The section shown in Fig. 11 represents an excavation made in the
middle of the town, and is here introduced because the bed of "rich
mould" attained, according to Mr. Joyce, the unusual thickness of
20 inches. Gravel lay at the depth of 48 inches from the surface;
but it was not ascertained whether this was in its natural state,
or had been brought here and had been rammed down, as occurs in
some other places.
The section shown in Fig. 12 was taken in the centre of the
Basilica, and though it was 5 feet in depth, the natural sub-soil
was not reached. The bed marked "concrete" was probably at one
time a floor; and the beds beneath seem to be the remnants of more
ancient buildings. The vegetable mould was here only 9 inches
thick. In some other sections, not copied, we likewise have
evidence of buildings having been erected over the ruins of older
ones. In one case there was a layer of yellow clay of very unequal
thickness between two beds of debris, the lower one of which rested
on a floor with tesserae. The ancient broken walls appear to have
been sometimes roughly cut down to a uniform level, so as to serve
as the foundations for a temporary building; and Mr. Joyce suspects
that some of these buildings were wattled sheds, plastered with
clay, which would account for the above-mentioned layer of clay.
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