RIVISTA DI ARCHEOLOGIAAnno XXXV - 2011

GIORGIO BRETSCHNEIDER EDITORE2012

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RIVISTA DI ARCHEOLOGIAUNIVERSITà CA’ FOSCARI - DIpARTImENTO DI STUDI UmANISTICI - VENEzIA

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adriano maggiani

Comitato Direttivo

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Autorizzazione del Tribunale di VeneziaReg. Stampa n. 5 del 1˚ Febbraio 2006

ISSN 0392 - 0895

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ERRATA CORRIGE

Pagg. 3, 111, 113, 115, 117, 119, 121

Errata: REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD:PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS

Corrige: REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS A FUNERARY RECORD:PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS

Tavv. XXXV-XXXIX

Errata: REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD...

Corrige: REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS A FUNERARY RECORD...

INDICE

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A. Maccari, Un funerale chiusino. Appunti su un cippo inedito di Sarteano . . . . . . . .

P. A. Gianfrotta, La topografia sulle bottiglie di Baia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

a. ovadiah, S. Mucznik, The statue from Ampurias/Emporion, reconsidered . . . . . . . .

E. LafLi, J. MEiSchnEr, M. Buora, Nuove considerazioni su alcuni sarcofagi del Museo archeo-logico del l’Hatay, Antakya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

C. MoinE, Rileggere un vecchio scavo nella laguna nord di Venezia: San Lorenzo di Ammiana . .

a Minoan SEMinar. thE MESara thoLoS toMBS froM thE ProtoPaLatiaL PhaSES throuGh thE MycEnaEan PEriod: nEw foundationS and rE-uSE of thE PaSt

Foreword (F. M. Carinci) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I. caLoi, Changes and evolution in funerary and non-funerary rituals during the Protopalatial peri-od in the Mesara plain (Crete). The evidence from Kamilari and from the other tholos tombs .

G. fLouda, Reassessing the Apesokari tholos. A funerary record: preliminary thoughts . . . . .

L. GirELLa, The Kamilari project publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

S. aLuia, The re-use of tholos B at the Ayia Triada cemetery . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tEcnoLoGiE nELL’antichità E archEoMEtria

R. BortoLin, Arnie, miele e api nella Grecia antica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

d. cottica, L. tonioLo, Imitazioni versus importazioni: sigillate di prima e media età imperiale dall’insula 104 a Hierapolis di Frigia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

K. T. raPtiS, L’eredità romana nelle fornaci per la produzione di ceramica in Grecia tra il IV e il XV secolo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

rEcEnSioni E SEGnaLazioni BiBLioGrafichE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ELEnco dEi LiBri ricEvuti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

tavoLE

A MinoAn SeMinAr. The MeSArA TholoS ToMbS froM The

ProToPAlATiAl PhASeS Through The MycenAeAn Period: new foundATionS And re-uSe of The PAST

edited byIlarIa CaloI

università ca’ foscari Venezia (Venezia, 25 febbraio 2011)

Contents

FIlIppo MarIa CarInCI, Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

IlarIa CaloI, Changes and evolution in funerary and non-funerary rituals during the Protopalatial period in the Mesara plain (Crete). The evidence from Kamilari and from the other tholos tombs .

GeorGIa Flouda, Reassessing the Apesokari tholos. A funerary record: preliminary thoughts . . .

luCa GIrella, The Kamilari project publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

sIMona aluIa, The re-use of tholos B at the Ayia Triada cemetery . . . . . . . . . . .

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REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD: PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS

GeorGia Flouda

Für Gerlinde

Abstract

The scope of this paper is to present the preliminary results of the ongoing systematic study of Tholos Tomb A at Apesokari, which was excavated in 1942 by A. Schörgendorfer. The main focus will be on the new data emerging from the restoration and study of the burial assemblage and on aspects of mortuary behaviour, as materialized by the former and by the architectural features of the tomb. The following issues will be explored: a) Dating the construction of the annex rooms; b) Evidence on the dating of the paved area; c) Establishing the duration of use of the tomb; d) Patterns of the use of space and aspects of mortuary practices that can be deduced from the burial assemblage.

Introduction

In the last few years, field research in the As-terousia region has provided important evidence on the extensive habitation of this mountainous zone during the Prepalatial and Protopalatial period. The need for exploitation of the dispersed small stretches of land and of the few water resources explains the existence of many small settlements and the marked density of corresponding tholos tombs in this study area 1. The smallest so far of these tombs is situat-ed on the northern rocky foot of the central Aster-ousia mountains, southwest of the village Apesokari (Fig. 1). After its partial looting by tomb robbers, the tholos was excavated in the summer of 1942 by the Austrian archaeologist August Schörgendorfer († 1914-1976). At that point, the excavator served as a junior officer attached to the Kunstschutz, name-ly ‘Art Protection unit’ of the Wehrmacht, with the special mission to protect the cultural monuments 2. Due to post-war problems, he published only a pre-liminary report in the volume of collected studies Forschungen auf Kreta, that was edited by Friedrich

Matz in 1951. This report included the stone ves-sels and a few clay pots, which had been restored between 1942 and 1947 and, then, formed part of the so-called Scientific Collection of the Heraklion Museum 3.

