List of tholos tombs at Mycenae

During the Late Bronze Age, nine tholos tombs were constructed at the site of Mycenae in southern Greece, which gives its name to Mycenaean civilisation.^[1] Tholos tombs, or tholoi, are a form of monumental burial that originated in Messenia, in southwest Greece, at the end of the Middle Helladic III period (that is, c. 1700 – c. 1675 BCE).^[2] They may have developed as a more monumental version of the burial mounds, or tumuli, used in mainland Greece throughout the Middle Helladic period; they may also have been influenced by similar styles of built tombs used in Minoan Crete.^[3]

Tholoi consist of a narrow rectangular entrance passage, known as the dromos,^[4] which leads into an underground burial chamber, separated from the dromos by an entrance-way called the stomion, which would usually be sealed with a dry-stone wall. The walls of the chamber, and sometimes the dromos, were lined with dry-stone masonry. The chamber was capped with a rounded roof constructed by the technique of corbelling, by which courses of blocks were overlapped in increasingly small circles. They were typically used for multiple burials, perhaps of members of the same family, and many were periodically re-opened for additional interments and for ritual activity.^[3]

Until the Late Helladic I period (c. 1700/1675 – c. 1635/1600 BCE),^[5] the most elaborate form of elite burial at Mycenae was in shaft graves.^[6] The tholoi at Mycenae are slightly predated by the earliest chamber tombs at the site, which date to the Late Helladic I period and share the same tripartite structure of chamber, dromos and stomion.^[7] The earliest tholoi were constructed in the Late Helladic IIA period (c. 1635/1600 – c. 1480/1470 BCE), in which shaft graves ceased to be used, and remained the most monumental form of burial used at Mycenae throughout the Mycenaean period.^[8] Chamber tombs continued to be constructed alongside them, often grouped around tholoi;^[9] around three hundred are known from the site.^[10]

At Mycenae, tholos tombs replaced shaft graves as the most elaborate form of elite burial in the Late Helladic II period (c. 1635/1600 – c. 1420/1410 BCE).^[11] The nine tholoi are geographically concentrated into two groups on either side of the Panagia ridge; five to the west and four to the east. Those to the east – known as the Tomb of Aegisthus, the Lion Tomb [de], the Treasury of Atreus and the Tomb of Clytemnestra^[a] – are larger, more elaborate and closer to the settlement of Mycenae; these are often interpreted as the tombs of Mycenae's rulers.^[1] It has also been argued that tholos tombs were reasonably widely available to elites in the Late Helladic II period, and became increasingly restricted in Late Helladic III c. 1420/1410 – c. 1075/1050 BCE) with the rise of the development of a centralised state, termed "palatial", based at Mycenae.^[13]

None of the tholoi at Mycenae were discovered intact, having been looted in antiquity, probably during the Iron Age.^[14] Some were visible into the classical period; the second-century CE traveller Pausanias described seeing underground treasuries and the tombs of the mythological Agamemnon, Aegisthus and Clytemnestra; at least some of these were probably tholos tombs, though it is unclear which ones.^[15] In the early nineteenth century, the tombs were seen and visited by European travellers: Lord Elgin and his wife Mary Bruce visited in May 1802, and crawled into the Treasury of Atreus, while William Gell and Edward Dodwell visited in 1804 and 1805 respectively and made notes on the surviving remains.^[16] The first modern excavations took place under Heinrich Schliemann and Panagiotis Stamatakis in 1876;^[17] these concentrated on the area of the Lion Gate, on the acropolis,^[18] but included a brief exploration of the Tomb of Clytemnestra directed by Schliemann's wife, Sophia.^[19] Christos Tsountas, who excavated widely at Mycenae between 1886 and 1910,^[20] discovered the Tomb of Aegisthus, the Panagia tholos [de] and the Tomb of the Genii [de],^[21] and carried out additional excavations in the Cyclopean Tomb,^[22] the Tomb of Clytemnestra,^[19] and the Epano Phournos tholos.^[22] In 1920–1922, an expedition led by Alan Wace excavated the Tomb of Aegisthus, cleared parts of other tombs, and drew up plans of all nine tholoi.^[23] Later archaeological work, continuing into the 1950s, was carried out by Wace and the Greek Archaeological Service, the latter including John Papadimitriou.^[24]

