ThesCRA VIII

THESAURUSCULTUS ET RITUUM

ANTIQUORUM(ThesCRA)

VIII

PRIVATE SPACE AND PUBLIC SPACE

POLARITIES IN RELIGIOUS LIFE

RELIGIOUS INTERRELATIONS BETWEEN

THE CLASSICAL WORLD

AND NEIGHBOURING CIVILIZATIONS

and

Addendum to vol. VI

DEATH AND BURIAL

Supplementum

ANIMALS AND PLANTS

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

© 2012 Fondation pour le Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC)

At LIMC, Basel:Antoine Hermary, Editor in ChiefBertrand Jaeger, Editorial Coordinator

Getty Publications1200 Getty Center DriveSuite 500Los Angeles, California 90049 – 1682www.gettypublications.org

Typography by Martino Mardersteig, printing and binding by Stamperia Valdonega Group, Verona

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thesaurus cultus et rituum antiquorum.p. cm.

English, French, German, and Italian.Includes bibliographical references.ISBN 978-0-89236-787-0 (8-volume set--hardcover)ISBN 978-1-60606-102-2 (volume 8--hardcover)

1.∑Greece--Religion--Encyclopedias.∂2.∑Rites and ceremonies--Greece--Encyclopedias.3.∑Ritual--Greece--Encyclopedias.∂4.∑Rome--Religion--Encyclopedias.5.∑Rites and ceremonies--Rome--Encyclopedias.∂6.∑Ritual--Rome--Encyclopedias.I.∑Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (Organization)BL727.T44 2004292'.003--dc22

2004013084

IV. Greek funerary rituals in theirarchaeological context

contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂364

2. Prothesis, ekphora, lamentation . . . . . .∂364

3. The burial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂366

4. Cremation versus inhumation:evidence from the Early Iron Age . . .∂367

5. Warrior burials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂368

5.1. Geometric burials . . . . . . . . . . .∂368

5.2. The «Hero» of Lefkandi . . . . . .∂369

5.3. Archaic and Classical burials . . . .∂370

6. After the burial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂371

7. The cult of the dead in Early Greece .∂372

8. Burial practices in Archaic Athens . . .∂373

9. Archaic funerary rituals:the «Opferrinnen» ceremony . . . . . .∂374

10. Burials of the Classical period . . . . . .∂375

11. Classical family periboloi . . . . . . . . . .∂376

12. Communal burials of the Classicalperiod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂377

12.1. State burials . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂377

12.2. Mass burials . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂378

13. Marking the tombs . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂378

13.1. Semata of the Early Iron Age . . .∂378

13.2. The Archaic grave markers . . . .∂379

13.3. Classical grave stelai . . . . . . . . .∂379

13.4. Clay plaques, pinakes and vessels . .∂380

14. Macedonian tombs . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂380

15. Child burials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .∂382

general bibliography: Ahlberg, G., Prothesisand Ekphora in Greek Geometric Art (1971); Alcock, S. E.,«Tomb Cult and the Post Classical Polis», AJA 95 (1991)447–467; Antonaccio, C., «Contesting the Past: Hero Cult,Tomb Cult, and Epic in Early Greece», AJA 98 (1994)389–410 (= Antonaccio 1); ead., An Archaeology of Ancestors.Tomb Cult and Hero Cult in Early Greece (1995) (= Antonac-cio 2); Arrington, N. T., «Topographic Semantics. TheLocation of the Athenian Public Cemetery and Its Signifi-cance for the Nascent Democracy», Hesperia 79 (2010)499–539; Blandin, B., Les pratiques funéraires d’époquegéométrique à Érétrie: espace des vivants, demeures des morts,Eretria XVII (2007); Boardman, J., «Painted FuneraryPlaques and Some Remarks on Prothesis», BSA 50 (1955)51–66 (= Boardman 1); id., «Sex Diπerentiation in GraveVases», in d’Agostino, B. (ed.), La parola, l’immagine, latomba. AION 10 (1988) 171–179 (= Boardman 2); Bohen,

