AN ANTHEMION STELE FROM PHRYGIA

During the construction of the Eskisehir-Istanbul high-speed railway in 2007, two grave stelai, one decorated with an anthemion and ashlar blocks, were unearthed to the northwest of the Oklubali village in the district of Inonu. The circular retaining wall of a tumulus of which mound was not completed and a group of graves to the west were discovered during the rescue excavation carried out to find the grave related to the stelai on the site. The Oklubali stelai, probably set up on the podium near the tumulus, are important in terms of throwing light upon the relationship between tumuli and the graveside monuments where the ceremonies were conducted. The stylistic features and composition of the anthemion, one of the few data helpful for the date, suggest that the stelai and the tumulus related to them were built in the middle of the fifth century BC.