In 2010, human remains and fragments of clay burial containers from the tomb were traced in a storeroom of the Heraklion Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. They were stored in plas-tic boxes labelled ‘German excavation’, which also contained the numerous unpublished finds from the neighbouring settlement. The latter was also exca-vated by Schörgendorfer in September 1942 4. Paper notes written in the Old German calligraphic hand-writing (Kurrentschrift or Sütterlin) of Schörgen-dorfer himself, as shown by his manuscripts, point out the exact findspots of a few boxes provenanced from the settlement 5. This rediscovery initiated a systematic study project of the Apesokari mater-ial 6. So far, the preliminary study of all finds has shown that Schörgendorfer was an objective exca-vator, who paid close attention to the empirical data and collected all sorts of finds, including clay and

1 Mcenroe 2010, p. 26.2 Flouda, c.s.3 SchörGendorFer 1951a; Platon 1947, p. 630.4 SchörGendorFer 1951b; Platon 1947, p. 630.5 Flouda, PochMarSki, Schindler-kaudelka, c.s.6 Most of the already published clay vessels from the tomb were restored again, as the use of fish-glue after the Second World War had resulted in their breakage.

GEORGIA FLOUDA [RdA 35112

stone objects, skeletal remains, shells and a pumice stone. Nonetheless, due to the lack of an excava-tion notebook and of proper excavation documen-tation, the Apesokari study project aims mainly at establishing the chronological time span of the tomb use and of the settlement occupation and, also, at recon structing the multiple dimensions of the fu-nerary ritual. This paper will accordingly present the provisional results emerging from the ongoing study of the tholos A assemblage. In particular, new

evidence for dating the construction of the annex rooms and of the paved area will be discussed. By reconstructing the architectural and structural de-tails of the tomb as well as the activities that took place in its annex rooms, I shall examine the social aspects that mortuary behaviour engaged in and the ways in which these were activated. This pursuit will be based on the belief that the conduct of funerary rituals was materialized through objects and their interaction with human agents, but should not be studied in isolation from the landscape and archi-tectural setting of the mortuary behaviour.

Topography and architecture of the tomb

Tholos A is situated ca. 130 metres away from the settlement hill to the south 7. It is surrounded by natural terraces of protruding limestone formations, from where there is a good view of the fertile plain as far as the Mesara bay to the west. Probably vis-ible from the outskirts of the settlement, the tomb would symbolize for the members of the family or clan that used it the connection with the dead an-cestors. Along with the EM I - MM III tholos B, ex-cavated in 1963 by Kostis Davaras and situated 220 metres to the northeast 8, tomb A would function as a landmark of the rural landscape 9. In the following, I will argue that this symbolic use was possibly rein-forced by the unique architectural plan of its annex complex. This must have been designed from the beginning or soon after the completion of the burial chamber as an integral extension to the latter.

But let us start by examining the construction-al details of the tomb. The steep slope of the natu-ral rock towards the north and the northwest of the hillside was chosen for building the circular burial chamber (Tavv. XXXV a-b-XXXVI a). The tholos wall is preserved at a maximum height of m 1.30 at the south jamb of the entrance 10. Its foundations were built directly on bedrock, which has been lev-elled in places or filled in with earth. The outer and inner faces of the wall are built of large unworked stones and mud, while the part between the two faces was filled with smaller stones. Nevertheless,

Fig. 1 - Plan of the Tholos A at Apesokari (SchörGendor-Fer 1951a)

7 relaki 2004, p. 174, fig. 9.1. n. 52. 8 davaraS 1964, p. 441; vavouranakiS, c.s.9 MurPhy 1998, p. 30. BraniGan (1998, p. 18) stresses the proximity of Mesara settlements and tombs in many cases and sug-gests that it must have been intentional.10 SchörGendorFer 1951a, tavv. 17.2-17.3.

REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD : PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS2011] 113

the erosion of the steep terrain reduced the static strength of the southwest and west part of the tho-los wall. For this reason, the wall was reinforced at a later point with a low straight wall (Tav. XXXV a-b), meant to function as a buttress against the centrifu-gal force 11. So, although the thickness of the tho-los wall was usually in proportion to the diameter of the burial chamber in such tombs, in the case of tholos A, which has a small diameter of ca. m 4.85, it is disproportionate (m 1.60-2.10).

