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A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi; from , italic=unset tholotoi táphoi, "domed tomb(s)"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by corbelling, the superposition of successively smaller rings of mudbricks or, more often, stones. The resulting structure resembles a beehive, hence the traditional English name.
Tholoi were used for burial in several cultures in the Mediterranean and West Asia, but in some cases they were used for different purposes such as homes (Cyprus), rituals (Bulgaria, Syria), and even fortification (Spain, Sardinia). Although Max Mallowan used the same name for the circular houses belonging to the Neolithic culture of Tell Halaf (Iraq, Syria and Turkey), there is no relationship between them.
A few early examples of tholoi have been found in Messenia in the SW Peloponnese Greece (for example at Voidhokoilia),G. S. Korres, "Tymboi, tholoi, kai taphikoi kykloi tes Messenias," in Proceedings of the First International Conference of Peloponnesian Studies 2 (Athens 1976) 337–369. and recently near Troezen in the NE Peloponnese.E. Konsolaki-Yiannopoulou, “E Magoula ston Galata tes Troizenias: Ena neo ME-YE kentro ston Saroniko,” in E. Konsolaki-Yiannopoulou (ed.), Argosaronikos: Praktika 1ou Diethnous Synedriou Istorias kai Archaiologias tou Argosaronikou A (Athens 2003) 159–228. These tholoi are built on level ground and then enclosed by a mound of earth. A pair of tumuli at Marathon, Greece indicate how a built rectangular (but without a vault) central chamber was extended with an entrance passage.S. Marinatos, "Further News from Marathon," Archaeologika Analekta Athenon 3 (1970): 155–63.
After about 1500 BCE, beehive became more widespread and are found in every part of the Mycenaean heartland. In contrast, however, to the early examples these are almost always cut into the slope of a hillside so that only the upper third of the vaulted chamber was above ground level. This masonry was then concealed with a relatively small mound of earth.
The tombs usually contain more than one burial, in various places in the tomb either on the floor, in pits and cists or on stone-built or rock-cut benches, and with various grave goods. After a burial, the entrance to the tomb was filled in with soil, leaving a small mound with most of the tomb underground.
The chamber is always built in masonry, even in the earliest examples, as is the stomion or entrance-way. The dromos in early examples was usually just cut from the bedrock, as in the Panagia Tomb at Mycenae itself. In later examples such as the Treasury of Atreus and Tomb of Clytemnestra (both at Mycenae), all three parts were constructed of fine ashlar masonry.Alan Wace, “Excavations at Mycenae: IX. The Tholos Tombs”, Annual of the British School at Athens 25, 1923, 283–402.
The chambers were built as vaults, with layers of stone placed closer together as the vault tapers toward the top of the tomb. These stone layers were trimmed from inside the tomb, creating a smooth dome.W. G. Cavanagh and R. R. Laxton, "The Structural Mechanics of the Mycenaean Tholos Tomb," Annual of the British School at Athens 76(1981)109–140.
The entrances provided an opportunity for conspicuous demonstration of wealth. That of the Treasury of Atreus, for example, was decorated with columns of red and green “Lapis Lacedaimonius” brought from quarries over 100 km away.
The abundance of such tombs, often with more than one being associated with a settlement during one specific time period, may indicate that their use was not confined to the ruling monarchy only, although the sheer size and therefore the outlay required for the larger tombs (ranging in diameter and height) would argue in favour of royal commissions. The larger tombs contained amongst the richest finds to have come from the Late Bronze Age of Mainland Greece, despite the tombs having been both in antiquity and more recently. Although the Vapheio tholos, south of Sparta, had been robbed, two cists in the floor had escaped notice. These contained, among other valuable items, the two gold “Vapheio cups” decorated with scenes of bull taming which are among the best known of Mycenaean treasures.
The Bronze Age fortifications known as motillas in La Mancha (Spain) also use the tholos building technique.
The imposing stone structures known as nuraghi, as well as the similar structures of southern Corsica, dominated the Bronze Age landscape of Sardinia (Italy). Nuraghi are truncated conical towers of dry-laid stone, about 40 feet in diameter, sloping up to a circular roof some 50 feet above the ground. The vaulted ceiling is 20 to 35 feet above the floor. Although the remains of some 7,000 nuraghi have been found, up to 30,000 may have been built.
There are also recorded Etruscan tombs at a necropolis at Banditaccia dating from the 6th and 7th centuries BCE, having an external appearance similar to a beehive. The interiors of these Etruscan tombs were furnished and decorated to resemble domestic dwellings, providing insight into the Etruscan practice of honoring the dead in a manner that reflected daily life.
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