What could be called the dominant view is that it is a Macedonian tomb dating from sometime around the third century BC. However others – and in particular Professor of Ancient Archaeology, Olga Palaggia– have a quite different view: that the tomb was created much later, dating from the era of the Roman occupation of Macedonia.
The ‘Dominant’ View
The Kasta tomb (pronounced kas-tAH) at Amphipolis is undeniably Macedonian, but unlike any archaeologists have seen before, being far more complex and ‘cave like’ than those discovered to date. That assertion, among others, was made by Katerina Romiopoulou, an experienced archaeologist and Honourary Director of Classical Antiquities in an interview with TheToc.gr.
Ms Romiopoulou, who herself took part in excavations of Macedonian tombs in Amphipolis at the start of her long career between 1959-1964, also provided insights in to the significance of the Karyatids, although urged caution in drawing conclusions before the excavations are complete.
A Macedonian tomb but much more complex
“With the characteristics that we have so far, it is a tomb of the ‘Macedonian style’ but a variation. Because of the approximately one hundred Macedonian tombs which we know from excavations to date, they have either two chambers or one.”
“They have an external entrance, a corridor which leads to the first chamber which acts as a pre-chamber and a second, the main burial chamber, “main” because it is there where the remains of the deceased would be laid who previously had been cremated in a ritual cremation (outside of the tomb).”
“Therefore the Kasta Tomb clearly has the ‘air’ of a Macedonian grave, but it is much more complex in its construction.”
“It is deeper, it has more chambers – but what that means I cannot interpret at this moment, very simply because we have no other such example.”
“Given that, to speculate about who it belonged to, why it was constructed that way and not another, why it has the shape of a cave – if one thinks about it, it resembles a tunnel in a mine – why it has that shape, so ‘long’, has no purpose.”
“I am never surprised by Macedonian graves. None of them are identical. Therefore it amounts to a variation of a Macedonian tomb. The monument has the basic characteristics of a Macedonian grave.”
The Karyatids
With reference to the Karyatids, Ms Romiopoulou again urged caution stressing that she had only seen the photographs released by the Ministry of Culture which are, she said, “awful”.
“In order to make it possible to photograph them in the area where they are, the sculptures must be lit with harsh spotlights. In order for them to be photographed properly a different type of preparation is required, with other equipment. Only then will archaeologists be able to pass judgment, with regards to when they date from and other details. At this point we only have at our disposal ‘working photographs’.
That said, Ms Romiopoulou did provide an early assessment saying, “In general lines I agree with the dominant view… I am with those who maintain that the Karyatids of Amphipolis are copies of an ancient prototype…”
“It is a Hellenistic copy, and that’s why it maintains the ‘coolness’ of the prototype. Such fine work on the head and face and generally on the folds shows, not only a good sculptor, but an age which had the sensitivity to faithfully copy the prototype.”
“I can’t date it outside of the Hellenistic Age and indeed in the first generation after Alexander – and for that reason I say no later than the middle of the third century B.C., no later than 250 B.C.”
“Now why the Karyatids are there and what their role is, that will be seen in due course. The only thing we can say is that they are guarding or protecting something. Or that they symbolize something that connects life with death.”
“Karyatids – irrespective of their dating and artistic quality – have never been found at another grave.”
“And that is because the Macedonians did not have artists. Sculptors and painters came up from the south of Greece and formed roaming teams who worked with locals. Just as we had the great painted works in Macedonia which were not preserved anywhere else aside from the Macedonian tombs, so now do we have, for the first time, examples of sculptures. We may have found carved marble thrones before, but a throne which is carved to look like a seat is one thing, a statue is another.”
The Renegade
Speaking to TheToc in an earlier interview, Ms Palaggia created a stir when she put forward her view that the grave could be Roman. That assertion drew the ire of the head archaeologist in charge of the excavation, Katerina Peristeri who responded saying that such speculation was ‘useless’.
However speaking today to the TV station MEGA, Ms Palaggia reiterated her case, and fired off a few barbs of her own at Ms Peristeri.
“Ordinarily no one should be talking, including the excavator. The problem is that many people are talking and no one questions the dating of the tomb. I question it. Before she entered the tomb, Ms Peristeri said that it had been created by Alexander the Great’s architect... Macedonian tombs are all sealed by a large door, until now in Amphipolis we have not found such a door… I say that it resembles the mausoleum of Augustus, even the sphinxes existed on the seal of Augustus. The Romans had a tendency of copying Greek monuments. It is very possible for Augustus to have made this monument first and then about 15 years later created the mausoleum in Rome… In any case I believe that in Amphipolis there is not just one deceased but more. I believe that it was built as a memorial for the battle of Philippi.”
The Battle of Phillippi took place in 42 B.C. between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian and the forces of Julius Caesar's assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in 42 BC. It ended with the defeat of the latter.
Ms Palaggia was also critical of the way the dig has been handled saying, “My feeling is that there is an attempt to exploit the Amphipolis excavation politically… Ms Peristeri depends on the government for the funding of the project… If the grave had been found elsewhere, for example in Tegea, it wouldn’t have been given such importance. Macedonia is a sensitive area and that is why there is such a fuss.”
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