Landscape, Feasting, and Ancestors in the Burial Tradition of Mycenaean Rhodes

The number and character of the Mycenaean cemeteries found on Rhodes have allowed a thorough analysis of its burial tradition. The chamber tombs and their contents seem to have been canonical Mycenaean according to the Greek mainland examples, but recent research has highlighted significant regional idiosyncrasies. There is a symbolic interrelation between the tombs’ orientation and the surrounding landscape, which was a regional phenomenon. Furthermore, within the cemeteries the secondary burials appear to be very common and often the dominant practice. In this context the offerings in the tombs are of particular interest since they diverge from others in mainland Greece. The preference for drinking and eating vessels reveals a symbolic role attributed to feasting in relation to the afterlife beliefs. This can be combined with the role of the landscape and the secondary burial tradition within the Rhodian funerary framework. Feasting seems to be symbolically linked through ritual acts in the process of turning the deceased to an anonymous ancestor. The current analysis will trace the messages transmitted through this practice for the afterlife beliefs as much as for the sociopolitical conditions of this period on the island. Hence, a better understanding of the idiosyncratic funerary tradition and the development of the regional character of Mycenaean Rhodes will be demonstrated.

The Mycenaean Cemetery at Clauss, Near Patras

This chapter presents various significant aspects of the tombs and the activities at the Mycenaean cemetery at Clauss, near Patras there, resulting from the study and analysis of both artifacts and skeletal remains. In particular, the Clauss cemetery provides considerable skeletal remains that were examined in detail, which show that both the site and Achaea were densely populated during the Mycenaean palatial period (14th–13th c. BC). This conclusion contrasts greatly with what scholars have previously proposed: a massive infiltration of population from the Argolid in LH III C. The study of the Clauss material distinguished all LH III C burials in six successive chronological phases, which correspond more-or-less to six generations of its people. This was accomplished with the combined and careful classification of the local pottery, workshops, and styles, together with the tombs’ stratigraphy. The evaluation of such a sequence gave the unique opportunity to trace the biographies of its people. Through the identification of mothers, children, farmers, craftsmen, traders, noble ladies of the oikos, hunters, and warriors—based on the grave goods and modes of burials—the story unfolds of a vivid local society at the periphery of the Mycenaean world toward the end of its era.

The Mycenaean Cemetery at Ayia Sotira, Nemea

From 2006 to 2008 The Canadian Institute in Greece sponsored the excavation of a Mycenaean chamber tomb cemetery at Ayia Sotira near Koutsomodi in the Nemea Valley. The five modest tombs excavated by the project were undoubtedly associated with the nearby settlement of Tsoungiza, and offer a picture of the mortuary practices associated with this settlement. The practices at Ayia Sotira describe both local funerary customs and more generally “Mycenaean” ones observable throughout Mainland Greece and the Aegean. Explanations for the local character are found in the economic conditions of the nearby settlement, in the local geology, and presumably local customs. These were documented through careful recovery of the stratigraphy and contents of the tombs, including paleobotanical, phytolith, organic residue, and micromorphological analysis. The remarkable similarity of these tombs and their contents to those excavated at neighboring Zygouries confirm the local character of chamber tomb inhumation. Yet comparison with other chamber tomb cemeteries, notably nearby Aidonia, but also with examples in the Corinthia, Argolid, and elsewhere, demonstrate the general features of a common “Mycenaean” practice. Overall, burial practices in the chamber tombs at Ayia Sotira fits our reconstruction of the inhabitants of Tsoungiza being incorporated into a social and political system dominated by the inhabitants of Mycenae during the LH IIIA2–B periods.

“You Can’t Take It with You”

Using evidence from the extensive cemeteries at the palatial center of Mycenae and at Prosymna, a second tier settlement site within the territory of Mycenae, this chapter examines the burial practices, patterns, and traditions within the sociopolitical context of the Palatial period itself, but also with a longer diachronic lens toward what came before and what follows. In the form and scale of burial architecture, in the treatment of interments, and among the objects associated with burial practices, significant changes occur. During the period of state formation, tomb architecture and burial practices exhibit diverse and potentially competitive characteristics. The variety of exotica and specialized ceramic sets suggest conspicuous consumption and differential access to status as much as do the weapons and jewelry in valuable materials. A sociopolitical flourishing comes with the Palatial period. While there is great expansion in the numbers of tombs, at the same time the patterns of use both stabilize and standardize. Remarkable at both sites is a pronounced contraction of investment in the mortuary sphere when the Palatial period is at its height—burial traditions are simplified and streamlined including characteristics from constructional details down to a marked decline in grave provisions, especially among higher value and status materials and exotica. This previews by several generations the characteristics of the Postpalatial period, when a dramatic decline in material culture generally is reflected also in tomb construction and use.

Langada Revisited

This chapter investigates burial practices and cultural identity at the cemetery of Langada on Kos and discusses the evidence for diachronic changes in the context of Koan Late Bronze Age society. More specifically, through an in-depth study of excavation data, this contribution reconsiders three significant aspects of the Langada burial arena. The first one concerns tomb type, size, shape, and spatial distribution. The second and the third aspects concern, respectively, evidence for tomb reuse and mortuary treatments. The analysis of these features is used to compare burial practices, characterize societal structure, and better understand cultural developments. The results of this research imply that the gradual formation of a Mycenaean identity on Kos was the outcome of a long-term process of integration between Greek mainland and local funerary traditions, which came to fruition during Late Helladic IIIA2 and Late Helladic IIIB. During these phases, Mycenaean identity functioned to bind a well-organized Koan society. In the successive Late Helladic IIIC period, on the other hand, the identification of greater variability in material evidence and burial practices suggests that, while Mycenaean culture remained important, Koan society had a more fluid character and a looser structure.

