3 Roman tombs found during foundation excavation

During the excavation of the foundation of a building construction, 3 graves belonging to the Roman period were found. It was determined that one of the graves was a family grave.

While the tombs were damaged, the works were stopped.

Roman tombs have been unearthed in the Hızır Paşa neighborhood of Amasya province in northeastern Türkiye.

“We estimate that the tombs are 2 thousand years old belonging to the Roman Period,” said Lecturer Hüseyin Onur Erdem, Head of the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Amasya University, who examined the tombs.

Hüseyin Onur Erdem said, “The white lime plaster and whitewash inside the vaulted tombs we see here, as well as the ribbon decorations made in red with ochre paint, show us that the tombs were probably built in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Since the excavations of the construction foundations were carried out with diggers and excavators, it is difficult to identify the tombs because they were destroyed.

Considering that they are sensitive and 2 thousand years old tombs, it becomes a little easier to be destroyed. It is seen that one of these tombs has a wider width than the others. As we know from previous rescue excavations in Amasya, we know that vaulted tombs, especially those with a width of over 120 centimeters, were used as family tombs.”

Stating that such tombs were found in archaeological excavations in Amasya, Erdem said, “We see that one of those tombs is here. It is also useful to add this. We see that there is a code difference in 3 different tombs here.

In other words, as it is today, this place was a slope at that time and they built these tombs in accordance with the slope. Of course, we see that these tombs are under the ground now, but in that period, these tombs were not under the ground, they were tombs that could be seen from the face of the soil, and people could go and visit them.”