THE TOMBS OF MESARA A Study of Funerary Architectu~eand Ritual in Southern Crete, 2800-1100 B.C. I pag( . I ix xi PREFACE xlii I The Tombs Discovered 2 The Monuments of a Millennium 16 3 The Vaulted Tombs of Mesan? 28 4 Grave-Goods 56 5 The Burial of the Dead 86 6 Death and the Dead 104 7 The Cemetery and Society HI 8 The Minoan Tholos-its Origins and History 139 ApPENDIX 1. Structural details of forty-two tholoi 162 ApPENDIX 2. The finds made in forty-two tholoi 164 ApPENDIX 3. The chronology of twenty-nine tholoi 166 ApPF~'lDIX 4. Catalogue of Early and Middle Bronze lege bl.:iIt circuhr ctL'lmber tombs of Mesaca type 17° BIBLIOGRAPHY 173 NOTES 177 INDEX 183 List of plates jacing page 1 A vie\v of the plain of ;\lesa ra and the Asterousia mountains looking south from Phaistos (by courtesy of Prof. C. Zervos) 16 2 c\ view of Lebena II (Yerokambos) showing trilithon door and huge foundation stones (by courtesy of Dr. St. Alexiou) 16 The unexcavated tholos at Siderokamino (by courtesy of Prof. P. Faure) 17 4 Projecting slabs on the outside face of tholos B, Platanos (reproduced from The Vaulted Tombs oj MeJara by S. Xanthouclides, Liverpool University Press, 1924) 17 r\ general view of the interior of Kamilari I sho\ving the built doorway and regular masonry (by courtesy of Prof. D. Levi) F 6 The fallen masonry, as discovered in Kamilari I (by courtesy of Prof. D. Levi) F 7 The antechambers and the huge door slab outside Kamilari I (by courtesy of Prof. D. Levi) 33 A stone vaulted cheese dairy on ,',[ount Ida; early twentieth century (reproduced from The Vaulted Tombs lif Afesara by S. Xanthouc\ides, Liverpool University Press, I9l4) 33 9 i\ view of the tholos at Agios Kyrillos (by courtesy of Dr. 1. Sakellarakis) 43 10 Part of the interior of Kamilari I, with the funerary deposit swept to the wall and traces of burnt timbers showing in the centre of the tholos (by courtesy of Prof. D. Levi) 48 I lOne of the larnax burials in the tholos on Gypsades, Knossos (by courtesy of M. S. F. Hood, F.S.A.) 49 12 Room L, outside tholos A at Agia Triadha, with its truck deposit of clay cups (by courtesy of the Italian List of figures in the text School of Archaeology at Athens) 49 13 The "altar" and inverted clay cups outside the large tholos at Kamilari (by courtesy of Prof. D. Levi) 64 14 A model of four dancers from the large tholos at Kamilari (by courtesy of Prof. D. Levi) 64 15 A model depicting a ceremony of uncertain significance, from the large tholos at Karnilari (by courtesy of Prof. D. Levi) 65 I A map showing the distribution of Early and I:vliddle 16 The Agia Triadha sarcophagus, depicting funerary or Bronze Age tombs of Mesara type in Crete 10 post-funerary ritual in the Late Minoan period (photo 2 A reconstruction of the plan of the cemetery area at by G. Kelsey) 6\ Platanos, based on the description and incomplete plan published by Xanthoudides 12 Diagrammatic representation of (A) the wall trucknessj diameter ratios and (B) the interior diameters of the Mesara thoJoi 30 4 Details of the wall construction in Lebena II, Kanulari 1, and Kalatruana ) 2 5 Lintels with relieving arcs or triangles 3\ 6 The two tholoi at Vorou 4~ 7 Derail of the waFs of Lebena II and Kamilari 1 showing the alternation of large and very small stones in the construction of the inner face 5) 8 Grave goods. Clay cups of Early J'vlinoan I-Middle Minoa.n 1 58 9 Grave goods. Jugs and "teapots" of Early Minoan I-Middle Mino:LnI 60 10 Grave goods. Dishes and bowls of Early :'vlinoan I-Middle Minoan I 6( I I Grave goods. Two-handled jars, pyxides, and "fruit- stands" or lids, of Early Minoan I-1liddle Mjnoan I 6) 12 Grave goods. Bronze tools and weapons of Early 1linoan I-Middle i'vlinoan I 65 13 Grave goods. Sealstone designs and shapes of Early Minoan II-Middle Minoan 1 67 14 Grave goods. Amulets of Early l'vlinoan I-Middle ,\{inoan I 69 15 Grave goods. Gold jewellery of Early Minoan II-i\Iiddle Minoan 1 7~ 16 Grave goods. Anthropomorphic figurines of Early Preface ~finoan I-Middle ;'vlinoan I 75 17 Grave goods. Stone vases of Early :\1inoan II-:\liddle ::VfinoanI 78 18 Grave goods. Zoomorphic and anthropomorphic yessels of Earlv Minoan I-Middle Minoan I 82 19 A cliag;am showing the orientation of dagger blades, as found in tholos A at Agia Triadha 89 20 The cemetery at Agia Eirene (reconstructed from It was less than a year ago that through the kindness of my friend Xanthoudides' description) 94 Peter Warren I acquired a copy or Stephanos