A remarkable chamber tomb, unaltered and in perfect shape, was discovered within cultivated land in Giugliano, near the province of Naples. Archaeological excavations initially revealed a burial site with a variety of rites (both burial and cremation), indicating that the area had been used for funerary purposes for at least four centuries, from the Republican period to the Roman imperial period, with multiple levels of attendance. Almost delimiting the necropolis, the crest of a well-built wall revealed the front of a monumental chamber tomb, with the entrance still well sealed by the original closing tuff slab, just dented on the top to create a gap and clearly allow access in a subsequent phase of use of the mausoleum, well closed finally with tiles. The scene that unfolded was that of a moment frozen in time more than 2000 years ago. The environment has a perfect frescoed ceiling and walls with mythological scenes, ichthyocentaurs supporting a clypeus on the front wall, festoons that run all around the room, and figurative representations, among which a three-headed dog stands out, thus the mausoleum's traditional name of the Tomb of the Cerberus. Three painted klinai, an altar with libation vases, and buried bodies arranged on funeral beds with a wealth of grave goods round out the picture of a discovery that has no precedence in this territory.
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