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Archaeologists excavating an ancient theater in northwestern Türkiye have uncovered a 2,000-year-old tomb in a place where no one would expect to find one: among the spectator seats.
The grave, dated to the first century A.D., was found in the lower seating section of the theater at Apollonia ad Rhyndacum, an ancient city in the lakeside village of Golyazi, in Bursa province’s Nilufer district. The village is often listed among Europe’s prettiest small towns.
The tomb has a mudbrick chest covered by a gabled roof of terracotta tiles. Experts determined the person buried there had been cremated, which leaves little for researchers to study.
"Because the remains were burned, they don’t yield much," said Prof. Derya Sahin of Bursa Uludag University, who leads the excavation. The condition of the bones also makes it impossible to say how many people were buried, she said.
The location is what has excited the team. The city already has a burial ground at its entrance, and the tomb closely resembles graves found there.
"What was a tomb doing in a theater area when the city had its own necropolis?" Sahin said. "The grave must be a special one. It must carry some meaning, perhaps a trace of sacredness or heroism."
Excavations at the theater began in 2021 with permission from Türkiye’s Culture and Tourism Ministry and support from Nilufer Municipality.
Built in the Hellenistic period on the slope of Zambaktepe hill above Lake Uluabat, the theater is believed to have held about 5,000 people. It had VIP sections and box-like areas.
So far, 42 seating steps have been uncovered and returned to their original positions.
Sahin said the team expects to finish this season’s work at the end of November. Researchers will now begin what she called a long period of library research to understand the tomb.
The team believes the theater had two levels, separated by a walkway about 1 meter (3 feet) wide. Inscriptions suggest its final building phase dates to the early second century A.D.
The upper seating was probably built over a vaulted structure, as in Roman theaters, but it was so badly destroyed that little can be confirmed.
Because people have lived in the area continuously, Sahin said, the ruins are not as well preserved as those in abandoned ancient cities. Still, the area around the theater may hold more, including a temple or a road, she said.
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