Chamber Tombs Research Articles

Appearance and social meaning of Egg shaped jar with two lugs buried in the Wooden chamber Tomb of the Yeongnam Province

This writing paid attention and made an approach to appearance and social meaning of Egg shaped jar with two lugs buried in the wooden chamber tomb of Yeongnam Province. As a result, according to the present data, the egg shaped jar was intensively excavated in the Gyeongju and Ulsan area and became prevalent around the Gyeongju area. If chronology of the egg shaped jar is applied to existing research results, it appears in the mid-3rd century AD and continues until the early 4th century. With respect to appearance of the egg shaped jar in each area, it first appeared in Gyeongju and Daegu area in the middle of 3rd century AD and especially, Gyeongju area continued its appearance until the early 4th century AD and has the largest amount of excavated artifacts. Gyeongju is the center of the appearance. And, it appeared in the Ulsan area in the late 3rd century AD and was existed until the early 4th century with second largest amount of excavated artifacts. On the other hand, it contrasts that burial of the egg shaped jar was confirmed with a very small quantity in the pohang, Daegu area. The social meanings according to appearance of the egg shaped jar and Gyeongju wooden chamber tomb are interpreted as follows. In other words, each of the towns of Saroguk was usually composed of plural powers rather than a single power and therefore, social unity was absolutely necessary to build them into a political system. Because of the political situation, it seems that Saroguk focused on rituals. Because the rituals eventually justify social hierarchy or contain political momentum and also mean innovation and change, the combination of powers through religious ritual rather than forced merger is more reasonable and economical to lead social hierarchy to a fair agreement. Especially archeological phenomenon, it’s appeared in the center of innovation and change in the middle of the 3rd century AD those’re Egg shaped jar with two lugs, Egg shaped jar with short neck, Chafing dish shaped earthenware, and Gyeongju wooden chamber tomb. In addition, the distribution range of Egg shaped jar with two lugs, Egg shaped jar with short neck, and Chafing dish shaped earthenware as well as Gyeongju wooden chamber tomb was interpreted as the data that can access to the relation with the Saroguk.

The Chamber Tombs at Prosymna: A New Social and Political Interpretation for a Group of Tombs

The cemetery at the Argive Heraion provides an opportunity to study the social structure of a small Mycenaean center. This article will examine closely the tomb group found around the large and richly furnished chamber tomb 2. Both the style of the architectural decoration and the objects found within suggest that the tomb served as the burial place of either the ruling family of the area or one that was close to it. Against the background of the tholos tomb and the other affluent tombs from this necropolis, a picture emerges that speaks of the struggle for power at Prosymna before the Mycenaean palatial system was fully established.

Γυάλινο ανάγλυφο κύπελλο από την Κίσαμο, ΒΔ Κρήτη

Our knowledge of the Roman city and necropolis of Kissamos was enriched, on occasion of a project carried out under the supervision of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania, in 2015.In the west cemetery of ancient Kissamos, a new family rock-cut chamber tomb came to light. The rectangular subterranean chamber of a trapezoidal vertical section with a roof opening, received multiple burials. The offerings, included several mainly glass unguentaria, clay vessels, bone objects, beads and gold sheets, demonstrate the long use of this family grave, from the 1st c.A.D. to the 3rd c. A.D. Of particular interest is an imported mold-blown glass drinking vessel of luxury ware. It is an inscribed cylindrical beaker of the 1st c. AD, bearing the Greek inscription “ΛΑΒΕ ΤΗΝ ΝΕΙΚΗΝ(incorrect orthography for “CATCH THE VICTORY”).