Claiming Social Identities in the Mortuary Landscape of the Late Bronze Age Communities of Macedonia

Burial practices in Late Bronze Age Macedonia do not manifest particularly elaborate traits in terms of grave architecture and prestigious items accompanying the dead. In contrast to practices in the southern mainland, local communities adopted subtler and less homogeneous forms of treating the deceased in an attempt to signify their particular identities in the cultural, political, and symbolic landscape. Recent research has established a special focus on descent in extramural cemeteries, such as the cist grave cemetery with multiple burials at Spathes on Mount Olympus, the tumuli of Western Macedonia and Southern Pieria, the burial enclosures of Faia Petra, and the tumuli at Exochi and Potamoi in Eastern Macedonia. In Central Macedonia, on the other hand, where tell settlements dominate the natural and symbolic landscape, burial practices possess a less prominent place in the social space. The dominant trait here seems to be the absence of formal mortuary practices. Burials may occur within the settlement without special care regarding the treatment of the dead, but with a desire to mark out the links of the deceased with particular residential groups. The handling of death in Late Bronze Age Macedonia emerges therefore as a powerful practice, which was manipulated in different modes by the living communities in order to claim a diverse set of social identities and significant properties in the diverse cultural landscape and the varied political scenery of the area.

Diversity in Life and Death in Early Mycenaean Achaea

Achaea, in the Northwest Peloponnese, is an integral part of the Mycenaean world and in the early Mycenaean period went through the same evolutionary processes as the rest of the Myceneaen world. We witness settlement growth and the rise of local elites who manifest their status in stone built and richly furnished tombs, particularly in Western Achaea. In LH IIB the building of tholos tombs reveals the existence of local principalities in Western Achaea, while a hoard of metal vases and weapons permits us to speak of a high status warrior’s burial. This early floruit comes to an end at the beginning of the Palatial period, as the destruction levels in settlements and the plundering of tholos tombs testify. Chamber tomb cemeteries are introduced in LH IIB, starting in Eastern Achaea and prevail all over Achaea in the palatial and postpalatial era.

Funerary Practices, Female Identities, and the Clay Pyxis in Late Minoan III Crete

In the funerary archaeology of LM III Crete, studies aimed at highlighting the specific links existing between gender, age, social status, and material culture are almost nonexistent. On the other hand, the analysis of the funerary system within the framework of the Mycenaean states confirms that different treatments were reserved for males, females, and children. On the basis of those instances for which osteological analyses are available, the funerary evidence of LM III Crete allows us to identify objects that present recurring and significant associations in terms of representation of gender. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate the role played by the clay pyxis in relation to female identity. Its adoption on Crete in funerary contexts is an entirely new phenomenon that, starting from the LM IIIA2, documents the use of this vessel as a marker of a specifically female identity.

The Power of the Dead

This chapter examines the tombs of the Late Minoan III cemeteries at Mochlos and Myrsini Aspropilia over the periods spanning the LM IIIA to LM IIIC. At Mochlos, recent excavations by J. Soles and C. Davaras revealed two separate burial areas including a cemetery of 31 chamber tombs and pit graves and a smaller burial area of seven pit graves. At nearby Myrsini, excavations by N. Platon in the late 1950s revealed a cemetery of 12 chamber tombs and pit graves. The chronology of the Mochlos tombs places them in the LM IIIA and B periods, while the Myrsini tombs span the LM IIIA to C periods. The chapter takes a comparative approach and explores the Mochlos and Myrsini cemeteries in relation to each other, to contemporary tombs on Crete, and to wider mortuary trends during the period. In particular, it focuses on mortuary contexts as a locus of ritual power and examines how they are able to inform us about shifting patterns in the economy and group identity of a regional community.

The Mycenaean Cemetery of Deiras, Argos, in a Local and Regional Context

The Mycenaean cemetery of Deiras has enjoyed relatively little attention by Aegean scholars. This is mainly due to the rather modest character of its contents, which does not favor quantitative analysis of “wealth” and “status” differences among individuals. Based on the assumption that mortuary patterns “mirror” social structure, such approaches have been extensively used to analyze social complexity and “explain” state-formation processes in Mycenaean Greece. Recent theoretical discussions, however, have demonstrated the limitations of such reflexive approaches. Funerals are now seen as dynamic fields of social performance and negotiation, which may skew rather than “reveal” intergroup relations. To understand their importance, one needs to examine them within their specific context, i.e., in dialogue with what preexisted, not what followed. In this chapter, we apply such an approach on the Mycenaean cemetery of Deiras. First we examine the gradual development of the cemetery in the context of Argos and how it related to other burial grounds and the settlement of the site. Then we attempt a comparative examination with other Mycenaean cemeteries of the Argolid. It is suggested that LH IIB/IIIA1 was the period of most intense deposition of valuables in Argolic graves, and the stage during which a number of typically “Mycenaean” practices and symbolisms were standardized. This raises the question whether one should look at this period, rather than the much more diverse LH I–IIA, for the rise of a common code of funerary behavior, which used exclusive ritual performances in the entrances of the tombs and the disposal of material acquisitions as basic indices of social identity. This may have had wider repercussions: the distribution of valuables in LH IIB/IIIA1 suggests that it was during this period when Mycenae acquired a special role as a major re-distributive centre in the Argolid.