B., «Aspects of Athenian Grave Cult in the Age ofHomer», in Langdon, S. (ed.), New Light on a Dark Age.Exploring the Culture of Geometric Greece (1997) 44–55; Ca-vanagh, W. G., Attic Burial Customs ca. 2000–700 B.C. (Ph.D. Bedford College, London 1977); Clairmont, Chr., Pa-trios Nomos. Public Burials in Athens during the Fifth andFourth Centuries B.C. (1983); Closterman, W. E., The Self-Presentation of the Family: The Function of the Classical At-tic Peribolos Tombs (Ph. D. Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore1999) (= Closterman 1); ead, «Family Members and Citi-zens: Athenian Identity and the Peribolos Tomb Setting»,in Patterson, C. B. (ed.), Antigone’s Answer. Essays on Deathand Burial, Family and State in Classical Athens, Helios sup-pl. 33 (2006) 49–78 (= Closterman 2); Coldstream, J. N.,Geometric Greece, 900–700 B.C. (20032) (= Coldstream 1);id., «Hero-Cults in the Age of Homer», JHS 96 (1976) 8–17(= Coldstream 2); Crielaard, J.-P., «Cult and Death in Ear-ly 7th Century Euboea», in Marchegay, S., et al. (eds.),Nécropoles et Pouvoir. Idéologies, pratiques et interprétation(1998) 43–58; Deoudi, M., Heroenkulte in homerischer Zeit(1999); Dicky, K., Corinthian Burial Customs ca. 1000 to 550B.C. (Ph. D. Bryn Mawr 1992); Garland, R., The GreekWay of Death (1985) (= Garland 1); id., «The Well-orderedCorpse: An Investigation into the Motives behind GreekFunerary Legislation», BICS 36 (1989) 1–15 (= Garland 2);Gnoli, G./Vernant, J. P. (eds.), La mort, les morts dans lessociétés anciennes (1982); Guimier-Sorbets, A.-M./Morizot,Y. (eds.), L’enfant et la mort dans l’Antiquité I. Nouvellesrecherches dans les nécropoles grecques. Le signalement des tombesd’enfants (2010); Houby-Nielsen, S., «Interactions betweenChieftains and Citizens? 7th Century B.C. Burial Customsin Athens», ActaHyp 4 (1992) 343–374 (= Houby-Nielsen 1);ead., «Burial Language in Archaic and Classical Ker-ameikos», Proceedings of the Danish Institute at Athens 1(1995) 129–191 (= Houby-Nielsen 2); ead., «The Archaeol-ogy of Ideology in the Kerameikos: New Interpretations ofthe ‘Opferrinnen’», in Hägg, Polis 41–54 (= Houby-Nielsen3); ead., «Child Burials in Ancient Athens», in SofaerDerevenski, J. (ed.), Children and Material Culture (2000)151–166 (= Houby-Nielsen 4); ead., «Women and the For-mation of the Athenian City-State», Metis 11 (1996)233–260 (= Houby-Nielsen 5); ead., «Grave Gifts, Womenand Conventional Values in Hellenistic Athens», in Bilde,P., et al. (eds.), Conventional Values of the Hellenistic Greeks(1997) 220–262 (= Houby-Nielsen 6); Huguenot, C., LaTombe aux Erotes et la Tombe d’Amarynthos, Eretria XIX(2008); Hughes, D. D., «Sacrifice and the Cult of the Deadin Ancient Argos», in Hägg, R./Alroth, B. (eds.), GreekSacrificial Ritual, Olympian and Chthonian (2005) 75–83;Humphreys, S. C., «Family Tombs and Tomb Cult in An-cient Athens: Tradition and Traditionalism?», JHS 100(1980) 96–126; Johnston, S. I., Restless Dead. Encounters be-tween the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece (1999);Kistler, E., Die «Opferrinne-Zeremonie». Bankettideologie amGrab, Orientalisierung und Formierung einer Adelsgesellschaft inAthen (1998); Kottaridi, A., «TÔ ¤ıÈÌÔ ÙË˜ Î·‡ÛË˜ Î·È ÔÈ

Addendum to vol. VI

1.e. DEATH AND BURIAL

Death and Burial in the Greek World

364 addendum vi 1.e. death and burial, gr./mort et inhumation, gr.

