Tholos tomb of Prosymna

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Entrance to the Tomb of Tholos in Prosymna

The Tholos Tomb of Prosymna or Tholos Tomb near Heraion ( Greek Ηραιον Τάφος ) is an underground dome building . It is located about 550 m northwest of the Heraion of Argos . According to Alan Wace's classification , the grave belongs to the second Tholos group, dated to the Late Helladic Period (SH II B) and was found around 1400 BC. Built in BC.

exploration

In 1872 a farmer from Pasia, today's Inachos, discovered an unusually large stone on his property. He informed the authorities and in 1878 the Greek archaeologist Panagiotis Stamatakis began excavations. It quickly turned out that the stone was the capstone of the entrance passage (stomion) of a dome grave. From 1921 to 1923 Alan Wace carried out additional excavations.

description

The Tholos grave lies in the middle of an olive grove. The 18 m long access path ( Dromos ) leads from the southwest to the grave and was blocked at the southwest end by a low wall. Its width widens towards the entrance from 2.90 m to 3.15 m. The side walls of the dromos are made of carefully worked limestone blocks. The entrance was probably flanked by two half- columns. The stomion has a height of 4.40 m, a width of about 2 m and a length of 4.50 m. The entrance was closed with a stone wall, which was still 3 m high when it was discovered. The dome of the tomb with a diameter of 9.50 m collapsed today. Their original height is estimated to be around 10 m. In the floor of the dome grave three grave shafts were found, but they were looted. In the grave shafts, shards from classical times were found, from which it was concluded that the dome was still intact at the time. A mound of earth was built over the dome and was surrounded by a low ring-shaped wall.

literature

Web links

Commons : Tomb of Tholos of Prosymna  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 37 ° 41 ′ 45.6 "  N , 22 ° 46 ′ 11.7"  E