Burial in the Time of the Amorites. The Middle Bronze Age Burial Customs from a Mesopotamian Perspective

The paper focuses on the funerary customs attested in Middle Bronze Age (MBA) Mesopotamia, addressing the issue of common or distinctive characteristics and searching for potential evidence of assimilation of a new tribal-rooted identity. Specific burial practices, such as residential burials, use of vaulted chamber tombs and post-entombment rituals, were widely disseminated throughout the whole area during this period. Occurrence of donkey burials appears to be another distinctive trait in Upper Mesopotamia. Moreover, certain characteristic elements of these practices have been noted beyond Mesopotamia, in the Levant and as far as the eastern Nile Delta (Tell Daba’a), where they are associated with the Hyksos period. A puzzling resemblance between MBA funerary assemblages from Tell Arbid in northern Syria (Upper Mesopotamia) and the material from the distant region of Tell Daba’a (Avaris) was noted. This prompted a deeper study and presentation of the Mesopotamian MBA burials in a broader sociopolitical context, addressing issues of the character of similarities and discrepancies through comparison of relevant ritual variables throughout the area discussed. It confirmed a broad emergence of parallel mortuary behaviors focusing on kinship and ancestor commemoration. However, several areas do not fit this seemingly coherent picture of funerary customs, revealing distinctive regional identities. The changes in burial customs coincide with a sociopolitical transformation in Mesopotamia, resulting in the establishment of Amorite kingdoms and a profusion of pastoral tribes. It would seem, therefore, that the adoption of a new mortuary ideology and new constructed group identity was an answer to these sociopolitical developments.

A comparative study of brick chamber tombs in the Six Dynasties of China and Gamil-dong ancient tombs

A comparative study of brick chamber tombs in the Six Dynasties of China and Gamil-dong ancient tombs

Rock-cut Chamber Tombs and the Reproduction of Locality in Later Sicilian Prehistory

This article explores the archaeology of place and memory from the standpoint of research on large cemeteries of chamber tombs cut out of the rock in southern Sicily. Burials of this kind were integral to the configuration of major settlements dating from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age (c. 2200–600 bc) and are a distinctive feature of Sicilian cultural landscapes. Rock-cut tombs at the four key sites of Castelluccio, Thapsos, Pantalica and Cassibile, representing successive phases of the Bronze and Iron Ages, are discussed in relation to terrain and layout. One aim is to identify recurrent principles of spatial organization, while drawing attention to settlements as structured environments with complex ritual geographies. Changes in tomb form are discussed with reference to variations in funerary practices over time. I conclude that cultural traditions in this region were sustained in part by the prominence of funerary architecture and by re-engagement with older sites in later periods through acts of re-use and remembrance.

The excavation of Yelü Hongli’s tomb in Beizhen City, Liaoning

Abstract In September through November 2015, Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other institutions excavated Yelü Hongli’s tomb of the Liao Dynasty. This was a large-scale brick-chamber tomb consisting of the passage, ventilation shafts, entrance, corridor and tomb chamber; albeit having been looted in early years, many grave goods including silver wares, bronzes, iron objects, porcelains, wooden objects, jades, stone implements were unearthed, as well as architectural components and stone epitaph, and wooden coffin and bier were also preserved. This tomb located in Han Derang’s family cemetery, which was a part of the attendant burials of the Xianling and Qianling Mausoleums of the Liao Dynasty, was a tomb with exact date and yielding rich artifacts, and this was rare in the elite burials of the late Liao Dynasty, so it is significantly meaningful for the study on the burial system of the Liao Dynasty.

R.A.K. Smith, M.K. Dabney, E. Pappi, S. Triantaphyllou, and J.C. Wright. Ayia Sotira. A Mycenaean Chamber Tomb Cemetery in the Nemea Valley, Greece

R.A.K. Smith, M.K. Dabney, E. Pappi, S. Triantaphyllou, and J.C. Wright. <i>Ayia Sotira. A Mycenaean Chamber Tomb Cemetery in the Nemea Valley, Greece</i>

고려왕릉 출토 ‘봉황문 장식’의 상징과 강화 능내리석실분의 피장자 검토

고려왕릉 출토 ‘봉황문 장식’의 상징과 강화 능내리석실분의 피장자 검토

倭系石室로 본 加耶와 倭의 交流

倭系石室로 본 加耶와 倭의 交流

Nourishing urban development: A palaeodietary study of Archaic Gabii, Italy (6th–5th c BCE)

Gabii was established around the 8th century BCE in the province of Latium and was considered to be a sister city to Rome. In an effort to learn more about its settlers and their dietary patterns, stable isotope analysis was conducted using skeletal remains from eight individuals found in chamber tomb burials dating to the Archaic period (6th–5th centuries BCE). The δ15N (9.3‰ to 11.5‰) and δ13Cco (−20.5‰ to −18.9‰) from bone collagen as well as the δ13Cap (−13.2‰ to −9.5‰) from the bone apatite demonstrate that Archaic Gabines' diet consisted mainly of terrestrial protein in conjunction with C3 plants. In comparing the Archaic diet with the earlier Iron Age and later Imperial diets, a shift towards more positive carbon and nitrogen values is seen through time, suggesting both the introduction of new foods and the correlative relationship between foodways and the rise of urbanism in Latium.

