Tomb of Epano Phournos

The Epano Phournos tholos is a Mycenaean tholos tomb at the Bronze Age site of Mycenae in southern Greece. It is one of the earliest tholos tombs (tholoi) at the site, dating to the Late Helladic IIA period (c. 1635/1600 – c. 1480/1470 BCE). Like other examples of the type, it consisted of a round burial chamber surmounted by a corbelled roof, itself entered by a narrow rectangular passage known as the dromos. However, unlike later and more elaborate tombs, the dromos was not reinforced with masonry, nor were the stones used to construct the tomb shaped during the building process. The tomb was looted in antiquity, possibly before the end of the Bronze Age, and little evidence of its original contents survived for modern study. It seems to have been used for only one act of interment: the grave goods recovered included Palace Style vessels from Minoan Crete, goods made of ivory, gold and precious stones, and possibly a boar's tusk helmet. The tomb furnished large amounts of material dating to after the Mycenaean period, particularly from the Geometric period (c. 900 – c. 700 BCE), which has been taken as evidence of hero cult (the use of the tomb as a site of worship for legendary or deified ancestors). The tomb's existence was first recorded by the antiquary William Gell following a visit to Mycenae in 1805, though Gell mistook it for the remains of a gate. Christos Tsountas c

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