As is usual, the low entrance of the tholos opens to the east, but its axis diverges slightly towards the south due to the way the bedrock is formed. The abrupt rise of the terrain at this point made it necessary to carve two steps in the bedrock (Tav. XXXV a) in order to provide easy access to the tho-los and to help manoeuvre the burials into place.

We do not know whether the doorway was closed with a heavy stone slab, as was usually the case 12. The built jambs carried a monolithic lintel, which does not remain in situ. The preserved height of the doorway walls does not permit us to surmise whether the tomb had a corbelled vault. Neverthe-less, the few transverse rectangular or wedge-like stones 13 that used to project at irregular intervals in the north and south parts of the tholos wall are paralleled at Apesokari tholos B and at the Kami lari tholos 14. More stones of this type are now widely scattered to the north of the tomb. The use of such wedge-like stones or slabs along with larger stones in the lower courses is one of the characteristics of the corbelling construction that connect the tholos tombs with the Cretan mitata 15. Therefore, we can deduce that the tholos tomb A possibly had a low conical vault, like one of the mitata or other mod-ern circular stone-built constructions on the islands and the mainland.

In addition, it is remarkable that the annex rooms of tholos A do not represent an agglutina-tive building pattern, as was usually the case after the EM II period 16. They form a rectangular com-

partment, which is perpendicular to the tholos en-trance. The uniform plan of the annex and the way its west walls abut the strong east wall of the tho-los, enable us to posit that the burial complex is the result of a uniform architectural plan. Most of the annex walls are founded on the sloping bed-rock and, as shown by the photos of the excavator, they were initially preserved only up to the level of the foundations. Although the walls of the an-nex were reinforced with concrete in the early six-ties 17, some relevant observations can be made. Like the west wall of the burial chamber, this compart-ment was also reinforced along its length with an extra outer wall. The latter serves as a long retain-ing wall along the south and east side of the an-nex complex (Tav. XXXVI b) and as a higher re-taining wall along the north side (Tav. XXXVII a), where the bedrock slopes down considerably. This fact strengthens the view that the builders intended to construct an annex from the moment they chose this location for the tomb.

In any case, it seems that the plan of the annex was determined by the wish to make use of the ex-tensive flat surface of the bedrock at this point and also of its steep slope further to the west. Due to the latter, a beaten floor made up of small stones and clay was used to cover the west part of the main room G 18. A clue to the possible level of this floor is provided by the fill under the lower part of a central built stone pier, which is documented in its initial state of preservation by the 1942 photos (Tav. XXXVII b). This support as well as the wide partition wall between rooms E and G strengthen the hypothesis that the annex compartment carried a permanent flat roof.

At the entrance to the annex, Room K, the bed-rock surface is level (Tav. XXXVII b). A circular cavity carved in the rock, with a diameter of cm 17 and a depth of at least cm 7, probably held the door pivot and so supports the reconstruction of a heavy wooden door. Moreover, a small altar-like structure

11 SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 14.12 BraniGan 1998, p. 25.13 SchörGendorFer 1951a, tav. 17.114 levi 1961-1962, p. 12. SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 14 interpreted them as stones for supporting a flat roof. 15 Warren 2007, pp. 11, 14, fig. 2.11.16 The addition of annex rooms to tholoi, which was introduced during the EM IIB and EM III periods, was also connected with the attempt to organize the secondary burial rituals, cfr. MurPhy 2003, p. 141.17 davaraS 1964, p. 445.18 SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 13, tavv. 18.1-18.2.

GEORGIA FLOUDA [RdA 35114

formed by a cm 65 long limestone slab was fixed un-der the long walls at the east side of the forehall of the annex complex (Fig. 1 J). The excavator notes that a small stone ‘idol’ was found fallen in front of this altar (Tav. XXXVIII a). This previously unpub-lished find was recently recovered among the stored material. Made from sandstone, it recalls the female form. The area of the navel is the only spot which could have been carved with a tool, while the rest of it was probably shaped by using an abrasive me-dium 19. Because of its anthropomorphic character it has to be studied in the framework of the tradi-tion of the Early Bronze Age abstract nude female idols 20. A number of assumptions can be made on its semiotic relationships that are grounded in its material properties. It can be considered as an at-tempt to enrich the burial cult with a local mate-rial, coming from the landscape. But since objects become invested with meaning mainly through their association with persons 21, it is not impossible that it served as an anthropomorphic image that helped to communicate a standardized narrative message. It may have been specifically employed in ritual dis-play events, in which only individuals entitled to en-ter the tomb for the inhumation or secondary bur-ial would be able to participate. Its form makes us think of its possible connection with fertility, espe-cially since tholos tombs could have been used by the local communities as the focal points of season-al rituals of a non-funerary nature 22.