The Western Necropolis of Cyrene: the Wadi Belghadir road

AbstractThe Western Necropolis represents one of the most monumental and spectacular sections of the Cyrene cemeteries, with rock-cut monuments, still quite well preserved, along a funerary road. The earliest examples of monumental tombs in this context date to the second half of the sixth and the beginning of the fifth centuries BC, with tombs displaying rock-cut porticos in Doric, Aeolic or Ionic styles, and with the slightly later tombs having architectonic facades characterized by false ‘contracted’ porticos and overhanging lintels ending with twoacroteria, mainly dating to the fifth century. The fourth century and the Hellenistic age, in this section of the necropolis, is attested by rock-cut chamber tombs, often with painted Doric friezes, and loculi. In Roman times, apart from a few examples of new tombs, most of the Roman funerary monuments reuse earlier tombs or are tombs that have been in constant use from previous periods. These phenomena of transformation and reuse of earlier monuments are quite well know for Cyrene, but are more evident from the middle and late imperial period; in later periods we even see the total re-functionalization of the monument. The monumental appearance of the Western Necropolis and its location in a quite remote area, are unfortunately the main reasons for the destruction of the tombs, which have been quite heavily looted: marble statues, busts and portraits have particularly suffered.

The Chronology of Tombs in Daeseong-dong in the Age of The early Dojil Pottery

The Daeseong-dong Tumuli are located in the burial place of kings of Geumgwan Gaya. The study of grave goods reveals that Dojil pottery buried in large wooden chamber tombs reflect her heyday, hence the chronological dating of ancient tombs of the kingdom heavily relies upon the analysis of the period of Dojil pottery. The relative dating of the tombs in this area is used to arrange a variety of burial pottery, braziershaped stands with handles and mounted dishes, in chronological order. Brazier-shaped stands with handles are subdivided into two types: stands with an outward rolled rims and with upright mouths, and mounted dishes into three types: dishes with an outward bent rims, with an upright mouths, and with lids. This categorization of pottery found in large wooden chamber tombs suggests the several different periods of burial practices in wooden chamber tombs - six periods in this paper. With the comparison between pottery found in this area and those in Bokcheondong burial mounds, the analysis of differences between two super-categories of pottery provides a detailed chronology of burial pottery in the tombs. For example, based upon a comparative analysis with prestige goods imported from the central and northern regions of China, the absolute dating of burial materials gives a result that the third period of the tombs refers to the second quarter of the fourth century, and next three periods cover every 25 years from the third quarter of the fourth century to the first quarter of the fifth century. On the other hand, the chronological comparison between double layered mounted dishes with holes on its stand found in Tomb No. 39 and other pottery buried earlier reveals that the Tomb was built during the seventh period, the second quarter of the fifth century. Dojil pottery and brazier-shaped stands with handles were discovered for the first time in the first period of wooden chamber tombs. It was no later than the third period to see all kinds of pottery which were produced in unglazed style throughout tombs. The fourth period shows a variety of pottery including not only double layered mounted dishes with holes on its stand and lids, bowl stands, cylinder-shaped pottery stands, and lidded mounted jars, but also brazier-shaped pottery stands in which triangle and stripe patterns and circular compass patterns are inscribed discovered from large tombs. During the sixth period the typical pottery style of Gaya, like lidded long-necked jars and bowl stands on which larva patterns ingrained, was invented. From the seventh period, pottery continued to develop and created the new style of mounted dishes. The pottery style made during the sixth and seventh periods would have influenced burial vessels in Tomb No. 7 in Dongri, Changnyeong.