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Name	Period (Approx. dates BCE)	Dromos length	Chamber diameter	Description	Excavations
Cyclopean Tomb	Late Helladic IIA^[25](1635/1600 – 1480/1470)^[26]	12–13 m (39–43 ft)^[25]	8 m (26 ft)^[25]	Located approximately 600 m (660 yd) west-southwest of the citadel of Mycenae.^[27] Constructed of undressed stones, of various sizes, in the chamber and stomion; the dromos is without masonry. Alan Wace considered it "of a very primitive type" in design and construction.^[28]	Known at the time of Heinrich Schliemann's first excavations of Mycenae in 1876. The tomb was cleared by Christos Tsountas in 1891. In 1922, Wace examined material from the fill of the dromos and chamber, including Tsountas's spoil heaps.^[22]
Epano Phournos	Late Helladic IIA^[25](1635/1600 – 1480/1470)^[26]	10 m (33 ft)^[25]	11 m (36 ft)^[25]	Located approximately 450 m (490 yd) west-southwest of the citadel of Mycenae,^[27] near the crest of the Panagia Ridge.^[29] Constructed of undressed stone pieces in the chamber, dromos and stomion.^[30]	Known at the time of Schliemann's first excavations of Mycenae in 1876.^[29] The dromos, the front of the stomion, and the centre of the chamber were cleared by Tsountas in the 1890s.^[22] Wace re-cleared the dromos and partially excavated the stomion in 1922, and excavated the remainder of the tomb in 1950.^[31]
Tomb of Aegisthus	Late Helladic IIA^[25](1635/1600 – 1480/1470)^[26]	22.45 m (73.7 ft)^[32]	13.96 m (45.8 ft)^[32]	Located approximately 70 m (230 ft) west of the citadel of Mycenae.^[32] The largest tholos tomb in the Aegean at the time of its construction,^[34] and the earliest to feature a relieving triangle.^[35]^[b] The façade of the stomion is faced with dressed blocks of ashlar, common in later tholoi but previously unknown, which may have been added after the initial building of the tomb.^[37]	Discovered, but not excavated, by Tsountas in 1892.^[14]^[c] Partially excavated by Tsountas in 1893,^[32] and in 1922 by Winifred Lamb as part of Wace's campaign at Mycenae.^[39] The final parts of the chamber were cleared under John Papadimitriou in 1955.^[40]
Kato Phournos	Late Helladic IIA^[25](1635/1600 – 1480/1470)^[26]	12 m (39 ft)^[25]	10 m (33 ft)^[25]	Located approximately 600 m (660 yd) west of the citadel of Mycenae.^[27] The dromos was lined with ashlar blocks, bonded together with stucco. The burial chamber was originally covered by an earthen mound.^[41] A burial pit was found in the floor of the chamber.^[42]	Known to early travellers to Mycenae, and excavated by Tsountas in 1892.^[43] Tsountas's excavation was never published; Wace re-excavated the dromos and chamber in 1922, except for the burial pit.^[42]
Panagia [de]	Late Helladic IIA^[25](1635/1600 – 1480/1470)^[26]	12 m (39 ft)^[25]	8 m (26 ft)^[25]	Located approximately 500 m (550 yd) southwest of the citadel of Mycenae.^[27] The dromos is lined in rubble, transitioning to ashlar masonry towards the stomion, which has a relieving triangle. The chamber is built of worked limestone blocks, bonded with clay.^[44]	Discovered and excavated by Tsountas in 1887.^[14] Wace re-cleared the tomb in 1922 and searched Tsountas's spoil heaps.^[45] Named for the modern chapel of the Panagia in its vicinity.^[46]
Lion [de]	Late Helladic IIA^[25](1635/1600 – 1480/1470)^[26]	22 m (72 ft)^[25]	14 m (46 ft)^[25]	Located approximately 100 m (110 yd) north-northwest of the citadel of Mycenae.^[27] The dromos was lined with ashlar masonry,^[47] the masonry of the stomion is dressed and a mixture of poros stone and limestone conglomerate. The chamber may originally have been surmounted by an earthen mound.^[48]	Excavated by Tsountas in 1896, but known much earlier.^[47] The first recorded identification of the tomb was made by William Gell, who visited Mycenae in 1804.^[49] Wace re-cleared the dromos and chamber in 1922.^[50]
Tomb of the Genii [de]	Late Helladic IIB – IIIA1 early^[51](1480/1470 – 1405/1390)^[52]	16.6 m (54 ft)^[53]	8.4 m (28 ft)^[53]	Located approximately 600 m (660 yd) west of the citadel of Mycenae.^[27] The lower course of stone in the dromos is ashlar masonry, with rubble work above. The stomion is constructed of ashlar and includes a relieving triangle.^[54] The dome of the chamber is constructed of worked blocks, curved on their inward faces.^[55]	Discovered and excavated by Tsountas in 1896.^[53] The tomb is named for a series of glass-paste plaques, showing figures identified as genii pouring libations, found in the chamber.^[55]
Treasury of Atreus	Late Helladic IIIA2 late – IIIB1 early^[51](1360/1345 – 1265/1120)^[52]	36 m (118 ft)^[56]	14.5 m (48 ft)^[57]	Located approximately 500 m (550 yd) south-southwest of the citadel.^[58] The largest and most elaborate of the known Mycenaean tholos tombs.^[59] Its façade was elaborately decorated, including with columns and other decorative features in marble.^[60] The burial chamber includes a side chamber, a feature otherwise unknown in mainland tholoi apart from the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenos in Boeotia, built to the same template as Atreus.^[61]	Partially cleared after the visit of Lord and Lady Elgin in May 1802.^[16] Veli Pasha, Ottoman governor of the Morea, cleared the entrance-way in 1810 and removed the decorative marbles from the façade.^[62] Partially excavated by Schliemann in 1876,^[63] and by Panagiotis Stamatakis in 1876–1879.^[64] Excavated by Wace in 1920, 1921,^[56] 1939,^[65] and 1955.^[66]
Tomb of Clytemnestra	Late Helladic IIIA2 late – IIIB1 early^[51](1360/1345 – 1265/1120)^[52]	37 m (121 ft)^[67]	15.52 m (50.9 ft)^[67]	Immediately to the west of the Tomb of Aegisthus, and adjacent to Grave Circle B, used for monumental burials in the Middle Helladic III and Late Helladic I periods.^[67] The façade was decorated with gypsum half-columns, with ornate capitals and vertical fluting.^[68] The chamber was originally covered with a large earthen mound, reinforced by a stone wall known as the "Great Poros Wall".^[69]	Partially excavated by Sophia Schliemann in 1876, by which point the dome had already been destroyed, probably by Veli Pasha in the early nineteenth century.^[70] Excavated completely by Tsountas between 1891, 1892 and 1897.^[19] The Great Poros Wall was excavated in 1952 and 1953 by Sinclair Hood, under the direction of Wace.^[69]

List of tholos tombs at Mycenae

Footnotes

Explanatory notes

References

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