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The cemeteries of Pella

• Λιλιμπάκη - Ακαμάτη, Μαρία

Part of a cemetery was discovered in 1989, in a field of the rural area of Pella, SE from the settlement. The cemetery contained all types of late Classical and early Hellenistic funerary architecture. Nineteen cist-graves with built or rock-cut walls and horizontal or vaulted roof of oblong slabs, dated to the second half of the 4th century B.C., were excavated. A thick wall, similar to the walls of Pella, defines the northern and southern sides of the cemetery. The graves were found looted and thus, the preserved grave goods are few. The careful construction of the tombs and the existence of the foundation of a building with a façade imitating an Ionic temple suggest that important persons were hurried in them. Twelve rock-cut chamber tombs equipped with rectangular vertical shaft leading to the entrance and a chamber of equal width to that of the shaft were also excavated. These tombs, dated to the first half of the 3rd century B.C., are considered to be early examples of the early rock-cut chamber tombs of Pella. Two cist-graves of the late 4th century B.C. yielded two gold inscribed laurel leaves, revealing the identity of the deceased: the name of the female dead ΦΙΛΟΞΕΝΑwas inscribed on one of them, while the other bore the inscription ΦΕΡΣΕΦΟ-NHI / ΠΟΣΕΙΔΙΠΠΟΣ ΜΥΣΤΗΣ / ΕΥΣΕΒΗΣ. There are many problems referring to the name of the chthonic deity, to whose mystic cult the dead had been initiated, and to the probable existence of a mystic cult of the goddess of the underworld at Pella.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

νεκροταφεία, Πέλλα, Μακεδονία, συνέδρια

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