Tholos Tomb of Acharnes

What I can see

This tomb is underground and consists of a “road” (corridor) 27m X 3m, the “mouth” (entrance) and the “chamber”. The chamber is conical, its diameter is 8.35m and it is 8.74m high. It was built with small stacked stones and the soil that was removed for the opening of the grave was placed on top, thus forming a kind of mound. The lintel at the entrance is a massive oblong stone and 4 smaller ones with gaps between them are above it. The usual characteristic in similar tombs was the “relief triangle”, i.e. a triangular shaped gap, which prevented the entrance from collapsing.

What I can't see

It was discovered a few years after Mycenae. Since then, when archaeologists saw hills that did not seem to be natural, they carried out excavations. Several prehistoric tombs were discovered in Attica. The kingdoms of Attica – like that of Acharnes- were scattered, and their unification during the 13th century BC was the beginning of the powerful city-state of Athens. This specific tomb of the Mycenaean years belonged to some prominent personality and family of the area, as is evident from the numerous and luxurious jewels (made of gold, silver, ivory and other materials), vases, weapons, an elaborate pyxis (beauty box) and many more objects, the most important being the 7 or 8-string ivory lyre, with raised sphynxes on its base, which is a valuable source about the music of the time. The corridor was covered with dirt and when a new dead person was to be buried, slaves opened it again and moved the older dead on the chamber’s sides. Cult objects dedicated to heroised dead dating back to the 5th century BC, when the area ceased to be used, probably due to the Peloponnesian War, were found in the corridor. The findings of the tomb are exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum. A little further north is the very interesting Archaeological Collection of Acharnes.

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