Supervisors info:
Καραλή Λίλιαν, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α
Χασιακού Αφροδίτη, Λέκτορας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Πλάτων Ελευθέριος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α
Summary:
Achaia, so far, has been considered to belong to the periphery of the Mycenaean world, away from the large, known centers. However, recent studies have revealed a particular culture that followed the standards of the large centers but also developed strong, local elements with similar social, economic and cultural characteristics.
The Mycenaean sites, settlements and cemeteries, that have been recorded so far in Achaia are over 100, other coastal and other mountainous but scattered throughout the region. The LM graves of Achaia are divided into six types: tumulus, chamber tombs, tholos tombs, cist graves, intra muros tombs and burial jars. The most frequent are the chamber tombs, of which there are a total of 500 tombs, carved on the slopes of the hills, in successive rows, with simple architecture, similar to that of other Mycenaean places.
Due to the fact that the cemeteries are usually the only place where human skeletal remains can be found, they offer the unique opportunity to identify the gender and age of individuals, perhaps to reconstitute their diet, work, lifestyle, and also the size of the represented community. In conjunction with the cultural data provided by the cemetery (architecture, funerals, customs), aspects of the social, political and cultural life of a population can be derived. A valuable contribution in this direction is the contribution of osteoarchaeological studies and other modern analyzes (eg DNA analysis, C14 radiocarbon dating, paleopathological and paleodiet analyzes) that have helped the archeology during the last decades and have substantially contributed to the interpretation of the archaeological data.
In the present study, 20 sites of Mycenaean cemeteries in Achaia were analyzed and the types of tombs, architecture, burials, customs and gifts were presented. From these sites, only 9 (Egio, Nicoleika, Spaliareika, Mitopoli, Vrisari, Vounteni, Claus, Krini and Kallithea) can be said to have been excavated to a certain extent and studied to a degree, while, in the others, only partial excavations and concise publications has taken place. In addition, the results of the paleodiet analyzes that have been conducted in 3 of the positions (Spaliareika, Vounteni, Klaus) and the osteological researches carried out in 4 positions (Spaliareika, Klaus, Krini and Kallithea) have been recorded.
The synthesis, finally, of the above data reveals the need for multidimensional treatment of the burial archaeological data, in order to reconstruct the complete picture of this robust and vibrant civilization, which was at the western end of the Mycenaean world.
Keywords:
cemeteries, mycenaean period, mycenaean world, Achaia, osteoarchaeology, paleopathology, paleodiet, skeletical remains, tombs, graves, burials
