Description
The marble door-leaves of the main chamber, The Tomb of the Palmettes, first half of the 3rd century BC, Ancient Mieza (7263617520).jpg
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A fine marble doorway leads from the antechamber to the main burial chamber. The leaves of the large marble door had relief decoration imitating a real woden door. They have collapsed on the ground after disintegration of the metal mechanism. Nevertheless, there are enough remains and elements to shed light on how the door leaves were supported and how the mechanism of the lock functioned. On the west side of the chamber is a long bench built of poros, possite which, on the east wall, is a built rectangular structure. This has an opening in the centre to hold a metal or wooden box or a metal vase containing the remains for the cremation of the dead person (bones-ashes) which had been conducted outside the tomb. The outer sides of the chest, which was covered with a schist slab, are decorated with painted olive branches.
The walls are monochrome. The lower part imitates marble revetment and is painted black; it is separated by a white relief cornice from the upper dard red section, while from the springing of the vault upwards teh entire ceiling is covered by light yellow plaster. The tomb had been robbed on many occasions, mainly during antiquity; holes were opened in the roof by removing voussoirs, and this led to the accumulation of large quantities of earth inside the tomb. Very few portable find survived, in fragments, though they are sufficient to indicate how rich were the offerings originally placed in the tomb.
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