Site details

Colophon

PK	C1477
TITLE	Colophon
WGS84	38.114389° N, 27.14291° E
Accuracy	20 m.

LAT/LON	38.114389, 27.14291
LON/LAT	27.14291, 38.114389

DMS

38° 6' 51.8004" N

27° 8' 34.476" E

W3W	gills, snagged, browned
UTM	35 S, 512527.6, 4218516.48
EGSA87	775396, 4222886

Elevation m	157
Elevation feet	515.1
Region	Anatolia
Subregion	Ionia

GENERAL SITE TYPE Tholos

TYPE

1.    Beehive Tomb.   Holland [1944], 91    'The tradition of the early non-Carian settlement of the region is supported by the remains of a beehive tomb, rifled but still containing Creto-Mycenaean potsherds.'
2.    Built Tomb.   Simpson [1981], 208    'A small built tomb of tholos type (diameter 3.87 m.) was found to west of ancient Colophon, in the area of the modern village (Degirmendere).'
3.    Sherds.   Bridges [1974], 265    ' ..., and the earth mixed with them was found to contain many fragments of early pottery and bones including a boar's tusk.'
4.    Tholos.   Mariaud [2011], 687    'The fact is that only the inscriptions (Meritt 1935), the 'Colophonian house-type' (Holland 1944), the coins (Milne 1941) and the Mycenaean tholos tomb (B(r)idges 1974) received this proper publication.'
5.    Tholos.   Bridges [1974], 264    '...the Mycenaean tholos tomb at Kolophon.'
6.    Tholos.   Pelon [1976], 266    '...une tombe à tholos pillée qui contenait des fragments de céramique mycénienne.'
7.    Tholos.   Goldman [1923], 68    'Investigation of the cemeteries revealed a tholos tomb, robbed, ... '

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. Late Helladic: (1700 BC - 1050 BC)
    a.    Holland [1944]: 91, '... a beehive tomb, rifled but still containing Creto-Mycenaean potsherds.'
    b.    Holland [1944]: 94, '...cemeteries of the Mycenaean, Geometric, and Hellenistic periods being identified; ...'
    c.    Goldman [1923]: 68, ' ... a tholos tomb, robbed, but with fragments of Mycenaean pottery; ... '
    d.    Mariaud [2011]: 687, ' ... Mycenaean ... '

2. LH IIIB: (1320 BC - 1190 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 208, 'LH III(B-C) G A C H'
    b.    Bridges [1974]: 264, 'The most definitive statement is given by G.L. Huxley who notes "a late Mycenaean tholos tomb which, so Miss Goldman informs me, was of Mycenaean III B or C date."'
    c.    Pelon [1976]: 459, '...d'après les indications données par les fouilleurs, il semble que la tombe puisse être placée à l'HR IIIB ou C.'

3. LH IIIC: (1190 BC - 1060 BC)
    a.    Simpson [1981]: 208, 'LH III(B-C) G A C H'
    b.    Pelon [1976]: 459, '...d'après les indications données par les fouilleurs, il semble que la tombe puisse être placée à l'HR IIIB ou C.'

4. Geometric: (900 BC - 700 BC)
    a.    Goldman [1923]: 68, ' ...; burned burials with a quantity of geometric pottery; ... '

NOTES

1. Not easy to locate this tomb precisely because in Bridges [1974], 266 we are told: "A visit to the site in the summer of 1972 revealed that the area where the tomb was located is now a level field just north of the limits of the village. No trace of the tomb is visible, and no datable sherds were found in the area. Whether the tomb has been simply filled in and plowed over or completely destroyed could not be ascertained from the surface or from an inquiry among the villagers." Mariaud [2011] 697, reproduces a map (Fig. 2) of the area made in the 1880's by C. Schuchhardt which identifies the tholos location (at no. 8). This is the location that I have used.

2. For more on Colophon itself see Luwian Studies here.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bridges [1974]: Bridges, Robert Alden. ‘The Mycenaean Tholos Tomb at Kolophon’, Hesperia (43), 264-266, 1974., 'The Mycenaean Tholos Tomb at Kolophon', pg. 264. Online here.

2. Goldman [1923]: Goldman, Hetty. ‘Gemeral Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, December 27-29, 1922; 2. Dr. Hetty Goldman, of New York, Excavations of the Fogg Museum at Colophon’, American Journal of Archaeology (27:1), pp. 67-68. 1923., '', pg. 68. Online here.

3. Holland [1944]: Holland, Leicester B.. ‘Colophon’, Hesperia, vol. 13 (2), pp. 91-171. 1944., 'Colophon', pg. 91. Online here.

4. Mariaud [2011]: Mariaud, Olivier. ‘The Geometric Graves of Colophon and the Burial Customs of Early Iron Age Ionia’, In Mazarakis-Ainian [2011], pp. 687-703. 2011, '', pg. 687. Online here.

5. Mazarakis-Ainian [2011]: Mazarakis-Ainian, Alexander (ed.). The "Dark Ages" Revisited; Acts Of An International Symposium In Memory Of William D.E. Coulson. University Of Thessaly Volos, 14-17 June 2007. Volume I. University of Thessaly Press. Volos, Greece. 2011., '',

6. Pelon [1976]: Pelon, Olivier. Tholoi, tumuli et cercles funéraires; Recherches sur les monuments funéraires de plan circulaire dan l'Égée de l’Âge du Bronze (IIIe at IIe millénaires av. J.-C). Bibliothèques de l'École française d'Athènes et de Rome - Série Athènes, 229. 1976., '63. Kolophon', pg. 266. Online here.

7. Simpson [1981]: Simpson, Richard Hope. Mycenaean Greece. Park Ridge, New Jersey: Noyes Press, 1981., 'Colophon', pg. 208. Online here.