Mortuary practices and the materialization of ideo­logy

The long use of the tholos proper disrupted the primary depositions, hindering a clear reconstruc-

tion of its use. The most common type of burial at Apesokari tholos A seems to have been primary in-humation. As is usually the case in the Mesara tho-los tombs, the bodies of the dead were laid out di-rectly on the floor of the burial chamber on a thin layer of earth 23. In any case, the mingling of bones prevented the excavator from ascertaining the po-sition of the interments or recognising a complete skeleton in situ. Bones were mostly concentrated in the north and east part of the tholos where the nat-ural rock formed rock fissures. The collected hu-man remains must include bones of the latest more or less articulated depositions. The excavator does not mention any traces that the bones were burnt, as was the case in other tholos tombs.

Furthermore, no specific interments in the main chamber can be associated with burial gifts, due to the post mortem interference 24. Two handmade han-dleless cups and similar sherds, a handmade juglet with cut-away spout, a straight-sided cup as well as a miniature juglet of polychrome ware document that the visible chronological horizon of the buri-al chamber is late MM IA - MM IB 25. The deposi-tion of drinking and pouring vessels with the inhu-mations hints at the practice of drinking toasts and possibly, but not evidently, pouring libations during the primary burial. In addition, a conical foot that probably belongs to a pedestalled lamp with an han-dle may come from the burial chamber. Two stone miniature vessels, namely a serpentinite lidded jar and a fragmentary breccia bird’s nest bowl 26, indi-cate that perfumed oil, ointment or some kind of cosmetic pigment were also included in the funer-ary ritual 27. These miniatures cannot be dated sole-ly on the basis of their typology, because as durable objects they could have been heirlooms 28. On the other hand, due to the partial robbing of the tomb,

19 In this respect it should be differentiated from the non-human looking fragments of stalactites and stalagmites discussed by MarinatoS, häGG 1983, p. 185.20 SakellarakiS, SaPouna-Sakellaraki 1997, p. 507.21 GoSden, MarShall 1999, p. 70.22 BraniGan 1998, p. 19.23 SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 15.24 This is the standard picture from burials in south-central and central Crete; cfr. alexiou, Warren 2004, pp. 12, 18, 21 on Lebena, where very few burial goods can be associated with any particular skeleton. 25 SchörGendorFer 1951a, tavv. 4.1-4.2, 19.1-19.2, 20.4.26 SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 15; Warren 1969, pp. 13, 24.27 Bevan 2004, p. 112; — 2007, pp. 98-99.28 On the difficulty to date stone vessels due to the dearth of safe stratigraphic contexts, cfr. Bevan 2004, pp. 107, 110, 112. The first substantive indications on local production of the stone chloritite vessels date to the EM IIA period.

REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD : PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS2011] 115

it is impossible to infer whether other burial gifts, like jewelry, sealstones, copper daggers, figurines, tools and obsidian blades, had also been initially deposited with the burials. According to Schörgen-dorfer various artefacts had been sold in different parts of the island before the excavation started 29. Although some finds from the area of Apesokari fi-nally ended up in Heraklion Museum, their exact provenance cannot be ascertained. In any case, the remaining finds do not mark any obvious status dif-ferences among the persons buried.

With regard to burial practices, manipulation of the skeletal material and secondary burial is a well-documented practice in the Mesara tholos tombs 30. Decomposed earlier depositions from the tholos proper, especially skulls and long bones, were usu-ally removed to the annex rooms to make room for new interments. The careful analysis of several of the Archanes/Phourni burial structures has also provid-ed insights to the consecutive interment of prima-ry burials, which were later interfered with. Some of the burial gifts were also moved at this stage, as has been suggested on the basis of the assemblages from Archanes Burial building 19 31. However, it is interesting to note that even in the case of two bone repositories, which were recently excavated at Sissi by Jan Driessen, very few objects could be associ-ated with the bones 32. The same applies to the sec-ondary depositions in Room D of tholos A, where Schörgendorfer observed a significant concentration of skulls and other bones.

