The Chamber Tombs of the Trapeza, Aigion

Abstract

This chapter presents some preliminary data concerning two Mycenaean chamber tombs that have been object of stratigraphic investigations at the necropolis of Trapeza of Aigion (Achaea) since 2012. This funerary site is known in the literature on the basis of materials retrieved in 1930 and stored in the museum of Aigion, but it has never been precisely localized. The main aim of this analysis is to provide substantial information concerning the complex life-cycle of the tombs, starting with their construction in pure sand along the slope of the hill, followed by several phases of use and reuse implying at times a complete clearance, ending with their collapse. The chapter draws particular attention to both the stratigraphy of the funerary occupation and the topography, mode of disposal, and state of preservation of several findings, in order to understand as much as possible about primary and secondary funerary rites and other actions performed within the chambers and in the dromoi. Data related to the processes of decay and collapse of the tombs as well as to some evidence of later occupation of the area, after its funerary use, is also considered in order to obtain a deeper insight into the dynamics of formation and transformation of the long-lasting social landscape of the Trapeza area.

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“…144 Arena 2015, 28. The finds from the Early Mycenaean megaron at 8 Polychroniadou Street confirm the key role of Aigion within the trade network of the northeastern Peloponnese, see Papazoglou-Manioudaki 2015.145 A possible connection between the cemetery and the settlement has been suggested inBorgna et al 2019.…”