About 40 metres in diameter, Great Tumulus II is one of Banditaccia's largest mounds. A tufa base supports a cylindrical drum decorated with bands and mouldings; a funerary altar was also carved beside the monument. Four tombs built in different phases open beneath the same mound: the Hut Tomb, Funerary Couch Tomb, Greek Vase Tomb and Tomb of the Dolia and Firedogs. Their sequence, from the late 7th to the mid-6th century BC, shows how an aristocratic family renewed its architecture, rites and forms of self-representation over time.
What to look for
Visit the four tombs as chapters of one history: compare dromoi, cells, couches and ceilings to recognise what changed and what endured.
Discovery and excavation
Its diameter, drum, altar and four-tomb composition are described in the UNESCO dossier and institutional MiC records.