
the shore, than we entered a passage which had 
been recently excavated towards its interior^; 
and in the examination of the earth, as it was 
originally heaped from the Plain to cover the 
dead, we found a sreat number of arrow-heads, Arrow- 
' ^ ' Heads. 
made of common flint, such as the inhabitants 
of the stony mountains in North America, o^ 
Mount Caucasus, and of some parts of Persia, 
now use as a substitute for iron, lying con- 
fusedly together, mixed with the soil. We 
collected many of these \ It is remarkable, 
considering their great antiquity, that they did 
not appear in any degree decomposed or dis- 
coloured: the colour of their surfaces was not 
(4) It is said that this excavation was made by Monsieur Fauvel, a 
French artist at Athens. 
(5) Mr. (now Sir William) Cell, and other travellers, have also since 
eoUected many of these arrow-heads in the same place. 
