We explored the Mycenaean cemetery of Aidonia, located in the northeastern Peloponnese of Greece, near Mycenae and Nemea, as well as Lake Stymphalia.
In the video, we show the 25 tombs in the cemetery, plus 7 other tombs we found nearby.
The cemetery is very well maintained and is open to the public free of charge.
A visit takes between one and one and a half hours.
The cemetery contains almost exclusively chambered tombs, which are entirely hewn from the natural rock and consist of an elongated corridor leading from the ground surface to the underground entrance, through which one enters the burial chamber.
Chambered tombs were used throughout the Mycenaean era (c. 1600/1550-1100 BC) and are often arranged in separate groups.
Unlike other tombs of the same style and period, these are more elaborate, with vertical walls, gabled roofs, and ornate entrances.
The cemetery became famous after it was brutally looted by organized groups of antiquities dealers in the 1970s.
An excavation by the Archaeological Service followed, unearthing finds that were linked to the products of the illegal excavation when these became available for sale abroad in 1993.
The Greek state’s swift action led to the repatriation of the antiquities (1996), which were presented along with the excavation finds to the National Archaeological Museum and are now housed in the Nemean Archaeological Museum.
Numerous relics were found, primarily clay vessels and figurines.
The tomb in the lower group had been used repeatedly, not only during the Mycenaean period, but also during the Geometric and Archaic periods and later.