Cremation burial of the 1st century found in the theatre of Apollonia on the Rhyndacus in Turkey

Among the 5,000 spectator seats of the theatre in the ancient city of Apollonia on the Rhyndacus, a cremation burial of the 1st century AD has been discovered.

The ruins of Apollonia lie near the village of Gölyazı on Lake Uluabat in Bursa Province, in north-western Turkey.

The tomb consists of a chest of mud brick, which the builders covered with a gabled roof of terracotta tiles.

Why did the tomb end up on the theatre's territory if the city had its own necropolis? In the researchers' view, the burial must have been a special one and may have carried some trace of sacredness or heroisation.

The excavation team has already uncovered and reconstructed 42 rows of seats. The archaeologists believe that the theatre had two tiers, separated by a passage about a metre wide. An inscription indicates that the builders completed the theatre in the early second century AD.