Classics

This study presents a revised methodology for the excavation and analysis of the stratigraphy in Mycenaean chamber tombs and other multi-use burials. For our excavation of chamber tombs at Ayia Sotira and Barnavos, Nemea, we followed a geoarchaeological approach to provide details about the process of backfilling and re-opening of the tombs and to identify the location, number, and slope of these re-openings.

The cemetery at Myrsini-Aspropilia lies on the northern coast of Crete at the eastern limit of the Bay of Mirabello. The coastal plain in which it was located extends for about 4 km, with the settlement of Mochlos marking its western limits, the farmhouse at Chalinomouri marking its eastern limits, and the cemetery at Myrsini located not too far from the coast, below the modern village of Myrsini and about 3 km east of Mochlos (see Soles 2003: ). Because of its combination of excavated settlements and cemeteries, chronological range, and maritime situation, this region offers an ideal environment for the study of political, economic, and social changes in a small, regional economy. The following will focus on what can be learned about the Late Minoan IIIB period from the study of such a region, and in particular from the pottery of its mortuary contexts. The focus will be on the LM IIIB pottery from the cemetery at Myrsini-Aspropilia, but for comparative purposes the LM III cemetery and settlement at Mochlos will also play a role.

This paper examines an unusual ring-shaped vase from Tomb Delta in the Late Minoan III cemetery at Myrsini Aspropilia. The vessel is incomplete, but enough is preserved to signal its potential connections to a variety of pottery shape types, and the iconography of what appears to have been plastic figural decoration is considered. While it is very likely that the vessel served a ritual purpose, and other objects in Tomb Delta are also cultic in nature, the larger context of the Myrsini cemetery causes one to question the validity of connecting such cultic objects with the social roles of individuals buried in the tomb.

Mochlos volumes IIB and IIC, together with IIA published in 2008, complete the presentation of the Late Minoan II-III "reoccupation" levels from the east Cretan site of Mochlos. This represents an impressive commitment to prompt and thorough publication on the part of a number of American School projects in east Crete, including Pseira and Kavousi, and the various scholars involved deserve congratulations for their efforts. Publication ought to be mandatory, of course, but still many projects in the Aegean and elsewhere remain sadly unpublished. Though Mochlos is a relatively small site in comparison to the large palatial sites of Crete such as Knossos, Phaistos, or Malia, it has a long history with many phases of occupation dating back to the Early Bronze Age. These volumes deal with the penultimate and ultimate phases of Bronze Age occupation, Late Minoan (LM) II-IIIB. Why should the non-specialist reader be concerned with these late phases of Mochlos, when it is in its final throes, so to speak? There is much of interest. What is of general significance is what happens on Crete after the widespread destructions that befell Minoan civilization in about 1450 BC. Are we to describe what happens next as societal collapse, decline, or demise? In some ways yes, because there does seem to be a period of abandonment at some sites, a retraction, and an end to many aspects of Minoan culture, such as Linear A. However, there is quite some resilience too, with populations bouncing back and picking up where they left off, as seen, for example, in continuing traditions of pottery production. In these Mochlos volumes both perspectives are found. On the one hand, the very use of the term

excavations were conducted at a Late Bronze Age chamber tomb cemetery on the hillside of Ayia Sotira, outside the village of Koutsomodi near Ancient Nemea. 1 These investigations followed the discovery in 2002 of a tomb in the process of being looted, and the salvage excavation of this tomb (Tomb 1) by Evangelia Pappi of the 4 th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. The setting is one where illegal searching and excavation of tombs is an ever-present danger, and as a consequence the Ayia Sotira project built upon work done on the nearby tomb at Barnavos. 2 This 1 The Ayia Sotira excavation project operated under the auspices of the Canadian Institute in Greece with permission of the Greek Ministry of Culture and oversight by the 37 th Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. The project was co

This study presents a revised methodology for the excavation and analysis of the stratigraphy in Mycenaean chamber tombs and other multi-use burials. For our excavation of chamber tombs at Ayia Sotira and Barnavos, Nemea, we followed a geoarchaeological approach to provide details about the process of backfilling and reopening of the tombs and to identify the location, number, and slope of these reopenings. In the studied fill of tomb entrance corridors (dromoi) at Ayia Sotira we observed a suite of sedimentary structures based on field and micromorphological observations. These are attributed to grain flow and debris fall processes associated with the formation of small piles during the shoveling of debris into the tomb. During ancient reopening of the tombs extensive planar erosional surfaces were produced, occasionally associated with a basal stone line feature and an abrupt change in the degree of compaction. Constructed plastered floors were identified in the dromoi and the chambers during both the initial opening and the subsequent reopenings of the tombs. The proposed geoarchaeological analysis will enable the reconstruction of complex histories of mortuary practices and their social meanings. Moreover, this analysis shows that some anthropogenic processes of sediment accumulation can be analyzed and interpreted with paradigms of natural processes. Therefore, it provides a framework for understanding other types of earthworks that involve digging and filling.