Supervisors info:
Γιώργος Βαβουρανάκης, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής Προϊστορικής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Ελένη Μαντζουράνη, Καθηγήτρια Προϊστορικής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Γιάννης Παπαδάτος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Προϊστορικής Αρχαιολογίας, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The present thesis reexamines the question of the roofing system of the early Cretan circular tombs, which have been generally established as “tholos” tombs. They were used for communal burials from the Early Minoan I until most of the Protopalatial period, some of them until the beginning of the Neopalatial period or even later. The main concentration area of this type is south-central Crete, however, it was also found in the northern-eastern and eastern part of the island. Despite their incomplete preservation merely in the lower parts, the establishment of the term “tholos” led to a specific way of understanding their original form, the acceptance of which is the subject of a long debate.
The present study is composed of three main parts. In the first chapter, through the presentation of the history of research, it becomes apparent that most of the researchers at the beginning of the 20th century associate this architectural type with the Mycenaean tholos tombs, according to a continuous cultural-historical narrative. The publication of “The Vaulted Tombs of Mesara” (1924) by Stephanos Xanthoudides is of great significance, since he reconstructed the tombs on the basis of the form of the modern mitata, confirming the cultural continuity. However, the various proposed reconstructions emphasize the difficulty of accepting one and only solution and reflect the diversity of the archaeological data.
In order to overcome the problems resulting from an overall approach, in the second part each tomb is examined as an individual case, aiming at a critical reexamination of the archaeological record. After the detailed analysis of the available evidence, in the third part a new classification of the circular tombs is proposed regarding their roofing system, which is based on the quality of the archaeological data and their potential reinterpretation. As a result out of a total of 79 tombs examined, a mere small number can be reconstructed with certainty. In spite of the incomplete picture, it is concluded that the case of the stone vault cannot be overall affirmed.
The absence of absolute uniformity affects the approach of the “tholos tombs” phenomenon as a whole, being more than a technical problem, and is substantially associated with the understanding of the social and cultural identity of Prepalatial Crete. The varied construction details, the long use and the wide distribution of the type, as well as the history of use of each tomb, show that it is a heterogeneous, but still a uniform and a dynamic phenomenon, which is entirely compatible with the general heterogeneity of the Cretan burial landscape.
Keywords:
early tholos tombs, roofing system, archaeological data, critical reexamination