Grave Round A

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View from the so-called ramp
Plan of Gräberrund A

Gräberrund A , Schachtgräberrund A , Grave Circle A or Grave Circle A ( Greek Ταφικός περίβολος Αʹ ) denote a royal cemetery from the Bronze Age on the citadel of Mycenae . He followed in the 16th century BC. BC on grave round B and was finally abandoned in favor of the dome graves , which subsequently formed the preferred grave form for the upper class.

description

If you enter the upper town of Mycenae through the lion gate , the cave circle A is on the right at a distance of about 20 m. It is a double ring of plates with a diameter of about 28 m with an entrance in the north. Six shaft graves were found within the circle of graves , in which a total of 19 dead - 9 men, 8 women and 2 children - were buried. Since there were particularly rich grave goods found in the graves, it was assumed that they were graves of the ruling family. The grave goods are now exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens . Heinrich Schliemann believed he saw signs of cremation in the graves . Today, however, it is assumed that these are body burials and that the charcoal found comes from burn victims. On the rock floors of the graves there was a layer of pebbles on which the corpses were placed, and a second layer of pebbles covered the dead. The pebbles were probably used to drain water that had entered the grave. The counting of the graves of Schliemann and Panagiotis Stamatakis differed. Stamatakis' count is followed today.

Glossy painted vase from grave I.

Grave I.

Originally there were two unsculpted tombstones above grave I (near Schliemann grave II). Below the level of the round grave there were fragments of two other older tombstones that were also without sculptures. The almost rectangular grave I has an extension of about 5.5 m from north to south and 2.80 m from west to east. It was carved into the rock from above and had five-foot-high walls made of unworked field stones that were stacked on top of one another without mortar. There were probably wooden beams on the walls and on top of these stone slabs that were eventually covered with clay.

Three women were buried in grave I. You were lying flat on your back with your head facing east and feet facing west. Each corpse wore a gold diadem. On the bodies there were twice five and once four crosses made of four bay leaves made of very thin gold sheet, which were probably sewn onto the clothing. Other grave goods were a chain made of glass paste sleeves, plus sliders made of glass paste and agate, small knives made of obsidian, fragments of a gold-plated silver vase, a silver bowl with a handle, two bronze knives and a bronze vessel. In addition to two female horned idols made of terracotta, which presumably represent the goddess Hera , there were handcrafted vessels, glossy painted and matt painted ceramics . The finds from this grave have the inventory numbers 184-213. Heinrich Schliemann only sparsely documented the circumstances of the find in grave I, so that the location of most of the objects cannot be traced. Based on the similarity of the grave goods, it is assumed that the three deceased were buried in quick succession.

Grave II

Above grave II (near Schliemann grave V) on the level of the grave round A, there was a gravestone decorated with serpentine lines and an unadorned gravestone. About 3 m below, Schliemann found two more undecorated gravestones. The grave was 3.05 m long, 2.15 m wide and 0.60 m deep dug into the rock. Slates leaned against the walls on four sides . Only one man was buried in the grave with his head facing east. He wore a gold diadem on his head, to the right was a lance tip, two bronze swords and two bronze knives, and to the left was a gold one-handled cup.

Gold objects from grave III

Grave III

On this grave (near Schliemann grave III) there were two gravestones without a picture within the plate ring. 0.60 m below this level were two and another 0.90 m below three more gravestones. The grave measures 3.70 m from north to south and 2.70 m from west to east. The grave was sunk into the soft rock from above and the walls were made of slate and clay . Schliemann found four end panels made of copper from the deck beams . North of grave III there were two simple, older graves.

In grave III Schliemann found the remains of three corpses, which he identified as women based on the small bones and teeth and the jewelry. They were laid flat on the ground with their heads facing east. A woman was believed to be very old because her teeth were badly worn. The presence of gold paneling for children's corpses suggests that two children were also buried in grave III. The diversity of the finds suggests a longer period between the first and last burial. The grave goods were very valuable. Necklaces made of carnelian , amethyst and amber , faience vessels, three seal stones and a multitude of golden objects were found. Among them were three tiaras, a beaker, a box, three vases, two beam scales and 701 golden leaves in repoussé work.