M·ÎÂ‰fiÓÂ˜. ™Î¤„ÂÈ˜ ÌÂ ·ÊÔÚÌ‹ Ù· Â˘Ú‹Ì·Ù· ÙË˜ÓÂÎÚfiÔÏË˜ ÙˆÓ AÈÁÒÓ», in Stampolidis 2, 359–371 (= Kot-taridi 1); ead., «Macedonian Burial Customs and the Funer-al of Alexander the Great», in Pandermalis, D./Drougou,S./Kalogerakou, N. (eds.), Alexander the Great: from Mace-donia to the Oikoumene, Congress Veroia 1998 (1999) 113–120(= Kottaridi 2); Kübler, K., Kerameikos V 1. Die Nekropoledes 10. bis 8. Jahrhunderts (1954) (= Kübler 1); id., KerameikosVI 1. Die Nekropole des späten 8. bis frühen 6. Jahrhunderts(1959) (= Kübler 2); id., Kerameikos VI 2. Die Nekropole desspäten 8. bis frühen 6. Jahrhunderts (1970) (= Kübler 3); id.,Kerameikos VII 1. Die Nekropole der Mitte des 6. bis Ende des5. Jahrhunderts (1976) (= Kübler 4); Kurtz, D./Boardman,J., Greek Burial Customs (1971); Lemos, I. S., The Protoge-ometric Aegean. The Archaeology of the Late Eleventh andTenth Centuries B.C. (2002); Loraux, N., The Invention ofAthens. The Funeral Oration in the Classical City (2006);Morris, I., Burial and Ancient Society (1987) (= Morris 1);id., «Attitudes toward Death in Archaic Greece», ClAnt 8(1989) 296–320 (= Morris 2); id., Death-Ritual and SocialStructure in Classical Antiquity (1992) (= Morris 3); id., «Law,Culture and Funerary Art in Athens, 600–300 B.C.», Hep-haistos 11/12 (1992–93) 35–50 (= Morris 4); id., «Burning theDead in Archaic Athens: Animals, Men and Heroes», inVerbanck-Piérard, A./Viviers, D. (eds.), Culture et Cité.L’avènement d’Athènes à l’époque archaïque (1995) 45–74 (=Morris 5); id., «Archaeology and Archaic Greek History»,in Fisher, N./Van Wees, H. (eds.), Archaic Greece. New Approaches and New Evidence (1998) 1–91 (= Morris 6); Oakley, J. H., Picturing Death in Classical Athens. The Evidence of the White Lekythoi (2004); d’Onofrio, A. M.,«Korai e kouroi funerari attici», AION 4 (1982) 135–170 (=d’Onofrio 1); ead., «Aspetti e problemi del monumento funerario attico archaico», AION 10 (1988) 83–96 (=d’Onofrio 2); ead., «Le trasformazioni del costume funera-rio ateniese nell necropolis pre-soloniana del Kerameikos»,AION 15 (1993) 143–171 (= d’Onofrio 3); Patterson, C. B.,«The Place and Practice of Burial in Sophocles’ Athens», inead. (ed.), Antigone’s Answer. Essays on Death and Burial,Family and State in Classical Athens, Helios suppl. 33 (2006)9–48; Pomeroy, S. B., Families in Classical and HellenisticGreece. Representations and Realities (1997); Sabetai, V.,«Marker Vase or Burnt Oπering? The Clay Loutrophorosin Context», in Tsingarida, A. (ed.), Shapes and Uses ofGreek Vases (7th–4th Centuries B.C.) (2010) 291–306;Shapiro, H. A., «The Iconography of Mourning in Athen-ian Art», AJA 95 (1991) 629–656; Snodgrass, A. M., «Lesorigines du culte des héros dans la Grèce antique», in Gno-li/Vernant 89–105 (= Snodgrass 1); id., «The Archaeologyof the Hero», AION 10 (1988) 19–26 (= Snodgrass 2);Sourvinou-Inwood, C., «A Trauma in Flux: Death in the8th Century and After», in Hägg, R. (ed.), The Greek Re-naissance of the Eighth Century B.C. (1983) 33–49 (= Sourvi-nou-Inwood 1); ead., ‘Reading’ Greek Death, to the End ofthe Classical Period (1995) (= Sourvinou-Inwood 2); Stam-polidis, N. Chr., «Homer and the Cremation Burials ofEleutherna», in Crielaard, J. P. (ed.), Homeric Questions. Es-says in Philology, Ancient History and Archaeology (1995)289–308 (= Stampolidis 1); id. (ed.), K·‡ÛÂÈ˜ ÛÙËÓ EÔ¯‹ÙÔ˘ X·ÏÎÔ‡ Î·È ÙËÓ ¶ÚÒÈÌË EÔ¯‹ ÙÔ˘ ™È‰‹ÚÔ˘ (2001) (=Stampolidis 2); Stears, K., «The Times They Are Chang-ing: Developments in Fifth-Century Funerary Sculpture»,in Oliver, G. J. (ed.), The Epigraphy of Death. Studies in theHistory and Society of Greece and Rome (2000) 25–58; Ström-berg, A., «Private in Life – Public in Death. The Presenceof Women on Attic Classical Funerary Monuments», in

