Grave Circle A, a royal necropolis from ca. 1600-1500 BC, which was incorporated within the expanded citadel walls ca. 1250 BCE, contains six shaft graves. These graves had been excavated by Schliemann and Stamatakis in 1876 with spectacular results. A. J. B. Wace and his team in 1920 and 1921 sank small test trenches within and around the grave circle, to analyse pottery in order to establish a chronology for the sequence of construction.