The clay vessels from the burial chamber of tho-los A have significant correlations with the assem-blage stored in annex room D, at the right of the entrance to the tholos. This must have been exclu-sively connected with the secondary burial ceremo-nies, since it contained a rich deposit of skulls and

bones. Three miniature clay handleless cups of the Proto-skoutelia ware (Tav. XXXVIII b), datable to late MM IA 33, may have been moved from the tholos along with the remains of some of the earliest buri-als. The rest of the stored clay vessels span the late MM IA to MM IB periods. The excavator briefly mentions a great number of cup sherds, a fragmen-tary MM IB shallow bowl and «numerous handle-less cups» 34. Although he does not specify the exact number of the cups, it is quite plausible to identi-fy them with the 105 complete and restored plain examples stored at the Heraklion Museum’s Scien-tific Collection. The majority of these cups are left plain and have a conical or hemi-spherical profile with thin to medium walls. Their lower part is prob-ably handmade and then worked on a slow rotat-ing wheel 35. Downward-slanting finger impressions with a torsional direction characterize a number of cups and indicate that the clay body was squeezed, as the vases were pulled upward. This feature par-allels many examples at Kommos 36 and the common plain cups in the assemblage of Phaistos X 37, which dates to late Middle Minoan IA, namely the latest Phaistian Prepalatial phase according to a recent re-examination 38. In addition, a few examples seem to date to MM IB and also find parallels among the ma-terial from Phaistos (Caloi’s Phase «Phaistos B» 39).

Some of the cups are notably characterized by the common presence of dark brown grits that may cor-respond to local Asterousia stone sources.

Of the annex rooms, only room D was solely de-voted to the funerary rituals taking place after the decomposition of the dead. The three inhumations recovered in the small rooms C and E (Fig. 1) show that annex rooms could also serve as temporary re-positories for the decomposition of the bodies, be-fore specific parts were selected to be stored else-

29 SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 13.30 BraniGan 1998, p. 13; triantaFyllou, c.s.31 MaGGidiS 1994.32 drieSSen 2010, p. 109.33 On the Proto-skoutelia ware cfr. todaro 2005, p. 40, fig. 73.34 SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 18, tavv. 22.4.35 On EM III and MM IA footed goblets representing the first attempts to use the potter’s wheel at Knossos, see MoMiGliano 1991, pp. 247-248, n. 285, type 4.36 van de Moortel 2006, p. 316.37 Cfr. todaro 2009, p. 131, fig. 13, p. 133, fig. 14a; also carinci, la roSa 2007.38 todaro 2009, p. 139.39 caloi 2009, pp. 397-398, 415-416.

GEORGIA FLOUDA [RdA 35116

where 40. Room C (ca. m 2.05 × 2) to the left of the tholos entrance contained an inhumation without burial gifts. Annex Room E (m 2.80/2.90 × 0.90) was probably closed off by a wall at its west side, as suggested by the outline of the natural rock, which has been carved at this point. Its entrance was through corridor F (Tav. XXXVI b). Two pri-mary and superimposed adult inhumations were ex-cavated in room E 41. The excavator notes that the second interment had been placed on the lap of the previous one. This is the only case at Apesoka-ri tholos A in which we can almost associate burial gifts with specific burials. Judging from the associ-ated finds, namely sherds of MM IA dark-on-light ware handleless cups, a handmade clay wine-press model (Tav. XXXVIII c) 42 and fragments of a shal-low bowl, the burials probably fall in the late MM IA - MM IB period, hence corresponding to the pe-riod of use of the burial chamber 43.

On the other hand, three instances of differen-tial treatment of the burials in Apesokari tholos A can now be documented as a result of our ongoing study. Three burial containers with their respective lids have been restored. They must have been used for children’s burials and confirm that individual-ized burial, already known from Apesokari tholos B 44 and from Vorou tholos A 45, was also practiced in tholos A. The deposition of skeletons within lar-nakes and pithoid jars generally aimed at minimizing the confusion of skeletal remains caused by repeat-ed disturbances and at facilitating the attribution of grave goods to specific individuals. Unfortunately,

the tholos A burial containers are not mentioned by the excavator, so there is no evidence concerning their exact findspot or their contents. The dark-on-light painted stamnoid jar (Tav. XXXVIII d), which contained part of a child’s jaw, can tentatively be dated to the MM IA period. It is almost identical with a similar one that has been used for a child’s burial in tholos A at Vorou 46. The spherical body with a low wide collar and the clay fabric are at-tributes characteristic of the Protopalatial Mesara ceramic tradition 47 with parallels at Phaistos 48.

With regard to the two oval larnakes and their respective lids, the painted one has intriguing par-allels (Tav. XXXIX a). The dark-on-light motif of linked disks on the body and the lid of the larnax occurs on many pots from East Cretan sites 49 and finds exact parallels on the following examples: an amphoriskos (HM Pott.cat. n. 6685) 50 and a burial pithos from Sphoungaras (HM Pott.cat. n. 7317) 51, both probably datable to MM IB. Dating the Ape-sokari larnax to the MM I period fits the chrono-logical span of the burials. The granodiorite inclu-sions help to macroscopically identify its clay fabric as characteristic of the bay of Mirabello 52, giving us very interesting insights into the distribution of the production of eastern Cretan workshops in this period 53. The second restored larnax is unpainted and made from lamp fabric, which cannot be pre-cisely dated 54. Although it is more difficult to date larnakes, because in many cases they were found in secondary use, oval larnakes have recently been ex-cavated in a MM IB-II cemetery at Vrokastro 55.

