several bones, among which were the upper part of a tibia and the fragment of a skull; also the fragments of an iron sword, and a bronze figure seated in a chariot with horses, as well as a large quantity of fragments of pottery, exactly similar to the Etruscan, some of which was much burnt and vitrified, whereas all the painted terra-cotta vessels were unhurt. But as no man of experience or worthy of confidence was present at the exploration, scholars appear to have distrusted the account from the first, and to have thought that the Jew, in order to obtain a large reward, had procured and prepared beforehand all the objects he pretended to have found at the bottom of the tumulus.
In the first place I can assure the reader, that the rock here, as well as everywhere else in the plain of Troy north of Bounarbashi, is calcareous, and that no granite exists here; in the second place, that the Jew made only a small excavation in the southern slope of the tumulus, and that he remained far away from its centre; in fact, so far away from it, that in the shaft, three mètres in length and breadth, which I sunk from the top of the tomb, and precisely in its centre, I found all the different strata of earth, of which the tumulus is composed, perfectly undisturbed. As my shaft remains open, and as I cut steps in it, visitors can easily convince themselves that:
| The | upper | layer, | 0.70 m. | deep, | consists | of black earth. |
| The„ | second | layer,„ | 0.30 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | sand, clay, and small stones. |
| The„ | third | layer,„ | 0.10 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | white and yellow clay. |
| The„ | fourth | layer,„ | 0.30 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | light-coloured clay, with small stones. |
| The„ | fifth | layer,„ | 0.10 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | blue clay. |
| The„ | sixth | layer,„ | 1.70 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | sand and light-coloured clay. |
| The„ | seventh | layer,„ | 0.10 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | black earth. |
| The„ | eighth | layer,„ | 0.20 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | light-coloured clay. |
| The„ | ninth | layer,„ | 3.00 m. | deep,„ | consists„ | light-coloured lumps of clay mixed with pieces of sandstone. |
| 6.50 m. |
