Two Mycenaean tholos tombs, among the largest in Messenia, were identified on the hill of Metsiki, between the villages of Upper (old) Psari and Lower Psari in northern Messenia. The site where they were built is naturally fortified and offers direct supervision to the Soulima plain and the Ionian Sea. The Tholos Tomb 1 was excavated in the 1980s. It was covered by an earthen mound paved with stones and surrounded by a retaining wall. The dromos (passageway) along with the stomion (entranceway) has a total length of 11 m and leads to the burial chamber with a diameter of 9.10 m.

Although the tomb was already looted in antiquity, the pottery and its finds testify to its rich contents and its use from the 16th to the 14th century BC. Among other things, stone and bone tools, pieces of Mycenaean pots and figurines, blades and arrowheads made of flint and obsidian, and clay spindle whorls were found. Two bronze nails from a sword or a dagger with heads covered in solid gold also stand out. Their presence, along with a large number of stone arrowheads and the remains of boar tusks from a helmet, suggest that the owner was a warrior or hunter. There was probably an important Mycenaean settlement in the area that has not yet been located. Finds from the historical and medieval periods confirm the continuity of habitation on the hill and in the wider area. Some of the Tholos Tomb 1 finds are exhibited at the Archaeological Museum of Messenia in Kalamata.