Macedonian tombs (Korinos)
In the middle of the 19th century, an important Macedonian grave (A) was discovered near the Greek town of Korinos . A second, smaller grave (B) was uncovered at the end of the 20th century.
location
The graves are to the east (grave A) and west (grave B) of the A1 motorway (E75), around 600 meters northwest of the outskirts of Korinos. Two more Macedonian graves were discovered around 5.5 km southwest .
Research history
The French archaeologist Léon Heuzey discovered grave A (also called Heuzey grave) during his trip to Greece in 1855. The first description of the site was made in 1860. The excavations began a year later. Together with Honoré Domet, Heuzey published his findings from the excavation work in 1876.
Archaeologist Matheos Besios reopened tomb A in 1991; in the same year grave B was discovered and excavated by him. The archaeologists Hans von Mangoldt and Konstantinos Noulas carried out an exact measurement of both graves.
Both graves had already been looted by grave robbers. They had removed the keystones (wedge stones) of the vault and thus gained access to the graves. Who was once buried there is unknown. The elaborate construction indicates important people. Heuzey had almost all usable and transportable artifacts (except for a stone block with a relief of a snake, two doors and smaller artifacts) brought to France. They are either exhibited or stored there in the Louvre . The exact dating of the origins of the graves was disputed. The assumed period of construction extends from the 4th (Richter) to the early 2nd century BC. Chr. (Miller). Current knowledge is based on the construction of the graves in the late 4th century BC. And from their use until the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Chr. From.
Description of the graves
Both graves are clearly recognizable as barrows . Today they are green and overgrown with pines. Both graves are not in the center of the tumulus, they were created to the left of the main axis (seen from the entrance), presumably to deceive grave robbers. As was common in Macedonia at the time, the graves were erected during the lifetime of those buried in them.
Grave A
The monument is located directly at the Korinos motorway service station (east of the motorway) and is accessible from there. The burial mound has a diameter of 60 meters and is 15 meters high. The total length of the tomb is 22 meters, making it the largest Macedonian tomb (as of October 2017) that has been discovered in Pieria so far . The four-meter-long outer access was filled on both sides with clay, bricks or stones, and the individual layers are easy to distinguish from one another. The facade is only partially preserved and has been partially reconstructed. Heuzey had found the facade intact. The grave was once closed by a wall and behind it, marble doors that are modeled on wooden doors. Imaginary fittings and nails can be clearly recognized. Both door leaves are still preserved. Incisions in the doors suggest that bronze rings were originally attached to them. The entrance to the burial chamber is provided with a clear gradient and also slopes downwards in height. An arched corridor ( dromos ) made of stone blocks once plastered leads down to the first antechamber. The ceiling is rounded (round barrel) and closed at its highest point with wedge stones. Isolated remains show that the plaster was once painted. The painting was based on a marble surface. The floor of the corridor consists of a mosaic-like surface in which pebbles are embedded.
The approximately 11 meters long and 2 meters wide dromos section leads into a forecourt (courtyard), which is adorned by a Doric gable and a Doric entablature with six triglyphs . The courtyard was painted and the remains of the red paint are clearly visible. A passage leads from the forecourt into the 1.5 meter long and 3 meter wide antechamber of the grave.
The burial chamber, measuring 3 by 4 meters, was protected by heavy doors. There was a mechanical device to make it easier to open. The doors can be seen in the Louvre in Paris. The forecourt, the antechamber and the burial chamber are spanned by a common vault.
It is believed that a married couple was buried in the grave. In the burial chamber are preserved the Klinen of the dead and a stone block depicting a snake. The kline, presumably attributable to the man, was guarded by a dog, the second by the snake. The burial chamber was plastered and painted, there are holders for grave goods. Only the bones of the deceased, potsherds and an oil lamp that could have come from the grave robbers were found.
As inscriptions (from 1948) show, the tomb was used by shepherds at times to house their flocks.
Grave B
The smaller grave B is located south of the Korinos motorway service station (west of the motorway) and is accessible from a parallel road. The burial mound has a diameter of 40 meters and is 13 meters high. The grave consists of an arched corridor, an antechamber measuring 1.5 by 3 meters and the 3 by 3 meter burial chamber. The antechamber was secured by a wall and a double-leaf door. The door was found broken, restored and reattached. It is made of limestone, was once plastered and is very heavy. The floor of the antechamber and the grave is covered with stone slabs, the walls are decorated with a circumferential meander .
The remains of a cremation and a body burial were found in the burial chamber. Stone bases, on which wooden clinics presumably rested, are preserved. The chamber is painted with a circumferential tooth cut and a tendril frieze. Two bronze coins, two greaves, ceramics and fragments of other objects were found as remaining grave goods. Holders for other grave goods are attached to the walls and ceiling.
literature
- Hans v. Mangoldt: Macedonian tomb architecture, the Macedonian chamber tombs and their predecessors - Volume I, pages 154 to 160. Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-8030-1064-3
- Pierídon Stefanós. Pýdna, Methóni ke i archeótites tis vórias Pierías (Πιερίδων Στεφανός. Πύδνα, Μεθώνη και οι αρχαιότητες της βόρειας Πιερίας). Εταιρεία Ανθρώπων και Φύσεως Έργα, pages 270 to 283. Katerini 2010, ISBN 978-960-99308-0-2 .
- Léon Heuzey, Honoré Daumet: Mission Archéologique de Macédoine. Paris 1876.
Web links
- Technique of painting Macedonian graves, illustration on page 194, table on page 215 (in French). Retrieved October 22, 2017 .
- The Heuzey Tomb (in English). Retrieved October 22, 2017 .
Coordinates: 40 ° 19 ′ 35 ″ N , 22 ° 34 ′ 48 ″ E
Remarks
- ↑ Hans v. Mangoldt: Macedonian tomb architecture, the Macedonian chamber tombs and their predecessors - Edition I, page 158.
- ↑ M. Besios, Anaskafikes erevnes sti Voreia Pieria (Ανασκαφικές έρευνες στη Βόρεια Πιερία), AEMθ 5 (The archaeological work in Macedonia and Thrace 5), 1991, pages 173-177
- ↑ M. Besios, Anaskafikes erevnes sti Voreia Pieria (Ανασκαφικές έρευνες στη Βόρεια Πιερία), AEMθ 5 (The archaeological work in Macedonia and Thrace 5), 1991, page 175
- ↑ Hans v. Mangoldt: Macedonian tomb architecture, the Macedonian chamber tombs and their predecessors - Edition I, page 155.
- ↑ Hans v. Mangoldt: Macedonian tomb architecture, the Macedonian chamber tombs and their predecessors - Edition I, page 156.
- ↑ Sur la technè de la peinture grecque ancienne d'après les monuments funéraires de Macédoine, page 215 .
- ↑ Hans v. Mangoldt: Macedonian tomb architecture, the Macedonian chamber tombs and their predecessors - Edition I, page 159.
- ↑ Hans v. Mangoldt: Macedonian tomb architecture, the Macedonian chamber tombs and their predecessors - Edition I, page 160.