The polyandrion is the archaeological term for a communal tomb in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

, where more than one body, usually

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

s, are buried. The polyandrion is also called ''δημόσιον σήμα'' (public signal). For the marking of polyandria during the 7th century BCE, in addition to the form of the

toumba In archaeology the term Toumba ( el, Τούμπα) or Magoula ( el, Μαγούλα) in Thessaly is a Greek word which describes mounds created by Bronze Age, Bronze and early Iron Age settlements in northern Greece. At first they were considere ...

in Northern Greece, or the

Kouros kouros ( grc, κοῦρος, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with a less ...

in ancient times, a large stone or marble tombstone was used, like that of the ancient cemetery of Paros, where for at least two centuries there were hero-cult with offerings and sacrifices to the dead, male warriors. Polyandria of the 5th c. are known in

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Northern Greece Northern Greece ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions. Administrative regions of Greece Administrative term The term "Northern Greece" is widely used ...

, but are scarcely associated with extreme historical conditions. An impressive polyandrion is that of

ancient Athens Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achieve ...

, associated with the early years of the

Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...

and the sudden plague that broke out in the city-state. The sequence of the typology of the monuments ended around 317 BCE following the legislation of

Demetrios of Phaleron Demetrius of Phalerum (also Demetrius of Phaleron or Demetrius Phalereus; grc-gre, Δημήτριος ὁ Φαληρεύς; c. 350 – c. 280 BC) was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, an ancient port of Athens. A student of Theophrast ...

, who banned the rich sculpture demonstration. Athenian citizens were mentioned either with a monument called a ''trapeza'' or with a small

pillar A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

. These monuments generally refer to the name of the deceased, the name of his father and the municipality in which the citizen was registered. The simple style of the newer monuments was considered to be an extreme expression of the

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

isonomia ''Isonomia'' (ἰσονομία "equality of political rights,"Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English LexiconThe Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes", Mogens Herman Hansen, , p. 81-84 from the Greek ἴσος ''isos'', ...

, the fundamental equality of all citizens.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Ancient Greek tombs Burial monuments and structures in Greece