A House Type Tomb in Sinope: A Neglected Burial from Paphlagonia

Abstract

A tomb structure west of Sinop was uncovered during a construction work back in 1979. A salvage excavation was conducted by the local museum, and a tomb with a courtyard was revealed. Dated to the Roman period, the distinctive character of its architecture, not known in the region of Paphlagonia, compensates for the scarcity in the finds. The aim of this article is to present and describe the tomb structure based on architectural features from the museum reports and to try to set a date in order to establish its position and importance in the burial traditions of ancient Sinope. Since the tomb could not be preserved following its excavation, the whole work is based on museum reports. Although some information which could be important in understanding the tomb is missing from the museum report, it is still possible to make an interpretation of the tomb thanks to the photographs taken at the time and the careful drawings.

Keywords

• House-type tomb
• tomb architecture
• Sinope
• Paphlagonia
• Blacl Sea

References

1. Akurgal, E. 1956. “Sinop Kazıları.” TürkArkDerg 6.1:47-61.
2. Budde, L. 1956a. “Kurzer vorläufiger Bericht über die Grabungen in Sinope der Kampagnen 1951-1953.” TürkArkDerg 6.2:5-10.
3. Budde, L. 1956b. “Beschreibung der Grabungsarbeiten und Funde klassischer, hellenistischer und römischer Zeit.” In Vorläufiger Bericht über die Ausgrabungen in Sinope, edited by E. Akurgal and L. Budde, 27-41. Ankara: TTK.