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The funerary use
Mainly three types of burial were found in Phrygia.
They correspond to different periods and different social level. The
first two types, tumulus and rock-cut tombs, imply that the deceased
was wealthy. The third type, cremations, could be used by poorer persons
but few of them have been found and the image of funerary uses in Phrygia
remains incomplete. Some cremations exist at Gordion and Boğazköy
in the 7th 6th c. But their number is very small
and cannot represent the whole number of the deceased. The other tombs
still remain to be found. Rock-cut tombs are found at Beyköy and at Midas
City but mostly in the valley of the Kohnuş. All these tombs are generally composed of a simple façade, without decoration
and a small entrance, approximately squared (80cm each side). Inside,
there is usually a simple rectangular room covered by a pitched ceiling.
This kind of tombs last for several centuries without great changes.
Therefore it is difficult to give a precise date. But they can have
been made between the 8th and the 3rd c. BC. The most impressing kind of Phrygian tomb is without
doubt the tumulus. It is a square room, without access (=dromos), made
of beams of wood (mostly juniper) and stone, then covered by an enormous
amount of rubble and earth, making the elevation of the tumulus. The
deceased is lying on a bed. Many objects are given : fibulae (=brooches),
vases, furniture, tapestries, but little weapons and no gold. Dates
of tumuli can be determined with confidence because of the richness
of the material remains. It goes from the 8th c. to the 3rd
c. BC. Tumuli are found mostly around Gordion and Ankara.
Midas Mound at Godion  |
