Ilios; the city and country of the TrojansThe results of researches and discoveries on the site of Troy and throughout the Troad in the years 1871-72-73-78-79, including an autobiography of the author . he cities of Hissarlik, and there, withseveral specimens of green jade—one of thembeing a beautifully translucent specimen of thestone—was a single celt of fine white jade, justsuch as might have been dug from one of thepits above the Kara Kash, or fashioned from apebble out of its stream. In contemplating these venerable treasuresfrom that old town or fortress, one had to recog-nize that Dr. S
Ilios; the city and country of the TrojansThe results of researches and discoveries on the site of Troy and throughout the Troad in the years 1871-72-73-78-79, including an autobiography of the author . he cities of Hissarlik, and there, withseveral specimens of green jade—one of thembeing a beautifully translucent specimen of thestone—was a single celt of fine white jade, justsuch as might have been dug from one of thepits above the Kara Kash, or fashioned from apebble out of its stream. In contemplating these venerable treasuresfrom that old town or fortress, one had to recog-nize that Dr. Schliemann had lit upon a placeof importance, perhaps a sort of emporiumplanted on the stream of a pre-historic com-merce, and situated just at one of the pointswhere Asiatic products might collect previouslyto their being distributed by a process of barteramong the peoples of the West. Or was it ahalting-place at which some great wave of emi-gration was arrested for a time by the barrierof the Dardanelles ? At any rate, there in con-siderable numbers were the green jade celts, the Chap. VII.] JADE AN OLD-WORLD MINERAL. 447 No. 678 is a saddle-quern of trachyte. I have discussed saddle-querns. No. 673. Saddle-quern of Trachyte. (1 4 actual size. Depth, 33 ft.) kind, no doubt, more valued on account of theircolour; and there too was this solitary whitecelt, their companion probably from a commonfar-distant home in the Kuen Luen Mountains. To what cause is the failure in the supply ofjade to the world lying to the south and westof the Pamir, after pre-historic times, to beattributed? I do not attempt to answer thisquestion; I would only suggest the apparentevidence of such a failure. It is far from im-probable that the green jade implement had insome sense a sacred character in pre-historictimes, and was borne westwards by emigratingpeoples, as they might bear their household gods,while by a slow process of barter specimensmight have penetrated from the Hellespont tothe Atlant
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