Silver rhyton in the shape of a bull's head from grave IV

Grave IV

Grave IV (near Schliemann grave IV) is with 6.55 m by 4.10 m the largest grave in grave circle A and had the richest grave goods. There were no grave steles above this within the circle of the graves, but it is believed that most of the fragments of gravestones with decorations, such as the reconstructed Heurtley III grave stele , originally belonged to this grave. About 4 meters below, Schliemann found an altar, two undecorated steles and a column. The altar was oval with a diameter of about 2 m from north to south and 1.60 m from west to east. It was about four feet high, made of Cyclopean masonry and had a round opening in the middle that looked like a fountain. It is believed that it was used to worship the dead by pouring libations into the opening. The grave was carved into the rock from above and a wall of slate was built around it.

5 people were buried in the grave. Three of the dead, a man and two women, were buried in the tomb with their heads facing east. Two men lay - probably for reasons of space - in the northern part of the grave with their heads facing north. The men's bodies were covered with gold masks and breastplates. Other significant finds were the so-called Nestor cup , a silver rhyton in the shape of a bull's head with golden horns, a golden rhyton in the shape of a lion's head and two golden signet rings. One signet ring shows two men on a chariot hunting a stag, the other shows a battle scene. Other additions were 20 bronze swords, several bronze spearheads, golden vessels and goblets, sacred knots made of faience, a rhyton in the shape of a deer made of an alloy of silver and lead and a vessel made of marble. In the case of grave IV, too, it is assumed that the burials took place over a longer period of time.

Grave v

Grave V (near Schliemann grave I) was the first grave that Schliemann discovered. Due to heavy rain, the grave overflowed with water and he was forced to continue digging elsewhere. Only at the end did he completely uncover the grave. There were three grave stelae depicting a chariot scene above the grave . The best-known stele is listed under the inventory number NAMA 1428 . The burial chamber is carved 5 m deep into the rock from above in the north and south-east. Since the rock slopes to the west, the grave is only 3.30 m driven into the rock to the west. The grave has a length of 6.45 m and an upper width of 3.25 m and extends to 3.45 m to the rock floor. On all four sides, the lower walls were 0.90 m high and 0.60 m thick made of Cyclopean masonry. A slate wall about 2 m high rested on it. The north-west corner of the grave meets the inner retaining wall of the plate ring.

Three men were buried in grave V with their heads facing east. The middle corpse had already been robbed in Mycenaean times. The most splendid additions seem to have been removed. In the earth above, gold buttons were found that the robbers had left behind, and Mycenaean shards were found that had fallen into the pit during the excavation or afterwards. The two dead, buried north and south, wore golden masks and breastplates - the mask of the southern one was baptized by Schliemann Gold Mask of Agamemnon . Since all three dead were tall at over five feet, they leaned their heads against the eastern wall while their chins were pressed against their chests. The northern corpse, which was still very well preserved, was estimated to be around 35 years old. Schliemann believed that he might have been mummified .

Numerous bronze knives, swords and tools were found on the left and right of the dead on grave goods. Three bronze knives were inlaid with gold and silver. Several gold goblets and vessels were found, with copper vessels at their feet. A hexagonal wooden box is remarkable. There are six gold sheets that were attached to the box. Two are decorated with a spiral pattern, two more depict a lion hunting an antelope and the last two depicting a lion hunting a deer.

Grave VI

Grave VI was discovered during subsequent excavations by Stamatakis. An undecorated grave stele stood above the grave. With a length of 3.15 m and a width of 1.85 m, it was the smallest grave. It was located in the north-western part of the cave and was partly below the plate ring. First, a man was buried in the grave. Later, when the body fell apart, the bones were pushed aside and another man was buried with his head facing east. The bones of these two dead are in the best state of preservation within Gräberrund A. On both sides of the dead were bronze weapons and tools. A gold cup was found at the head end and clay vessels at the feet. The clay vessels with matt and glossy paint are similar to those from grave I. It is therefore assumed that these graves were created at the same time.

More graves

Schliemann found a small Middle Helladic grave east of grave III, which he did not describe in detail. Stamatakis discovered four more Middle Helladic graves in the eastern part of the grave round A. He also did not document the find, as they only contained simple grave goods. The found pottery is dated to the late Middle Helladic period (MH III).

The plate ring

When around 1250 BC When the Cyclopean city wall was built in BC, it was decided to enclose the old royal tombs with the wall. Therefore, an externally sloping retaining wall was built between the graves and the new wall and the area above the graves was filled with earth until an almost flat surface was obtained - the space between the city wall and retaining wall was not filled. In the east, the surrounding rock was flattened so that the eastern area was only about 1.35 m higher than the heaped part. The double plate ring was built on this subsurface. It was built from oolite-like freshwater limestone slabs . Two concentric rings of plates were erected, an inner one with a diameter of about 25 m and an outer one about 28 m. The rings were almost circular, only in the northwest the circle was slightly bulged to completely enclose tomb V. The two plate rings were about 1.40 m apart, the distance was only reduced in the east near the ramp. The width of the slabs varied between 0.43 m and 1.32 m. In the east, where the slabs rested directly on the rock, circular channels for the slabs had been cut into the rock. The eastern plates had a total height of about 1.34 to 1.45 m, the western ones were over 2 m high. The western plates were dug deeper than the eastern ones, but they were also made to protrude higher out of the ground so that something could be compensated for the difference in height. Stone fragments were found at the construction site, showing that the stone slabs were trimmed on the spot.

The space between the plate rings was probably filled with earth. Opposite panels were connected with crossbars to prevent their spacing from changing. However, adjacent panels were not connected. Cover plates lay on the concentric rings. In the north of the ring of plates there is a 2.50 m wide entrance with double antennas . The door threshold consists of three large stone slabs. In the west below the grave circle A were the royal graves, above these the gravestones were placed with the face to the west. Some slabs of the original pavement are still preserved in the east of the cave. Schliemann suspected that the tomb would be a kind of agora . Today, however, it is assumed that the complex was used to worship heroes.

The grave steles

In addition to unsculpted steles, six relief steles and another 26 fragments with relief were found. Ten fragments with figurative representations could be assigned to at least five other steles, so that there were at least eleven relief steles in total. On the grave steles, either only geometric patterns such as spirals are depicted or, in addition, chariot and hunting scenes. Due to the choice of scene, it was assumed that only men were erected grave stelae with decorations. However, this has not yet been clearly proven. Nine steles were assigned to the nine male dead. Since the sex of the two children who were buried in grave III could not be determined, there is the possibility that they were two boys and one could then assign the remaining grave stelae to these two.

The age of the relief stelae has also not yet been clearly determined. The Austrian archaeologist Wolfgang Reichel , who examined the steles more closely in 1893, found that the tombstone NAMA 1427 and four other fragments were made from a different stone than the majority. Most of the steles and fragments are made of the same freshwater limestone from which the plates of the plate ring were made. The tombstone NAMA 1427 was made from a soft, gray limestone that was quarried on site; three fragments are made of denser white limestone and one fragment is made of denser, reddish limestone. In addition, these pieces also differ stylistically. The relief is only slightly deepened - but the depiction is more detailed and lively than on the freshwater limestone stelae. Reichel therefore assumed that only the stele NAMA 1427 and the four fragments were dated to the 16th century BC. And the other steles only in the 13th century BC. BC were made together with the plates of the plate ring - perhaps they should replace damaged steles.

Today, however, it is assumed that the stelae from the 16th century BC. Come from BC. The early Mycenaean ornamentation of the grave steles can be found on numerous grave goods from the shaft graves. They are still partially present in the early cupola tombs, while they will soon be replaced by new patterns.

history

In the Middle Helladic , the city was limited to the higher part of the elevation east of the cave A. The Cyclopean wall had not yet been built, and the area around the cave, which at that time fell even steeper, was used as a cemetery. The small stool graves may have been found in the 17th and 16th centuries BC. Between houses. In the early Late Helladic period from around 1580 to 1510 BC. Finally, the royal tombs were laid out. Apparently older graves were destroyed here. The deceased were likely wrapped in cloths and placed on the floor of the graves. The graves were covered with stone slabs and a small burial mound was probably piled up over each grave and tombstones were placed on them. For further burial the graves were cleared again, burials were carried out and the graves were closed again. From around 1510 BC. No further burials were carried out in this cemetery.

At the same time as the Cyclopean city wall, the plate ring was built and the grave stelae were placed in it. In Hellenistic times , houses were built on the plateau - the graves had apparently been forgotten. The space between the city wall and the retaining wall remained freely accessible until this time.

exploration

Pausanias reports that the tombs of Atreus , Kassandra , Agamemnon , Eurymedon , Elektra and one for the twins Teledamos and Pelops were in the city of Mycenae . Heinrich Schliemann, who suspected that Kassandra's grave was in Amyklai , only expected five graves. Contrary to the assumption of other scientists who suspected the graves to be west of the upper town , Schliemann believed that the graves were within the fortification. In February 1874 Schliemann began the first soundings and had a total of 34 shafts dug into the ground within the walls. Since he found an unsculpted stone slab and terracotta figures similar to a grave stele on a terrace in the southwest of the lion gate , he decided to carry out systematic excavations there. From August 7, 1876 to November 28 of the same year, Schliemann dug five graves (grave IV) within the grave circle. He assumed that these were the graves mentioned by Pausanias, and is supposed to complete the excavations with the words: “Pausanias had mentioned five graves. I found them. It is not necessary to dig longer. ” .

Heinrich Schliemann was wrong, however, the graves were about 350 years older than expected. In addition, the gravestones and the plate ring were covered by a Hellenistic layer and had long been buried in the 2nd century AD when Pausanias visited Mycenae. From November 1877 to March 1878 Panagiotis Stamatakis continued the excavations and discovered grave VI. Since the retaining wall was unstable, it was partly rebuilt a short time later. In 1917 Antonios Keramopoulos examined the cave circle A again and discovered evidence of a later hero cult. In 1920 Alan Wace examined the retaining wall and found only ceramics from the last phase of the late Helladic period (SH III) within it. In 1939 Alan Wace was able to prove that the royal graves were originally part of a larger cemetery and were only separated with the construction of the tombs and the Cyclopean city wall. Kenneth Rowe from 1950 to 1952 and Frank Henry Stubbings in 1952 carried out further soundings in the retaining wall . Only SH III B ceramics were found. With this it could be shown that the plate ring was only built around 1240 BC. BC was built at the same time as the Lion Gate.

literature

  • Heinrich Schliemann: Mykenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878 ( online [accessed May 18, 2014]).
  • Carl Schuchhardt : The excavations of Schliemann in Troja, Tiryns, Mykenä, Orchomenos and Ithaka . Leipzig 1891 ( online [accessed May 18, 2014]).
  • Georg Karo : Shaft graves from Mykenai . Text. 1st chapter. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1930 ( online [accessed May 18, 2014]).
  • Georg Karo: Shaft graves from Mykenai . Panel. Part 2. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1930 ( online [accessed May 18, 2014]).

Web links

Commons : Gräberrund A  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 180-188 .
  2. ↑ Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 334-337 .
  3. ↑ Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 188-243 .
  4. ^ Georg Karo: Shaft graves of Mykenai . Text. 1st chapter. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1930, p. 30-31 .
  5. ↑ Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 244-331 .
  6. ↑ Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 337-380 .
  7. ^ Georg Karo : Shaft graves of Mykenai . Text. 1st chapter. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1930, p. 36 .
  8. ↑ Carl Schuchhardt : Schliemann's excavations in Troja, Tiryns, Mykenä, Orchomenos and Ithaka . Leipzig 1891, p. 312 .
  9. ^ Georg Karo: Shaft graves of Mykenai . Text. 1st chapter. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1930, p. 20-28 .
  10. ^ Wolfgang Reichel: The Mycenaean grave steles . In: Eranos vindobonensis . 1893, p. 24 ( online [accessed May 29, 2014]).
  11. ^ A b Georg Karo: Shaft graves of Mykenai . Text. 1st chapter. F. Bruckmann, Munich 1930, p. 17 .
  12. ^ Pausanias: Travels in Greece 2, 16, 6-7.
  13. ↑ Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae. Report on my research and discoveries in Mycenae and Tiryns . With a preface by WE Gladstone. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1878, p. 65-69 .
  14. ↑ George E. Mylonas: Mycenae. A guide to its ruins and history . Ekdotike Athenon SA, Athens 1981, p. 32 .
  15. ^ Alan Wace: Excavations at Mycenae 1939 . In: The Annual of the British School at Athens . tape 45 , 1939, pp. 203-228 .
  16. ↑ Alan Wace: Mycenae 1939-1953. Part II. The Grave Circle . In: The Annual of the British School at Athens . tape 49 , 1953, pp. 244-247 .

Coordinates: 37 ° 43 ′ 49.78 "  N , 22 ° 45 ′ 22.93"  E