The Prosilio project 2017
Excavation: Research excavation
The first season of a 5-year collaborative project to explore the Mycenaean chamber tomb cemetery at Prosilio. Research in 2017 focused on the excavation of tomb 2, a monumental Mycenaean chamber tomb, constructed in the middle of the 14th century BC (Late Helladic IIIA), first identified and partially explored in 2014. The tomb is one of the largest of its kind discovered in Greece. It appears that the tomb was re-entered in the Mycenaean period (perhaps to prepare the ground for a new burial, or as part of a ritual, or because the tombusing group was worried about a possible rockfall) and those responsible deemed the tomb unsafe for further burials and abandoned its use. On the chamber floor, the team discovered only the burial of a single, male individual, 40–50 years old, accompanied by a number of objects. These included ‘tinned’ clay vessels of various shapes, a pair of bronze horse bits, bronze arrows and bronze pins, bronze elements possibly from a bow, jewellery of various types and materials, including gold, glass and faience, bone combs, an agate sealstone and a gold signet ring. Broken kylikes (untinned) were found in front of and among the blocking stones of the entrance. The presence of a single burial with important finds is an extraordinary discovery. Discovery of this burial and its associated finds will help us to understand better funeral practices in the region in the Mycenaean period.
Active in 2017.