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Tholos tomb at Diodia

This small Mycenaean tholos tomb is located at the site “Pournaria”, about 1 km southeast of the modern village “Diodia”. A short dromos (passageway) leads to the stomion (entranceway) of the tomb, which was blocked with dry stone masonry and covered by a large monolithic lintel. The vault, with a diameter of 4.20 m and a height of up to 2.30 m, was covered with an earthen mound. The excavation revealed that it was a family tomb with at least fifteen burials, accompanied by bronze objects such as knives and pins, arrowheads made of obsidian and flint, clay and steatite spindle whorls, beads made of various materials and about thirty clay vessels with various shapes and elaborate decoration, dating the use of the tomb mainly to the 14th and 13th centuries BC. However, some grave goods of the 16th/15th century BC were found along with reburials, set aside in peripheral parts of the vault. Representative finds from the tholos tomb at Diodia are exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Messenia in Kalamata.

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