Site details

Mycenaean Tholos Tomb

PK	C6713
TITLE	Mycenaean Tholos Tomb
WGS84	37.910989° N, 22.866019° E
Accuracy	10 m.

LAT/LON	37.910989, 22.866019
LON/LAT	22.866019, 37.910989

DMS

37° 54' 39.5604" N

22° 51' 57.6684" E

W3W	servicing, stylings, dowries
UTM	34 S, 664036.48, 4197580.74
EGSA87	400168, 4196258

Elevation m	28
Elevation feet	91.9
Region	Corinthia

GENERAL SITE TYPE Tholos

TYPE

1.    Artifacts.   Kassimi [2015], 511    ' ... Minoan and Cycladic imports, or even items imported from further north, as well as metal heirlooms, and status symbols, such as seal-stones.'
2.    Artifacts.   Kassimi [2015], 511    'The presence of five sealstones in a tholos tomb that appears to have been looted in the Mycenaean period indicates the importance of the people buried in the tomb, ... '
3.    Pottery.   Kassimi [2015], 510    'Among other finds, two large Palace Style jars, with their mouths joined, were found ... ', ' ..., together with fragments of at least three more, large, Palace Style jars.'
4.    Tholos.   AR[2013], 61    ' ... within the perimeter of a Mycenaean tholos tomb, ... '
5.    Tholos.   Kassimi [2015], 510    'In January 2007, during work for the opening of the new railway between Corinth and Patras, a Mycenaean tholos tomb was discovered, ... '
6.    Tholos.   BCH Online, 4503

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. Middle Helladic III: (1775 BC - 1700 BC)
    a.    Kassimi [2015]: 5104, 'These vessels date to MH III-LH I.'

2. Middle Minoan III: (1750 BC - 1675 BC)
    a.    Kassimi [2015]: 511, 'An even earlier amethyst seal, which was either inspired by Minoan seal designs, or is an actual import from Crete, is unfortunately associated with very little pottery (Middle Minoan III-Late Minoan I?) in the tomb.'
    b.    Kassimi [2015]: 511, 'The amethyst seal from Ancient Corinth fulfills three of the four conditions set by the author: (a) it is unique among a group of four other seal-stones made of jasper, (b) it is earlier than the rest of the seals, since, at least stylistically, it can be dated in the MM III period, and ... '

3. Late Helladic: (1700 BC - 1050 BC)
    a.    AR[2013]: 61, ' ... Mycenaean tholos tomb, ... '

4. Late Helladic I: (1700 BC - 1635 BC)
    a.    BCH Online: 4503, 'The tomb thus contained items dating from LHI to LHIIIC, ... '
    b.    Kassimi [2015]: 510, 'These vessels date to MH III-LH I.'

5. Late Minoan I: (1675 BC - 1470 BC)
    a.    Kassimi [2015]: 511, 'An even earlier amethyst seal, which was either inspired by Minoan seal designs, or is an actual import from Crete, is unfortunately associated with very little pottery (Middle Minoan III-Late Minoan I?) in the tomb.'

6. LH IIA: (1635 BC - 1470 BC)
    a.    BCH Online: 4503, 'Both of the LHIIA jars in the pit contained bones and grave goods: ... '
    b.    Kassimi [2015]: 510, ' ..., which thus dates to LH IIA.'

7. LH IIB: (1470 BC - 1410 BC)
    a.    BCH Online: 4503, 'LHIIB round and straight-sided alabastra were also found.'

8. LH IIIA: (1410 BC - 1315 BC)
    a.    BCH Online: 4503, 'A near complete LHII-IIIA two-nozzled terracotta lamp ... '

9. LH IIIC: (1190 BC - 1060 BC)
    a.    BCH Online: 4503, 'The latest items were two LHIIIC bronze violin bow fibulae.'
    b.    Kassimi [2015]: 510, ' ..., since they often stay in use up to the LH IIIC period, as is the case with the tholos tomb in Ancient Corinth.'

NOTES

1.  The AR[2013] 61 notice deals with four sarcophagi that were dug into the tholos tomb. ' ... almost certainly represents a deliberate attempt to establish a link with the ancestral dead.'

2.  Additional: K. Kissas and W.-D. Niemeier (eds). The Corinthia and the Northeast Peloponnese (Munich 2013).

3.  I want to thank Ms. Sophie Cushman of Berkeley for alerting me to the Kassimi [2015] paper. Additionally I want to thank Dr. Dimitri Nakassis who kindly furnished me a copy of it.

rhc

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. AR[2013]: Archaeological Reports, The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. (60) 2013., '', pg. 61. Online here.

2. BCH Online: Archaeology in Greece Online/Chronique des fouilles en ligne, 'Ancient Corinth - 2007', no. 4503. Online here.

3. Kassimi [2015]: Kassimi, Panagiota. ‘The Mycenaean cemeteries of north-eastern Corinthia and the early tholos tomb at Ancient Corinth’, In Schallin and Tournavitou [2015], pp. 503-514., 'A Mycenaean tholos tome in Ancient Corinth', pg. 510.

4. Schallin and Tournavitou [2015]: Schallin, Ann-Louise and Iphiyenia Tournavitou (eds.). Mycenaeans up to date; The archaeology of the north-eastern Peloponnese - Current concepts and new directions. ACTA INSTITUTI ATHENIENSIS REGNI SUECIAE, SERIES IN 4°, 56, Stockholm, 2015., '',