as described by Thucydides, matches with the disordered nature of the pit. The pit is further thought to be a state burial, conducted for victims whose families could not afford proper burials.

Bodies were found in five successive layers within the pit, with more care shown on the bottom levels and increasingly little care shown as the burial continued upwards. Bodies were thrown in haphazardly, their positions dictated by the shape of the pit. There was soil placed between the bodies only on the lower