40 drieSSen 2010, p. 109. SchoeP (2009, p. 55) has established that in the Sissi House tombs «secondary burial involved ad-ditional treatment of the body and the removal and reburial of the bones, which on the evidence of spaces 1.9-1.10 could take place in a separate place».41 It is quite possible that room E was closed off by a wall at its west side, as suggested by the outline of the natural rock, which has been carved at this point. Its entrance was through corridor F.42 SchörGendorFer 1951a, tav. 22.3.43 SchörGendorFer 1951a, p. 18.44 vavouranakiS, c.s.45 MarinatoS 1930-1931, pp. 146-147, 150-151.46 MarinatoS 1930-1931, p. 146, fig. 9.47 chriStakiS 2005, pp. 72-74.48 levi, carinci 1988, tav. 7c, n. 1437.49 The motif first appears in MM IA and persists until LM I, cfr. Betancourt 1977, pp. 343-344, 352.50 hall 1912, p. 59, tav. 31.51 hall 1912, p. 60, tav. 32.52 Betancourt 2008, pp. 30-31.53 I wish to thank Prof. Carl Knappett for the identification of the fabric of the larnax.54 On the shape cfr. rutkoWSki 1968, p. 221, fig. 1, Type 4.55 hayden 2004, p. 84. Later examples have also been found in MM III contexts in the Aelias (cfr. hood 2010) and Mav-rospelio (cfr. alBerti 2001) cemeteries.

REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD : PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS2011] 117

Further insights into funerary customs are pro-vided by the assemblage of the largest annex room G (Tav. XXXVII b), that escaped looting. It com-prised seven stone miniature published vessels, as well as an unidentified storage pithos, a fragmen-tary straight-sided cup and sherds of plain handle-less cups which are not depicted in the preliminary report 56. Nevertheless, the cup sherds testify to the importance of drinking during the post-interment rituals, while the stored stone vessels also hint at the practice of drinking toasts, pouring libations and, possibly, making offerings to the dead. Although it sounds plausible, it cannot be proved or disproved whether these rituals were taking place in this room, as has been argued by the excavator and others 57.

As far as the external tomb space is concerned, the excavation photos suggest that initially the north retaining wall of the annex compartment probably formed a recess at ‘a’, also noted in the plan (Fig. 1). The level upper surface of this wall indicates that it may also have served as a low bench along this side of the annex. This assumption is corroborated by the presence of a built low altar (L) and of a paved area to the east of the latter, which has now been great-ly disturbed (Tav. XXXIX b). This open-air area of tholos A had clearly provided the space for collec-tive ceremonies during the burial events. The exca-vation at its south and west side brought to light 16 miniature stone vessels of various shapes, a mod-est number of pouring vessels datable to the earli-est phase of the tomb (MM IA) 58, as well as a few drinking and serving vessels of the later phase (MM IB), among which some fragmentary bridge-spouted jars and shallow painted bowls 59. In addition, a quite significant number of unidentified broken cups, in-cluding straight-sided, carinated and the typical han-dleless examples were recovered, but were not pub-

lished. The excavator does not specify whether the fragments of a big pithos with rope pattern relief decoration could have served for a burial, as the ex-amples recovered in the Vorou A and other Mesara tholoi 60, or for temporary storage. Moreover, the assemblage also includes fragments of big pithoid jars and a pitharaki with 8 handles 61. The latter is wheelmade and almost identical to the ones from the neighbouring tholos B 62. These and other parallels probably date to the MM III period 63. Hence, the assemblage recovered from the paved area does not form a closed context. The great number of unpub-lished cup sherds, which are mingled with the mate-rial from the settlement that is currently under study, indicate that the finds from the paved area probably span the late MM IA to MM IIB periods. From the presence of the MM III pitharaki we can also infer that interest in the tomb continued during this pe-riod 64. Consequently, the ceremonies in the open-air area of tholos A may have continued after the use of the tholos and the annex rooms had ceased.

