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“Tholos” means beehive-shaped or circular
These tombs typically had a circular plan with corbelled roofs, but early versions may not have had a full dome.

Built from stone, often with mudbrick and timber, and sometimes partially subterranean.

Used for multiple burials, likely of related individuals or elite groups.

Sometimes the graves contained ceramics, tools, and personal ornaments, suggesting belief in an afterlife or importance of status in death.

Representing an early architectural form, Tholos Tomb at neolithic Knossos may prefigure later Mycenaean ones
It indicates a development in the complexity of social organization and ritual. And, influences from the wider Aegean and Near East, possibly showing early trade or shared ideological systems.

The Tholos Tomb at neolithic Knossos marks a transitional phase in burial architecture, reflecting both neolithic traditions and the emergence of bronze age complexity.

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