125-136

Chamber tomb of Kalamoto

• Σισμανίδης, Κώστας Λ.

Following a recent grave-robbery, a large, unusually shaped, built chamber tomb has been investigated about 500 m S of Kalamotos and 1 km N of ancient Kalindoia. The monument, which seems to have been broken into many times since the ancient period, is horizontally roofed with a row of 11 well dressed marble slabs, most of which are slightly triangular in section, as is particularly apparent on the facade, where the roof forms a rudimentary pediment.The interior dimensions of the tomb are 3.15x6.50 m. A dug, stepped dro- mos led to the simple, plain facade. The walls are irregularly built with small, mainly slab-shaped stones. The vertical surfaces that were visible at the time of the burial (i.e. those of the facade, the antechamber, and the upper chamber) were roughly covered with white plaster, which survives in a few places. Traces of red and blue colour on the plaster of the chamber indicate that there was some sort of painted decoration inside it. The entrance opening in the facade is totally unstructured and is the same width as the antechamber. It was found to have been blocked up with a strong wall, except for the upper part, where the blocking wall had been demolished, presumably by the first grave-robbers to desecrate the monument. The interior of the tomb consists of an antechamber and 2 chambers, A above and B below. The antechamber, which is narrower than chamber A next to it, is 2.60 m long, 1.25 m wide, and 1.90 m high. Between the antechamber and chamber A was a small but meticulously constructed marble entrance, with a proper double door of marble, which was found broken on the ground. The main face of the doors has the same plastic structure as the doors of Macedonian tombs. The entranceway, with its robust marble frame, is only 1.53 m high and 0.70 m wide. The lintel facing the antechamber is meticulously fashioned with two mouldings, plastically rendered on the upper part, the lower one being a reverse moulding picked out in blue and red. The upper chamber, A, is 2.80 m long, 1.90 m wide, and 1.70 m high, considerably wider, that is, and lower than the antechamber, owing to the presence here of a floor of thick, well jointed slabs of marble. The floor consists of five rows of such slabs, the row at the back of the chamber having been moved by the treasure-seekers. What is striking is that the floor slabs of chamber A form the ceiling of the secret chamber B below. Directly below the first chamber, and with no access to it, is the almost identical chamber B, which, because it was secret, and also because of its luxurious construction, must have been the main burial chamber. The slightly smaller dimensions of chamber B are due to the fact that all four walls are covered with huge, thick, carefully smoothed slabs of good white marble, laid in two horizontal rows of unequal height. The chamber is thus 2.50 m long, 1.80 m wide, and 1.60 m high. Aound the top of its marble facing, on which the marble ceiling slabs rest, runs a plastic comice-like feature, the front of which consists of a wide band above and a painted reverse moulding below, identical to the one on the lintel of the antechamber and with the same red and blue colour. The only non-marble surface in chamber B was the floor, which was paved with large grey-green slabs. Treasure-seekers down the ages had smashed them and moved them from their original places, except for 2, on the basis of which it was possible to restore the floor. The robbers’ violence had not spared the bones of what must have been at least five occupants of the tomb, as well as the grave goods it contained, though these, despite many break-ins, were quite numerous and interesting. They included parts of 8 small handleless skyphoi, 5 lamps, 4 plates, 9 fusiform unguentaria, 2 pyxides, 3 black-painted kantharoi, and numerous fragments of gilded bronze wreaths (leaves, stems, fruit), several spherical or tubular gilded necklace beads, and a large number of iron nails and other rodshaped pieces of metal. These finds, particularly the pottery, and certain architectural features show that the tomb was used over a very long period of time, from at least the beginning of the 3rd century to the mid-2nd century BC.

• History and Archaeology

• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)

Θεσσαλονίκη, τάφοι

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