The best parallel to the Apesokari tholos A open-air altar is provided by the altar of the Kamilari A tomb at Grigori Koryfi, where the earliest pottery from the tomb was found together with some small stone vessels. The absence of cooking pots and of bowls in quantity from Apesokari tholos A is no-table. Of course, the difficulty of identifying sev-eral fragmented clay vessels, which are mentioned by the excavator, among the mixed sherd material stored at Heraklion, should be kept in mind. The picture emerging so far from the evidence does not encourage us to assume that large-scale feasting was taking place, as in the case of two ‘courtyard’ are-as at Moni Odigitria 65 during the later Prepalatial period or of the Kamilari tomb during its MM III phase of use 66. Overall, the burial assemblage from

56 SchörGendorFer 1951a, pp. 18-19, tav. 18.2.57 SchörGendorFer 1951a, pp. 18-19; Mcenroe 2010, p. 33.58 These include a Drakones type barbotine jug, two Patrikies type teapots and a polychrome ware bridge-spouted jug.59 SchörGendorFer 1951a, pp. 20-22.60 Cfr. MarinatoS 1930-1931; Petit 1990.61 SchörGendorFer 1951a, tav. 22.2.62 vavouranakiS, c.s.63 WalBerG 1983, p. 98 cfr. Type 17; Girella 2003, p. 349, fig. 6; — 2010, p. 189.64 A few handleless cups that were unearthed next to the north tholos wall, at point ‘b’, just above the ground level could also have been rejected after sporadic drinking activities outside the tholos tomb.65 At Moni Odigitria high quantities of cooking vessels, many large bowls (diam. cm 40) and smaller numbers of outsized jugs, dishes and jars were concentrated in two of the ‘courtyard’ areas, see BraniGan 2010, p. 28.66 A few entire and fragmentary cooking pots were deposited during the MM III and LM I periods in both the main cham-ber, the annexes, and the external courtyard of the Kamilari tholos, see Girella 2008, p. 174, tav. XXX d.

GEORGIA FLOUDA [RdA 35118

tholos A seems to include composite sets of cups and jugs. The predominance of drinking and pour-ing shapes reflects the importance of drinking and, possibly, libation activities 67. It is not clear whether these took place during the burial or in the frame-work of post-interment rituals of unknown charac-ter 68. Branigan has put forward the theory that the simple clay cups spread around the altar «provide a link with funerary rites, since they are identical to the cups found crammed in large numbers into outer chambers of tombs such as Lebena Yerokam-bos II, Agia Triada A, Apesokari B and Vorou A» 69. In any case, the standard handleless cups and the few shallow bowls from the tholos A paved area could have also served for the distribution of small quantities of food to a restricted number of people in collective ceremonies, probably the members of the extended family of the deceased. Proper stor-age activity is clearly attested by the presence of parts of large storage jars, mainly decorated with rope bands. The clay wine-press model from annex room E also testifies to the wine producing tradi-tion of the region, a fact corroborated by the four similar models that were excavated in the neigh-bouring Tholos B 70. Other wine-press models have been found in the tombs at Porti 71 and in the MM IA deposit of the «Camerette a Sud della Tholos A» of Agia Triada; it has been plausibly suggested that the ones from Agia Triada may hint at an of-fering ritual of propitiation or thanksgiving connect-ed to the harvest 72.

On the other hand, only a few conclusions can be reached on the tholos A miniature stone vessels, since they come from a mixed stratigraphic con-text 73. They are made of serpentinite, black lime-stone, breccia, gabbro, diabase and steatite and they manifest the use of tubular drill-bits and shaped grinding stones 74. The limited range of shapes and

the use of mainly local stones reflect competitive display at a local level. Two of these small prestige items belong to Bevan’s hatch-and-inlay group, that probably dates to the late Prepalatial and early Pro-topalatial period 75. In terms of function, it is pos-sible that these locally produced miniatures from tholos A contained perfumed oil or ointment as es-tablished Egyptian oil container shapes did 76. Thus, they may reflect the cosmetic priorities of their own-ers 77, although it can by no means be proven that they had been used in life and were then deposit-ed as personal possessions. The fact that the ‘bird’s nest’ bowls are miniaturized versions of their larg-er prototypes specifically implies that their role was symbolic: the content of the bowls was offered to the dead ancestors. Obviously, the tholos A stone vessels had been deposited along with specific per-sons within an extended family or clan using the tomb during the MM I period.

Conclusions

According to the preliminary study of the pot-tery finds, tholos A at Apesokari was probably con-structed during the MM IA period. Its use con-tinued without interruption at least up to the end of MM IB. The paved area with the open-air altar was probably used from the MM IA to the MM IIB, while there are just signs of sporadic visits dur-ing the MM III. No episodes of funerary events can be specifically established on the basis of the contextual evidence studied so far, as is the usual case with the Mesara tholos tombs. Furthermore, no material indicators of the wealth and status of the deceased can be distinguished due to the limit-ed evidence that survived the looting of the tomb. In terms of burial practices, the custom of burying

67 xanthoudideS 1924, p. 135; MurPhy 2003, p. 270.68 triantaFyllou, c.s.69 BraniGan (1998, pp. 21-23) has suggested that at least two non-funerary rituals taking place in the cemeteries were associ-ated with fertility and the vegetational cycle. 70 koPaka, Platon 1993, p. 64, fig. 4.71 koPaka, Platon 1993, p. 65.72 carinci 2004, p. 31.73 SchörGendorFer 1951a, tav. 21.1-3, 22.5-6, 23-25.74 I wish to thank the geologist Dr. V. Tsikouras for the identification of these materials, that is based on work in progress.75 Bevan 2007, p. 91.76 Bevan 2004, p. 112, citing aSton 1994, shapes 137-141.77 Bevan 2007, pp. 98-99.

REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD : PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS2011] 119

adults in pithoi probably was not followed here. In contrast, the burial containers that were recently restored confirm that individualized burial of chil-dren in clay containers was also practiced at Ape-sokari. Although their exact context cannot be spec-ified, it is anticipated that the osteological study in progress will offer insights into aspects of the ma-nipulation of the deceased.

With regard to patterns of use of space, it is note-worthy that the annex rooms were clearly used si-multaneously with the burial chamber throughout the latter’s period of use and even later. It has been posited that they were also built at the time of the tholos chamber’s construction, a view also support-ed by dating vessel distribution. Accordingly, the annexes were considered as an integral part of the tomb complex and not as a secondary feature, as has been a general view so far 78. The builders of the tholos A complex took advantage of the natural to-pography, possibly in a conscious attempt to rein-force the domestic affinities of the tomb 79. This in-terpretation gains further support from the flat roof of the annex and the possibility that it had a cen-tral permanent door.

Last but not least, the distribution of the finds and of the discussed dating evidence seems to cor-roborate the view that the addition of the annex complex and of the paved court reflects a spatial

division of the funerary ritual or the imposing of restrictions on the number of persons participating in the rites 80. It is hereby suggested that it aimed at spatially defining the conduct of the burial rites, differentiating those with a private character from those with a collective character. The assemblage of MM IA handleless cups recovered from Room D, situated right by the tholos entrance, possibly points to the storage of pots here after one or more epi-sodes of rituals of the first type, parallel to the one documented by the Agia Triadha tholos A annex ‘vano L’ deposit 81.

Acknowledgements

The study of the material has been generously funded by the Institute for Aegean Premistory (2010-2011) and the Med-iterranean Archaeological Trust (2010); the support is hereby gratefully acknowledged. I would also like to warmly thank Dr. A. Kanta for the permission to study the Apesokari ma-terial, the organizers, Prof. F. Carinci and Dr. I. Caloi, for in-viting me to participate in the Venice workshop, as well as Dr. E. Schindler-Kaudelka and Dr. M. Lehner (University of Graz) for providing valuable information on the excavator. I am also grateful to Prof. F. Carinci, Dr. I. Caloi, Dr. L. Girel-la and Prof. C. Knappett for their comments on the first draft and to Dr. O. Dickinson for correcting my English text. Last but not least, the paper is devoted to Mrs Gerlinde Schörgen-dorfer with my gratitude for her permission to study the rele-vant photographic and archival material of her husband.

78 Cfr. BraniGan 1998, p. 21 referring to tholos cemeteries in general; MurPhy 2003.79 For such a general tendency during the late Prepalatial period, see vavouranakiS 2011, p. 113.80 MurPhy 2003, pp. 273, 275-276.81 On the ‘vano L’ deposit cfr. carinci 2004, p. 27.

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TAVOLE

[RdA 35, 2011] TAV. XXXVFLOUDA - REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD...

a)

b)

a) Tholos A from the west; b) the outer tholos wall from the west

TAV. XXXVI [RdA 35, 2011] FLOUDA - REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD...

a)

b)

a) View of the tholos from the southeast, 1942 (photo from the archive of A. Schörgendorfer);b) the retaining wall along the south side of the annex complex from the east

[RdA 35, 2011] TAV. XXXVIIFLOUDA - REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD...

a)

b)

a) The foundation wall along the north side of the annex complex from the northwest;b) view of room G from the west (photo from the archive of A. Schörgendorfer)

TAV. XXXVIII [RdA 35, 2011] FLOUDA - REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD...

a)

b)

d)

a) ‘Idol’ from the forehall of the annex complex; b) miniature handleless cup fromroom D; c) clay wine-press model from room E; d) stamnoid jar from Tholos A

c)

[RdA 35, 2011] TAV. XXXIXFLOUDA - REASSESSING THE APESOKARI THOLOS. A FUNERARY RECORD...

a)

b)

a) Dark-on-light painted larnax from Tholos A; b) view of the tholos annex and of the paved area from the northeast, 1942 (photo from the archive of A. Schörgendorfer)