The first systematic archaeological survey of southern Kefalonia was conducted by T.W. Gallant in 1982. He used the ancient sites of Lefkada and Pronnoi as reference points, focusing on understanding how settlements developed over time. However, the most comprehensive study of the region remains the surface survey by Klaus Randsborg. His work not only explores the area's settlement history but also sheds light on the hierarchy of ancient sites during the Prehistorical and Protohistorical periods. Notably, the area around the mycenaean-era tholos tomb in the Tzanata Valley emerges as a focal point in southern Kefalonia.

The Tzanata tomb, along with a smaller similar tomb in Mavrata, represents a unique hybrid type of funerary architecture in Kefalonia. They combine elements of the tholos with features characteristic of Kefalonian burial practices. These monumental structures are distinguished by their internal shafts. These shafts could be deep and carved (like in Mavrata), built as chist tombs or even a combination of both (like the Tzanata tomb). This hybrid design is similar to chamber tombs observed in the 13th century BC, particularly after the so-called collapse of the mycenaean palace economies.

The Tzanata tomb's tholos has a diameter of 6.8 meters and a maximum preserved height of 3.95 meters. Originally, it lacked a dromos; the opening was shallow and reached a height of only 1.9 meters. An enclosure was discovered surrounding the western, northern, and eastern sides of the tomb, forming a semicircle around the tholos. Burials were located inside the chambers deep shaft, utilizing both schist tombs as well as simple pits. Notably, it reached a depth of 4 meters, with the last internmet being an enchytrism dated to the Early Iron Age. Evidence from photographic material suggests that successive burials occurred inside the shaft.

The excavation yielded valuable artifacts though not associated with certain burials. glass was unearthed, gold objects, and semi-precious stones. The pottery collected dates the tomb to around the end of the 13th century BC. The presence of pottery from later periods, however, (late Classical and Hellenistic) is more challenging to interpret, given the lack of continuity in use and the absence of repetition of a worship ritual.

The construction of this hybrid tholos tomb coincides with a period of increased archaeological visibility on the island, particularly during the late Bronze Age. New sites, almost exclusively cemeteries, appear across Kefalonia, from the Paliki peninsula to Pronnoi. In these cemeteries a variety of burial practices is detected including hybrid and traditional Kefalonian forms, as well as elements adopted from mainland Greece. The choice of building a tholos tomb in southern Kefalonia (with four additional lost examples in the Livatho area) likely reflects the desire of local leaders to display their prestige. The diversity of burial practices further suggests a period of fragmentation within the region.