Larsson Lovén, L./Strömberg, A. (eds.), Gender, Cult andCulture in the Ancient World from Mycenae to Byzantium(2003) 28–37; Vermeule, E., Aspects of Death in Early GreekArt and Poetry (1979); Whitley, J., «Early States and HeroCults: A Re-Appraisal», JHS 108 (1988) 173–182 (= Whit-ley 1); id., Style and Society in Dark Age Greece. The Chang-ing Face of a Pre-literate Society 1100–700 B.C. (1991) (=Whitley 2); id., «The Monuments that Stood beforeMarathon: Tomb Cult and Hero Cult in Archaic Attica»,AJA 98 (1994) 213–230 (= Whitley 3); id., «Gender and Hierarchy in Early Athens», Metis 11 (1996) 209–232 (=Whitley 4).

1. Introduction

Burial rites have always been considered an im-portant part of our understanding of ancient Greekbeliefs about death and the afterlife. The necessityof honoring the dead by means of proper rites isfrequently mentioned in ancient literature1. Theearliest descriptions of a hero’s funeral, namelythose of Patroklos, Hektor and Achilles, show thatthis ritual was already well-established by the timeof Homer. The deceased’s journey to the nextworld was eπected by elaborate ritual conductedby the relatives of the deceased, primarily thewomen.

The Greek funeral had a ritual structure, whichin most of its parts seems to have been maintainedthroughout Antiquity. In general, this structurerelates to the schema of rites de passage defined byvan Gennep and concentrates on the care of thedeceased; the laying-out of the body (prothesis) formourning, the processional transportation of thebody to the place of its deposition (ekphora), andlastly the deposition of its cremated or inhumedremains2.

The term «burial rituals» describes the ritesperfomed on behalf of the dead at the time of thefuneral and also on certain days after the inter-ment, thus giving to the living the opportunity tohonour the dead through the socially acceptedchannels. Periodic oπerings were also made afterthe burial, as it is shown in the ancient texts andthe iconography. Through the material record itis possible to identify the visible expression ofthose rituals and reconstruct, up to a certain point,a «burial» behaviour.

2. Prothesis, ekphora, lamentation

Following death, the body was prepared by thewomen of the family for the prothesis, the lying instate of the deceased3. In Homer the prothesis of thedead heroes extends from two to seventeen days,depending apparently on the social status of the

1. See ThesCRA VI 1 e Death and Burial, gr. I.2. van Gennep, A., The Rites of Passage (transl. 1960);

Kavoulaki, A., «Crossing Communal Space: The ClassicalEkphora, ‘Public’ and ‘Private’», in Dasen, V./Piérart, M.

(eds.), \I‰›0 Î·› ‰ËÌÔÛ›0. Les cadres ‘privés’ et ‘publics’ de lareligion grecque antique (2005) 130–131.

3. Kurtz/Boardman 143–144; Garland 1, 23–31; John-ston 39–43.

addendum vi 1.e. tod und bestattung, gr./morte e inumazione, gr. 365

deceased. Although there is no evidence as to thelength of the prothesis during earlier periods, thiswas probably defined in each case by the family.This part of the ritual oπered the possibility toperform the traditional lament and initiate theproper rites honouring the deceased and at thesame time to define and re-establish their own andtheir group’s social identity and status. However,the traditional length of the prothesis was later re-stricted by Solon’s law to a single day. It is uncer-tain where the prothesis took place, whether insidethe house or in the courtyard. The choice mayhave depended on several factors, as to the time ofthe year or the weather conditions, although aninterior space is frequently indicated on vase rep-resentations.

