Chamber graves in Apulia
The chamber graves in Apulia ( Italian Tomba a camera ) are located in Arpi (near Foggia ), Canosa, Cavallino (near Lecce ), Egnathia / Fasano, Gravina di Puglia, Manfredonia, Mesagne, Monte Sannace (near Gioia del Colle), Rudiae, Salapia, Taranto and Tiati received. In some places they can be seen as originals or reconstructions in museums in Apulia in Italy . When it comes to the distribution of the chamber graves in Apulia, key areas can be identified. Taranto has by far the most. In Daunia the focus is in Canosa and Arpi, in Peuketien in Gravina and in Messapien in Egnazia and Rudiae.
These are large subterranean tombs that are adorned with building sculptures , mosaics , reliefs , stucco decorations and wall paintings and have served as burial places for larger groups or families for a long time. Its rich and highly individual furnishings give you an insight into the ideas of luxury in the societies of that time. The dead were laid on stone beds ( Klinen ) and furnished with additions.
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Some chamber graves have facades adorned with columns, while others reveal their splendor inside. Most systems have a long drom with or without steps. It was filled in after each burial and opened when refilling. The alterations and different masonry of the side retaining walls as well as the different layers of plaster at the Tomba della Medusa in Arpi prove this.
Not all graves were accessible via Dromoi. The so-called half-chamber graves in Monte Sannace and Mesagne were mostly only intended for burial, had no dromos, but were also decorated and furnished.
The late Archaic chamber tombs in the Greek colony of Taras / Tarent from the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC Are the oldest in Apulia. They consist of solid ashlar masonry. The ceiling of larger chambers is supported by columns. Stone sarcophagi were placed along the walls. The burials of the deceased were placed inside and in the dromoi. The coffins placed along the walls are reminiscent of the Klinen (dining sofas) set up in the Andron , the dining room of a Greek house, and of the common meal. The chamber graves of this time do not seem to be family graves, but those of a political and social, possibly an aristocratic upper class.
The construction of chamber tombs begins in Apulia in the 6th century BC. With the copies in Taras. In the hinterland they can be found from the 4th century BC. BC as relatively irregular, mostly oval chambers, as in Gravina di Puglia. In the late 4th, but especially in the 3rd century BC The grave type is widespread in Apulia and is used until the 2nd century BC. Used.
In Canosa you can attend a guided tour of the plants distributed throughout the city, and they can also be viewed at their original location in Egnathia, Gravina di Puglia and Monte Sannace. The Arpi tombs have been partially rebuilt in the Foggia Museum. The half-chamber graves from Mesagne have also been reconstructed in the local museum.
literature
- Pietro Massafra, Francesco Carrino: Il Centro Storico di Taranto: il Borgo. Scorpione Editrice, Taranto 2004.
- Birte Ruhardt: Thanatos a Taranto. The chamber tombs as a paradigm for the monumentalization of tomb architecture in Hellenistic Apulia. Conference graves - methods, paradigms, theories of their archaeological exploration. German Archaeological Association 2010.