Once Again about Sepulchral Elite Rite of Pagan Rus

The first state formation of the Eastern Slavs, known to contemporaries under the name of “Rus land” or “Rus”, and designated by the desk researchers of subsequent generations as “Kyivan Rus” or “Old Rus state”, entered European history as the time when the new and young feudal society went the way from paganism to Orthodoxy, from primitive communal structures to civilization. At the initial stage of its existence, it was referred to as the “armed force” state. At that time, it was representatives of the military contingents of the Grand Prince of Kyiv who implemented the main control over the collection of taxes and the fulfillment of judicial functions in the world of the Eastern Slavs, who gradually came under the control of the grand princes family of Rurikovich. With regard to the actual implementation of the new government by the young rulers of the new European state at this stage of studying all the details of the functioning of this social organism, due to the lack of a sufficient number of written sources, there is a shortage of objective information. Therefore, archaeological realities significantly complement this gap. And first of all it concerns the burial monuments of the pagan period, when, ideologically, the burial rite displayed a specific place in the “earthly” life of members of society who left the “other world,” primarily representatives of its social elite. Details of the burial in the so-called log-like or chamber tombs, as well as burial with weapons, in particular, in the territory of the southern Rus region, in many ways actually reflect such processes in the evolution of the development of early-state structures.

Structure and Costruction background of Ancient Tombs of Ulreung-do During Unified Silla Era

The tomb shape of the ancient tomb constructed in Ulreung-do and the burial structure are analyzed and the construction period is established through the burial items and the system and background are reviewed. As a result of the review, the ancient tombs of Ulreung-do that had the burial structure constructed on the stone structure with the red stones and they were the most appropriate burial facilities for the natural environment of Ulreung-do with its geology, topography, climate or the likes. Originally, the ancient tombs of Ulreung-do had known its burial structure as the stone chamber tomb with horizontal entrance, but as a result of structure analysis, they were confirmed to be the corridor-style stone chamber tomb. Those reported ancient tombs of Ulreung-do from ground surface, excavation survey and others are confirmed by the characteristics of earthenware excavated as the burial items with the construction period to be late 8th century to 9th century. In the main land region of the unified Silla era, had a number of cases grouped in Ulreung-do for the disappearing corridor-style stone chamber tomb that it is confirmed to have similar shapes with the capital city of the similar period. Those earthenwares decorated splendidly with the stamped design pottery excavated from the living relics and ancient tombs of Ulreung-do were produced and consumed in the capital city. The structure of the ancient tomb is in the corridor-style stone chamber tomb and the earthenware carried in for significant number from the capital city and based on such facts, the ancient tombs of Ulreung-do could be presumed as highly likely to be constructed by the migration of those people in the capital city of Silla Dynasty.

The White Marbles of the Tomb of Christ in Jerusalem: Characterization and Provenance

In this work, samples of the white marbles enclosing the Tomb of Christ, as well as samples from the interior marble facades of the Holy Aedicule structure surrounding the Tomb of Christ in the Church of Resurrection in Jerusalem, are investigated using petrographic and isotopic analysis. The aim is to characterize the marble samples and investigate their provenance. The results demonstrate that all examined marble samples originate from Proconnesos (Marmara island), and can be attributed to the so-called Proconnesos-1 variety. Published maximum grain size (MGS) and isotopic (δ18O and δ13C) values of Proconessos quarries are compared with the respective values displayed by the marble samples of the Holy Aedicule, aiming to achieve—to a certain degree—intra-site discriminations. A number of ancient quarries are excluded through this double parameter criterion as sources for the examined Holy Aedicule marbles. The discussion of petrographic and isotopic results in relation to historical testimonies and previously published archaeometry results, regarding the mortars of the Holy Aedicule, reveal that Proconnesos marble was the material of choice used at different construction phases of the Holy Aedicule, from the time of Constantine the Great and throughout the centuries, both for the cladding of the Holy Tomb and the interior facings of the Tomb Chamber and the Chapel of the Angel.

