Koukounara

Koukounara is a village in Messinia, 15 kilometers northeast of Pylos, which during the Mycenaean times was an important center and one of the main cities of the kingdom of Pylos, with references in Linear B plates.

In the area of the village of Koukounara were found and excavated seven vaulted tombs as well as the remains of a settlement, which show a pretty expanded settlement with large population.

The vaulted tombs of Koukounara belong to the earliest monuments of this burial type in the Peloponnese. The dead were buried in larger or smaller vaulted tombs and were accompanied by luxurious or poor offerings depending on their social and economic position. From these tombs came a multitude of findings, such as gold jewelry, bronze vessels and weapons, stone arrowheads, pieces of helmets lined with boar tusks.

The use of space, residential and burial had already begun from the Middle Helladic period (2050-1680 BC) up to the Mycenaean times, when Koukounara was deserted because of a catastrophic event.