Evening Star Newspaper, December 28, 1936, Page 18

Evidence Unearthed to Back Homer’s Story of Fall of Troy Excavations Indicate Seventh, Not Sixth, City Fell Before Greeks—No Trace of Famed “Horse” Located. By the Assoclated Press. CINCINNATI, December 28. —Plch and . shovels of archaeologists have unearthed secrets more than 3,000 years old, indicating that the poet Homer’s story of the fall of the an- cient city of Troy in Asia Minor was founded on fact. Dr. Carl W. Blegen, reporting yes- terday on the 1936 diggings of the University of Cincinnati archaeolo- gists at the site of the famous Trojan eity, disclosed that the fifth annual excavations provided data further to Justify the belief that the true Hom- eric ilium was the seventh city and not the sixth in a series of nine on the site of ancient Troy. Before the Cincinnati investigations .urud in 19032, it was believed that sixth Troy was the one that fell betore the Greeks. Dr. Blegen, professor of classical archaeology and fellow in the Gradu- ate School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cincinnati, was fleld di- rector of the Cincinnati work at Troy. Evidence Is Unearthed. ‘While archaeologically nothing has ‘been found to support Homer’s drama- tization of the fall of Troy, evidence to indicate that the story had a basis in historical fact was unearthed. The discovery of huge storage jars beneath the floors of most of the houses of the seventh settiemert of ‘Troy lent support to Homer's song of 8 10-year siege of the city by the Greeks. Evidence also was unearthed to in- dicate conclusively that the sixth Troy was destroyed by a devastating earth- quake while the seventh was burned, pmbnbly by the Greeks. Dr. Blegen set the l\xfll settlement as about 1700 to 1300 B.C. The fire that destroyed the seventh city that rose on the ruins of the earthquake that occurred about 1200 B.C. Dr. Blegen said he had found noth- ing to justify either belief or dis~ bellef in the popular version f the fall of Troy which attributes the 10« year siege by the Greeks to anger over the abduction of Helen by Paris, No Trace of Horse. , Neither is there archaeological sup- port for the Homer and Greek tradi- tion that the victorious Greek attack- ers sacked the settlement and nut it to the torch through the ruse of the famous wgoden horse. 1If a horse ac- tually was used, sll trace of it was diucrcyed in the tire that leveled the city. The sixth and seventh Troys have intrigued historians and u’chuolo- gists through the ages since Hu first sang the famous story of Heknl abduction and the wooden horse. Prof. Wilhelm Doerpfeld, German archeologist, discovered the remains of the sixth settlement in 1893 and 1894 and interpreted data unearthed then as ruins left when the Greeks destroyed the city. Prof. Heinrich Schliemann had 'uncovered remains of earlier settlements in many expe- ditions to the site of the famous ancient city between 1870 and 1890. “There can be no doubt that the wreckage (of the sixth Troy) was caused by a severe earthquake which SPECIAL 13 EGGS ‘The Scales | Prove you get a full THE EVENING STAR, hurled down the upper part of the city wall and the superstructure of houses,” Dr. Blegen said. Date of Catastrophe. ,“The date of the catastrophe: can be definitely ascribed to the close of the sixth Troy during the early years of the thirteenth century B.C.” He told, of sections of a great wall that showed wide cracks and disloca- tions of stone. Since the wall was built on hardpan, the cracks could not have been due to natural settling. In places, Dr. Blegen said, the wall reaches a height of 30 feet. In similar manner, practically all of the buildings uncovered from the early seventh Troy show just as clearly evidence of a destructive fire. The Cincinnati investigators inter- floors of most of the houses of num- Fun on Those . Long Winter Evenings INDOOR TENNIS TABLES During the long 'Inltr "enlnn iy llllhilll size. lu it on ll-ln or phone your order. J. FRANK - ELLY INC. SUDDEN SERVICE Lumber and Millwork 2121 Ga. Ave. NOrth 1341 Half Pound more Mileage AND POWER in every Gallon 1 Betholine weighs half a pound more then any gasoline. 2 This extra weight puts thow- sands of extra power wnits in overy galion. These extra power units give you extra mileage. 4 ‘This extra mileage makes up for Betholine’s slight extra cost. s Therefose; Betholine's extra power; eliminetion of knock, quicker starting and faster warm- ing up in serc weather, its better ol around performence is Fsee. BETHOLINE'S EXTRA PERFORMANCE WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1936. “first” discovery by the 1936 expedi- tion. The ground plan of an impor- tant house of the original settlement of about 3000 B.C. was uncovered. erous 'pithol or large storage jars. ‘They found as many as 22 such jars in a single house and even a small d!cmn( had 11 pithol. Those jars could have held the enormous stores of food which must have been available to permit the ond settlement was destroyed by fire before 2000 B.C. Strickland, State road department FOUR D‘E IN CANAL bridge tender at Twenty M\plz Be;% had taken his family with him so they might enjoy the ride. YULE “CURSE” LIGHTED Trip to Aid Motorist Is Fatal to Family. ‘WEST PALM BEACH, Fla,, Decem- ber 28 (#)—Returning from assisting s distressed motorist, Ray Strickland, his wife and their two children drowned yesterday when their auto- mobile skidded into a canal 20 miles | west of here. | The submerged car, with the im- prisoned bodies of Strickland, Ida Mae Strickland and their children, Gene, 2 years, and Oscar, 34 days, was discovered by a passing Negro several hours after the tragedy. Death Wish Sign Replaces Bright Bulbs Stolen From Tree. HAWTHORNE, N. J.,, December 28 (P).—A blue and white illuminated sign replaced last night the lights that were stolen from a large spruce tree on the lawn of Willlam Kievit. Two infant burials beneath the floor and four outside the house con- tained skeletons of new-born babes and infants that lived perhaps s year. All indicated a heavy infant martality rate in the early phase of the first ‘Troy. Remains of the second Troy present a complex problem with seven defi-| The sign reads: nite subperiods indicated by the| “Happy New Year, everybody, but various strata. Like the seventh Troy | may the one, or more, who stole the of some ten centuries later, the sec-!lights off this tree drop dead.” were found in some of the jars, each nearly 6 feet tall. Others undoubtedly contained water and oil. Remains of a large building of the sixth Troy were exposed in part dur- ing the 1936 expedition. They give promise of revealing next year the BAVERSON OII. VIORKS umBIA largest and most impressive structure of that era yet discovered. Dr. Blegen told of still another | Whelouny e Soop 1319-21 F Street N.W. MANHATTAN SHIRTS STETSON HATS BOSTONIAN SHOES CLEARANCE. . . is the order! 3,321 St. Albans 1 and 2 Pants Suits, Topcoats and Overcoats Drastic, sure it is, and it’s the right thing to do! 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