The cemeteries of East Crete in LM III period: topography, grave offerings, burial practices
Τα νεκροταφεία στην Ανατολική Κρήτη κατά την ΥΜ ΙΙΙ περίοδο: τοπογραφία, κτερίσματα, ταφικές πρακτικές
Ψαλλίδα, Μαρία
East Crete was the subject of study and research since the Antiquity.Many of the archaeological information were subsequently confirmed bythe excavations which began in the beginning of the 20th century and bythe surface surveys. This Thesis presents the burial architecture, thegrave offerings, the burial practices and their distribution in East Creteduring the LM III period. In contrary to the Neopalatial period, manycemeteries, isolated tombs or burial clusters were formed during thePostpalatial period. However, their distribution is not uniform during LMIII but varies according to the conditions of each period. All the availableinformation from publications relevant to LM III period was gathered in adata base which was also used for the organization of the statistics. Acemetery dated from LM IIIA to LM IIIC was used as a study case(Myrsini-Aspropilia). The study of the data showed that specificarchitectural types were popular in different periods of LM III. The tombswere lying near the sea during LM IIIA and LM IIIB, while in LM IIIC,cemeteries were found in mountainous sites. The tombs mainlycontained pottery and jewelry, while the weapons became popular in LMIIIC. New burial practices appeared, such as cremations which co-existwith interments in sarcophagoi, pithoi or on the floor of the tombs. Theadoption of certain architectural types, grave offerings and burialpractices suggests mixing cultures from the Greek Mainland and theLevant.
