The archaeological significance of the site was revealed in 1980[1] when a large

mound was discovered to contain the remains of a man and a woman within a large
structure called by some a heron (?????) or "hero's grave." There is some disput
e as to whether the structure was in fact a heron built to commemorate a hero or
whether it was instead the grave of a couple who were locally important for othe
r reasons. This monumental building, built c 950 BC, 50 meters long and 13.8 met
ers wide, with a wooden verandah, foreshadows the temple architecture that start
ed to appear with regularity some two centuries later.[2]
One of the bodies in the grave had been cremated, the ashes being wrapped in a f
ringed linen cloth then stored in a bronze amphora from Cyprus. The amphora was
engraved with a hunting scene and placed within a still larger bronze bowl. A sw
ord and other grave goods were nearby. It is believed that the ashes were those
of a man.
The woman's body was not cremated. Instead, she was buried alongside a wall and
adorned with jewelry, including a ring of electrum, a Bronze braziere, and a gor
get believed to have come from Babylonia and already a thousand years old when i
t was buried. An iron knife with an ivory handle was found near her shoulder. It
is unknown whether this woman was buried contemporaneously with the man's remai
ns, or at a later date. Scholars have suggested that the woman was slaughtered t
o be buried with the man, possibly her husband, in a practice reminiscent of the
Indian custom of sati. Other scholars have pointed to the lack of conclusive ev
idence for sati in this instance, suggesting instead that this woman may have be
en an important person in the community in her own right, who was interred with
the man's ashes after her own death.
Four horses appear to have been sacrificed and were included in the grave. Two o
f them were found with iron bits still in their mouths.