08 · SITE · SHAFT GRAVES

Grave Circle A

Gold beneath Mycenae

The earliest rich graves at Mycenae contained masks, cups and weapons, before its great palaces.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of Gold beneath Mycenae, Mycenae, Argolid, Greece, c. 1600–1500 BCE. — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction, created for museographic contextualisation; not a photograph of the original nor does it constitute documentary evidence.

History and context

The shaft graves of Circle A at Mycenae brought together gold objects, weapons and prestige tableware. Their assemblages show an elite connected with networks of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.

The gold does not identify Agamemnon. That name belongs to a later literary tradition; archaeology describes elite families of the 16th century BCE, not verified Homeric characters.

Circle A contains six shaft graves with gold, bronze, pottery and remains of multiple individuals. Centuries later it was included within the citadel's expansion and received ancestral memory.

Schliemann named a mask 'of Agamemnon', but it dates several centuries before the traditional horizon of the Trojan War. The nickname belongs to the history of reception.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: Circle A at Mycenae brings together six elite shaft graves of the 16th century BCE, incorporated later into the fortified enclosure. Interpretation and caution: The so-called mask of Agamemnon cannot be attributed to Homer's king and its name is a modern nickname. Expanded documentation: The Greek Ministry dates the rich graves of Circle A to the beginning of the Mycenaean period and documents their assemblages. Expanded interpretation and caution: Gold does not identify a king nor a Homeric character, and 19th-century excavations altered part of the context.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: c. 1600–1500 BCE
Location: Mycenae, Argolid, Greece
Material: Gold, bronze, pottery and stone
Context: Elite graves
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Number: Six large shaft graves in Circle A
Chronology: Mainly 16th century BCE
Documentary coverage: 3 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

The hunt occupies both sides of a dagger

The lion hunt dagger, from Grave IV of Circle A, opposes two confrontations on its faces. On one, five armed men face three lions: two animals flee and another attacks a fallen warrior. On the other, a lion reaches a deer while the rest escape. The scene transforms a narrow blade into a narrative of strength and danger. The original corresponds to Athens inventory 394; the British Museum piece 1908,1230.17 is a modern electrotype reproduction, an important distinction when photographs of both circulate.

Museum · British Museum · Dagger; electrotype, 1908,1230.17, reproduction of the NAMA 394 daggerAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

LOCATED SITE

Mycenae · GreeceMarker of the citadel and its necropoleis.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

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