the excavation of the athenian agora twelfth season: 1947

EXCAVATION OF ATHENIAN AGORA, 1947 155
area was recommended for the making of chamnber tombs by the steepness of its slope,
by the soft nature of the rock and by its proximity to the Acropolis where, presulmably,
the occupants of the tombs had had their earthly abode.
The larger and better-preserved of the two tombs of 1947 is strikingly similar
in its general scheme to the larger tomb of 1939 (Fig. 3). A roughly rectangular
chamber hewn entirely from the rock with 1maximum dimensions of 4.65 X 2.85 m.
was approached by a dromos 2.00 m. wide and now preserved to a length of 3.80 m.
The dromos contracted to a doorway 0.88 m. wide which was found closed with a
wall of rough stone bedded in clay. The floor of the dromos sloped downward toward
the tomb chamber and the walls both of dromos and of doorway exhibit an appreciable
inward inclination. The walls of chamber and of dromos are preserved to a maximumn
height of ca. 1.60 m.
The general vieNw from the north will afford some idea of the 1nuch-tortured state
of the area (P1. 39, 1). The basement of a modern house had been set deep into the
chamber; a modern cesspool reached down to within a foot of the tomb floor; a large
drain of the Roman period cut diagonally through the chamber and a branch of a
Hellenistic cistern had,intruded on the northeast corner of the tomb. Yet the burials
and their furnishings were found intact on the floor of the chamber, sealed under by
the fallen rock of the ceiling which had apparently collapsed in antiquity.
The tomb had admitted three bodies (Fig. 3). The few remaining bones of the
earliest burial (A) were found in a heap near the west wall of the tomb. Around
them lay three much-broken vases which may be regarded as the original offerings:
a three-handled amphora, a ewer, and a small jar (P1. 39, 2, d-f). Three more vases
(two kylikes and a bowl) were found in a compact group near the heap of bones;
these have the appearance of a supplementary offering made by the family on the
occasion of one of the later burials (P1. 39, 2, j-l).
The second and third burials (B and C) were represented each by an orderly
skeleton stretched at full length on its back with hands folded across the abdomen.
Burial C is clearly marked as that of a prince by the character of its furnishings; the
lighter bones of Burial B appear to be of a woman. The fact that both these skeletons
were found in perfect order with their offerings undisturbed suggests simultaneous
burial, or else the lapse of a very short period between burials.
Clearly attributable to Burial B are the vases that lay near its head: four kylikes
and three bowls (P1. 39, 2, g-i, m-p). The large amphora and " pilgrim flask " found
near the middle of the floor and the small bowl from the west side of the entrance
presumably reached the tomb on the occasion of onle or other of the later btirials
(P1. 39, 2, a-c).
The most costly offerings are those of Burial C: one long and one short sword,
a cleaver, and a bowl, all of bronze, which had been placed on a table at the side of