The Ministry of Culture has announced the discovery of a spectacular ancient Greek cemetery near the ancient city of Tenea in Corinth, similar to the tombs of Macedonia during the Hellenistic era.
The appearance and interior of the structure suggests a history of long-term use and religious importance associated with healing practices.
The Ministry of Culture reports that funeral monuments have an asymmetric “T”-shaped layout, consisting of two sections.
The rectangular burial chambers align along the north-south axis, with the corridor intersecting the long east side at a midpoint. Access is provided by narrow East and West corridors, including outdoor sections that draw “streets” and covered sections where part of the horizontal roof remains intact.
The entrance to the covered section was sealed externally with a rectangular clad slab, while the openings feature recycled rectangular lintels.
Along the walls of the main chamber, monolithic stone co and five rectangular tombs were discovered. In two of these graves, the slabs covered showed clear signs of obstruction, while the other slabs lacked an intact cover.
Of the six tombs, only stone cos contained burials preserved in anatomical positions, presumably belonging to adult women, whereas anthropological remains in other tombs were replaced.
Inside the stone co, a considerable number of animal bones were found in both large and small livestock, along with the turtle shells. Additionally, thick layers of animal bones were found in the monument filling and burial chambers, accompanied by ceramic vessels dating back to the 6th century AD in the 5th and 6th centuries.
According to the Ministry of Culture, the monument was used for burial until the Gregorian calendar, when the fourth century was sealed. However, in the late Roman period, the roof was violated, burials were plundered, and the place was reused exclusively for Perideipna (ritual banquet).
Findings from inside the monument and the tombs inside it are abundant, mainly dated during the Hellenistic and Roman times.
Among the discoveries are the signature of a semi-precious stone depicting Apollo with a healing snake, two gold danica replicating a coin of Hellenistic Sikyona, votive clay fingers, leaves of gold wreaths, small hellenic vase deposits, Philip III’s silver-aleijing iron hands, bronze spoon planted with the hands of daughters’ construction of iron handbooks, and other artifacts such as a spindle-shaped bulb-shaped perfume bottle.
The area surrounding the monument is still excavated, but it is very interesting. To the east of the entrance to the monument, a portion of the paved road was identified, and ran southward towards the south. Meanwhile, to the north of the monument, a 6.50m x 4.10m section of the enclosure was discovered.
In the reclaimed area, votive offerings were discovered, including clay finger figurines with hanging holes and fragments of clay arm figurines. These findings suggest that this site has special religious significance that is likely to be related to healing practices.
Source: GreekReporter.com