The Tumulus W burial, excavated in 1959, contained bronze and pottery vessels, bronze fibulae, a bronze-and-leather belt, and fragments of several wooden objects.Young, Three Great Early Tumuli, 196–218. Simpson and Spirydowicz, Gordion Wooden Furniture, 68–71. These included the remnants of a “screen,” which was apparently a serving stand like those from the Tumulus MM and Tumulus P burials. Its front face was carved in openwork and studded with bronze tacks. Although the “screen” is only partially preserved, it had clearly been an extraordinary piece of furniture. Five or more wooden plates from the tomb are of particular interest because of their method of manufacture. Close examination has revealed tool marks indicating that the plates were made on an ancient reciprocating lathe—the earliest evidence for the lathe from a securely dated archaeological context.Simpson, “Early Evidence for the Use of the Lathe in Antiquity.”