The archaeology of the cemetery of Liu he, the marquis of Haihun: some thoughts on mortuary institutions

This paper discusses the mortuary institutions of Liu He, the Marquis of Haihun, as reflected in his burial and focuses on the institutions of the tomb, the associated tombs, the tomb chamber and coffins, and the shroud. Textual evidence to consider in interpreting the tomb of Liu He can be found in the “Statutes on Burial” excavated from Shuihudi Tomb M77: this paper thus tries to recover the mortuary institutions of the Marquis in the Han Dynasty by collating the archaeological and textual data. The first section deals with the institution of the tomb and concerns all of the constructions associated with it. The second section discusses the associated tombs in the cemetery of Liu He and compares them with those in other marquises’ cemeteries. The third and fourth sections examine the rich archaeological materials from Liu He’s tomb to discuss the institutions of the tomb chamber, coffins, and burial goods. This paper also discusses some intriguing questions such as the incomplete “Statutes on Burial” and the violations of the statutes seen in the cemetery of Liu He.

Detection and localization of chamber tombs in the environs of ancient Olympia, Peloponnese, Greece, based on a combination of archaeological survey and geophysical prospection

AbstractMycenaean chamber tombs are composed of air‐filled burial cavities and, therefore, can be detected by non‐invasive geophysical methods. In this study, an electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)‐based approach was used to detect graves at three different sites in the area surrounding ancient Olympia. We collected ERT data at the necropolis of Mageiras‐Kioupia, where a number of chamber tombs had already been located and partly excavated in order to ground‐truth the ERT response for chamber tombs in different states of preservation. Near the village of Epitalio, a preceding archaeological survey discovered remains of a one chamber tomb in mid‐slope position of a larger hill. There, we applied the ERT‐approach, calibrated at Mageiras‐Kioupia, to the tomb and detected ten more tomb candidates at this site. In addition to ERT, we carried out ground penetrating radar (GPR) studies at the Epitalio site. In general GPR, data are highly consistent with ERT results. We were thus able to localize an unknown, most probably Mycenaean cemetery where no systematic archaeological information previously existed. In the third area of investigation, the Dartisa plateau, no potential chamber tomb comparable to the ones excavated and measured at Mageiras‐Kioupia and Epitalio were identified.

Grave‐goods from the long chamber tomb “Dibba 76/1” (Fujairah, UAE): a first inventory

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to present the rich set of finds collected inside the grave Dibba 76/1, in the Emirate of Fujairah, during a season of rescue excavation conducted under the direction of S. Ali Hassan in 1994. The recovered grave‐goods include pottery, soft‐stone vessels, metal finds, personal ornaments, coins, and other items. Although comparable with other corpuses of material excavated in south‐eastern Arabia, the material of Dibba 76/1 stands out for the inner variety of the different artefacts’ classes and their remarkable chronological heterogeneity. The study of the grave‐goods suggests that Dibba 76/1 was reused over several centuries, showing a strong continuity in the funerary destination of this specific place from the end of the Wadi Suq period (2000–1600 BC) to the first phases of the late pre‐Islamic period (250 BC–AD 400), and the full integration of the area of Dibba in the succession of the various cultural facies known during this long time span.

Walking your Way to Death. Exploring the Relation Between the Location of Mycenaean Chamber Tombs and Roads in the Argolid

Abstract A persistent issue with the study of Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600–1100 BCE) chamber tombs in Mainland Greece remains our limited understanding of the factors that governed the choice of location for their construction. Mee and Cavanagh (1990) examined various parameters, such as religious beliefs, distance from settlement, the tombs’ use as territorial markers or relation to roads. They remained, however, inconclusive. The present study revisits this theme, but focuses on one of the factors formerly discussed, that is the relation of the tombs’ locations to roads. As the most extensive record of Mycenaean roads is preserved at the settlement of Mycenae in the Argolid and its hinterland, this site is considered to be the best case-study for analysis. In order to ascertain the significance of roads on the locations chosen for the chamber tombs, this paper builds a methodological approach that makes use of GIS-based mobility analysis and historical cartography. The analysis has shown that, at least at Mycenae, issues of accessibility to the tombs did not play as crucial role as the actual performance of rituals such as the funerary procession. It also sheds light on the form funerary processions probably took at Mycenae and on common notions of wheeled traffic use for the transfer of the dead to their tomb.