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Vergina : the “Heuzey” tombs

• Δρούγου, Στέλλα

The “Heuzey” tombs are a short distance northeast of the “Bella” tombs, in the eastern section of the ancient cemetery of Aigai (Vergina). The group includes the “Heuzey” Macedonian tomb, known as such from its discovery in the 19th century by the French archaeologist L(éon) Heuzey. In accordance with recent finds (chiefly pointed-toe amphorae), it should be dated to the late 4th century B.C.The “Heuzey a” tomb was discovered in 1998 quite near the previously-named one. It consisted of a small underground porous structure (dimensions 3m X 4 m and 2.40 m in height) with horizontal covering and an entrance on its narrow eastern side. The tomb was found looted, but a number of objects had escaped theft: clay vases, a gilt black-glaze omphalos plate, jewelry fragments (pins) and chiefly, a gold coin of the satrap of Caria Pixodarus (340-336 B.C.). The grave belonged to a woman and is datable to the period of the reign of Alexander III.The “Heuzey b” tomb is a porous cist-grave, built in direct contact with the “Heuzey a” tomb. Its dimensions are 1.60 mx 1.50 m. It was found unlooted in 1999, and contained a large number of grave goods including the deceaseds weapons, metal symposium vessels (kantharoi, a situla, etc.), and clay vases. The bones of the male deceased had been placed in a large calyx-krater bearing impressive relief decoration. The grave is to be dated to a time just after the previous one, following the reign of Alexander.The last in the chronological series of the “Heuzey” tombs is the Macedonian “Heuzey” tomb known since the 19th century, which dates to the late 4th century B.C.The “Heuzey” tombs comprise a characteristic example from the late 4th century both in respect to their architectural characteristics as well as their grave goods. Although the “Macedonian tomb” type had already been created, the monuments of the “Heuzey” group and their particular features display the deviations and alterations of the type from the reign of Alexander onward. In contrast to the large, monumental, heavily-decorated Macedonian tombs, the oldest monument in this group, “Heuzey a,” has no significantarchitectural form. The very few clay fragments and the gold and silver jewelry that eluded theft may constitute an indirect indication that the remaining grave goods were particularly valuable. “Heuzey b” has no special architectural shape, but its grave goods make clear an important change: the metal vessels are bronze, silver-plated to give them the appearance of costliness. In contrast, the bronze krater, the ossuary vessel, still retains the special quality of its superb artistry, which recalls a workshop of wider regional activity (cf. a similar krater from Pydna).The range of indirect dating evidence for this group of monuments places all of them in a period that was crucial for Macedonia. In reality, as the excavation data, the coin of Pixodoros and the clay vases show, we are dealing with the reign of Alexander III, and the presaging of a crucial change, the necessary and gradual abandoning of the Classical and the adoption of a new form and outlook, that of the Hellenistic. None of these can be dated with absolute precision, given that they were taking place within the ebb and flow of life and historical conditions, the chief characterizing feature of this period. This state of affairs would continue until the beginning Antigo- nas Gonatas s reign, when the horizon of the Classical 4th century would be covered by cosmopolitan Hellenistic forms and concepts.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Burial

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