Ayios Ermoyenis, Discovery of Trench 43, V. Grace 1941Virginia Randolph Grace

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Footholds in its upper edge helped one to a rough step in the rock behind (see Figure 3); other nearby cuttings seem unconnected. Only the outer end of the dromos was found in the rock, the place of the inner end being, as above remarked, cut through by a deeper dromos running at right angles. (Figure 4.) The style of door closing the lower tombs, consisting principally of two slabs of stone set on end side by side, suggests they belong to the earlier date of the similar north door of Tomb 1, and precede its northwest entrance, which is stopped by two squarish slabs set one above the other. Further information awaits the excavation of these tombs. For that time has been left the full clearing of their dromos, which retains samples as found of the earth filling to above its rock-cut height along the side toward Tomb 1 and the end toward Walls C and A. As may be seen in the plan and sections, the part cleared showed two rock-cut steps rising at the opposite end from one door, while the other door closes a short branching tunnel.

The dromos of Tomb 9 seems to have been longer than it appears in the plan, where the narrow top of Wall C is drawn and the short bottom of the dromos. The backing of the wall almost overhangs the apparent end of the dromos (Figure 5), and probably rests on a step of the original dromos, the rock sides of which rise even at this point nearly a meter higher than dose the end. Dromos and chamber in shape and relative proportions can be matched among classical tombs at Marion, a good parallel being Tomb 56, dated in the 5th century BC. The nicely cut long stone which lines the side seems to have been put there to strengthen the crumbling rock wall which separated the dromos from a well shaft already silted full at an earlier period.

Of this shaft we found the far margin preserved to the level of the top of Wall C, and a sounding to 3.60 below did not reach its bottom. A pair of ancient

1 See SCE II, p.335, Figure 137, 2 (plan), and 4 (long section). 2 An investigation behind the end of the stone next Tomb 9 suggests there was some sort of hollow there also, but the clearing of this could not be undertaken at present, since to do so safely would entail the removal of much fill overhead.