Xanthouclides' Tbe 2 I The large tholos at Kamilari (Kamilari I) 96 Vaulted Tombs oj AfeJara. I had used the book for many years, and 22 The "twin" tholoi at Lebena, Yerokambos (Lebena II knew every page and plate intimately. les importance as the only and na) 97 major corpus ,)f Early Bronze Age material from Crete, and the 23 The large tholos (A), and its antechambers at .'gia only collective excavation report and discussion of a sizeable Triadha 99 gro'up or Mesara tholoi had long been recognised; so too had its 24 Porti, thai os n 106 scarcity. These considerations alone were sufficient to suggest 2 j Two ceremonial double-axes found outside tholos ,\ at that the book should be reprinted, but as I worked in the reserve Plata nos I I 5 collectlons at Iraklion :\[useum and throegh the archaeological J.6 Distribution map of the early (EM. I-II) and late journals published since 1924 (when VTM was published) it (:\1.:\1. I·.II) tholos tombs of l\Icsara type in southern became clear to me that something more th?n a reprint was needed. Crete r 24 The superb array of objects illustrated in Xanthouclides' plates 27 The distribution of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic proved to be but samples or a rar larger collection of artifacts yessels in the cemetery at Koumasa 133 never published by him. :\ study or the journals revealed that 28 The :'Iiddle j\linoan I tho1os at :\pesob.ri (;\pesokari I) 13 j Xanthoudicles' fifteen or sixteen tholoi were but a fraction of the 29 A :\fiddle j\[inoan plate, and a fragment from a second, known and excavated total or Mesara tombs; the rema.inder, with both froen Phaistns, depicting dances in honour or [he one or two notable exceptions, were either unknown to, or Snake Goddess 13-; ignored by, most Aegean archaeologists. These considerations 30 J\ Halafian "tholos" at Arpachiyah 140 prompted me to write to Peter \Varren early in 19G8, suggesting 3I Three north African circular tombs 142 that we might consider producing a comprehensive study and ; I The twO tholoi at Siva 144 report on all or the Mesara tholoi. This project never got uncler ; 3 The small circular tomb at Krasi and [he two small w~v ror several reasons. Both \Varren and myselr were busy tholoi found at Chrysostomos 150 writing books on the Cretan Early Bronze I\ge, as well as various 34 A map showing the distribution of Late Bronze\ge atticles, so that the size or the undertaking was quite beyond our Ibolol and variant types in Crete 156 capabilities, even allo,"ving for the contributions which I hoped 3j The J\fiddle Minoan II tholos and associated funerary several other scholars would make to the work. There were complex at Arkhanes 159 complications concerning the large number of tombs dug since 19j4 by various members of the Greek Archaeological Service, the reports on which they naturally were intending to publisb: themselves. Finally, steps were already being taken by a number ot young scholars to study and publish the contents of the tombs PREFACE excavated by Xanthoudides. Thus Peter Warren was preparing tions was completely negated by the kindness of the following for publication a definitive study of the stone vases, I had just colleagues and friends who freely allowed the reproduction of published my complete catalogue and discussion of Early Minoan their own photographs: Dr St. Alexiou (pI. 2.), Professor P. bronzes, and Zoes had begun to publish his detailed studies of the Faure (pI. 3.), M. S. F. Hood (pI. I I), Professor D. Levi (pIs j, 6, pottery of Early Minoan Crete. 7,10,13,14, 1j), Dr 1. SakeJlarakis (pI. 9), Professor C. Zervos Late in 1968, I was invited to address the Prehistoric Society on (pI. I). In addition I was graciously allowed to reproduce plates the subject of "Early Minoan Society and Its Attitudes to Death", previously published by the University of Liverpool Press (pis. 4, the lecture to be given in the following March. I decided to 8), and by the Ita.lian School of Archaeology in Athens (pI. 12). restrict the scope of my lecture to the Mesara tholoi, and during I have also received considerable help from various friends the five months between November 1968 and March 1969 I did during the preparation of the catalogue Cofsites and the collection much of the research on which this book is based. At the time, I of information. Amongst these I am particularly indebted to Dr did not envisage writing a book but the subject appeared to C. Davaras, Professor P.