The body was washed, anointed with oil andperfume, wrapped in a shroud and then laid outon the funeral kline which served as the funeralbier. A lesser covering was also provided over thebody. According to the pictorial representations ofthe prothesis and ekphora, lamentation was deployedaround the funeral kline; mourning women toretheir hair in lamentation and probably sang ritualized laments, both ÁfiÔ˜ and ıÚÉÓÔ˜, menpaid their final respects and oπerings were present-ed to the deceased. There is a constant separationof the roles of men and women at the prothesis, de-picted on vase representations and matching theliterary evidence, accentuating the role of womenin caring for the body4. Children were only occa-sionally allowed to participate5. A number of de-tails as to the placement and care of the body canbe seen in the iconography of vases since the geo-metric period. Mattresses and pillows were usedfor the placement of the deceased on the bier, thejaws were held by chin straps to prevent gaping,branches and vases containing oil were placed closeto the bier in order to prevent bad odors and prob-ably to keep insects away from the corpse.

A late addition seems to have been the placingof an obol in the mouth of the deceased as a pay-ment to Charon for ferrying the souls of the deadacross the river Styx into the Underworld6. Thiscustom can be found in the literary sources fromthe late 5th cent. B.C. and approximately from thesame period in the graves. The so-called «Charon’spieces», usually made out of bronze, were not al-

ways inserted in the mouth of the deceased; theycould be also found in the hand or loose in thegrave. In the cases however that coins were foundin numbers inside the graves, a function as gravegifts along with the rest of the oπerings has beensuggested.

After the performing of the traditional lamentduring the prothesis, the ekphora took place, whenthe body was carried out to the place of burial.Family members and other mourners accompaniedthe dead to the grave, although funerary legisla-tion of the late Archaic and Classical periods some-times restricted the number of the participants. InAthens, Solon passed laws which regulated the ex-cess of the funeral, as to the number of the partic-ipants, the number of garments worn, the dura-tion of prothesis, the amount of food and drink thatwas consumed during the burial, the time and or-der of the procession to the grave7. Solon’s legis-lation is often juxtaposed with the excess of theekphora and the lamentation during earlier periods.

In the depictions of funerals on the Atheniangeometric marker vases, whether those weremeant to evoke the heroic age described in theepics or as contemporary representations, atten-tion is drawn to prothesis, ekphora and the lament(fig. 1)8. A large number of persons is shown toparticipate in the diπerent stages of the funeraryritual, while the actual interment is never depict-ed. Processions of chariots and warriors and indi-cations of funeral games add a heroic symbolismto those representations and create a strong link tothe descriptions of funerals of noble leaders andwarriors in Homer and Hesiod9. Funerals recurwith some variation in the long series of Archaicgrave plaques, on black and red-figure loutrophoroiof the 6th and 5th cent., down to the whitelekythoi of the later 5th cent. B.C. Shortly after 500B.C. diπerent moments in the funeral ritual areshown, such as the placing of the body in a co√nand the interment in the ground, which howevernever became popular10.

Archaic and Classical prothesis and ekphora scenesrender the diπerent roles of men and women dur-ing the ritual. On a clay pinax in the Louvre(Thes CRA VI pl. 49, 1) family members are des-ignated by inscriptions. Generally women standcloser to the head, touching or embracing the de-

4. Shapiro 634–639; Houby-Nielsen 5, 236–243. Forimages of prothesis and ekphora see ThesCRA VI 1 e Deathand Burial, Gr. III.2.1.1.

5. For the depiction of children in the funerals of thegeometric period, cf. Ahlberg 99–100. 108 fig. 25. Krater,New York, MMA 14.130.14: ThesCRA VI 1 b Childhoodand Adolescence, Gr. pl. 48, 1. For later examples, cf. Oak-ley 76.

6. Garland 1, 23; Grinder Hansen, K., «Charon’s Fee inAncient Greece? Some Remarks on a well-known DeathRite», ActaHyp 3 (1991) 207–218; Stevens, S. T., «Charon’sObol and other Coins in Ancient Funerary Practice»,Phoenix 45 (1991) 215–229.

7. Garland 1, 31–34; Garland 2, 1–15; Sourvinou-In-wood 1, 43–48; