Construction work in Manduria, a town in southeastern Italy, led to the discovery of an ancient tomb estimated to be 2,300 years old. The find occurred when crews installing a new sewer line encountered an underground structure, according to the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Provinces of Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto.
Archaeologists who examined the site identified it as a Hellenistic stone tomb dating back to the fourth century B.C. The tomb consists of two rooms: an entrance chamber and a burial chamber that were originally connected by a double door.
Officials stated, “The walls of the entrance chamber had traces of red paint and a horizontal white band.” They added that while the burial chamber’s walls were also painted, their pattern was less identifiable.
Excavations revealed several untouched ceramic artifacts inside the burial chamber. These included vases, jars, lamps, and plates. A photo released by officials shows carved niches in the room’s walls.
A secondary tomb was also found adjacent to the main structure. This second tomb had been looted at some point in history; however, archaeologists did recover an ancient Roman coin during their investigation. Officials noted that “a photo shows the worn, greenish coin.”
According to experts involved in the excavation, these findings indicate that this part of Manduria likely functioned as a structured cemetery area in antiquity.
Manduria is located near Italy’s southeastern tip and is approximately 350 miles southeast of Rome.
The information from local authorities was translated using Google Translate from Italian into English.
