Histria tumular necropolis

The necropolis’s construction began in the Archaic period, with more tumuli being constructed closer to the city walls up until the early Hellenistic period. Although construction of new tumuli had ceased, the necropolis was still in use up until the 6th century A.D., when Histria was abandoned. These mounds are found across five square kilometers of land, primarily in the northern area of the corridor connecting Lakes Istria and Sinoe, with a smaller number located south of this corridor, around and within the ruins of Histria. This is likely due to the expansion of the settlement over time, which increased proximity to the originally established necropolis site. The tumuli were large mounds of earth, commonly constructed with a circular peripheral ditch and a stone crepidoma surrounding the bottom of the mound. The tumuli would be filled with soil and then covered with a turf layer. During early use of the necropolis in the Archaic period, the primary burial practice was cremation, where the deceased would be burned on a pyre along with precious valuables, indicating that this was likely for wealthier citizens. The discovery of human remains in the peripheral ditches of tumuli dating from the Archaic period suggests that there was a human sacrifice component to these ceremonies. As time progressed, there was a shift from cremation burials to more standardized inhumation burials, primarily during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. During the Roman period, tumuli were occasionally reused for simple inhumation burials, although other burial sites had been established for prominent use by this time. Only about 40 of these tumuli have been formally excavated and examined, but there is a large number that have yet to be excavated across the expansive area. Due to tectonic activity, some tumuli have become submerged underwater and are likely unreachable.