Mycenaean warrior tomb unearthed at Marathon

A shaft grave dated to the early Mycenaean period (ca. 1600 BC) was discovered during the 2016 excavation season at Plassi in Marathon, a short distance from the Tumulus of Marathon, revealing the significance of Marathon as a place of remembrance for ancient Athens, before and after the great battle of 490 BC.

The excavation of the grave at Plassi, Marathon [Credit: © Department of Archaeology 
and History of Art, NKUA]

The grave's occupant was evidently a warrior who was buried with a sword, a spear, a knife and arrows.

The Warrior Grave of early Mycenaean period at Plassi, Marathon [Credit: © Department of Archaeology 
and History of Art, NKUA]

Almost a millennium later, during the early Archaic period (c. 700 BC), the grave was discovered by the inhabitants of Marathon, who left the weapons in the grave but collected the bones of the deceased with great caution, possibly assuming that they belonged to a mythical hero of the past, and erected a sanctuary above the grave to honour him.

Rectangular precinct of the sanctuary which had been erected above the Mycenaea grave at Plassi, Marathon 
[Credit: © Department of Archaeology and History of Art, NKUA]

This sanctuary was destroyed at the time of the great battle, probably by the Persian army, and was subsquently abandoned, since the dominant site of historical memory in the area shifted to the Tumulus of Marathon.

View of the excavation at Plassi of Marathon [Credit: © Department of Archaeology 
and History of Art, NKUA]

For more information see the Marathon Excavation website.

Source: ANA-MPA [April 05, 2017]