
Chamber tomb at Aristomenis

The Mycenaean chamber tomb was excavated in 1996 at the site “Trani Sykia”, 1.5 km east of the modern village “Aristomenis”. It was dug in the soft bedrock and has a dromos (passageway) 8.40 m long and an almost circular chamber with a diameter of 2.30 m. Within a niche on the eastern side of the dromos, burial traces were found, while a pit with a reburial was found in the chamber. The grave goods indicate the use of the tomb from about the 14th to the 11th century BC. They include ceramic vases with painted decoration, gold plaques with a relief motif of a double nautilus, relief glass plaques and several glass beads. An almost intact amphora with a painted decoration of plant motives stands out and is exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Messenia in Kalamata.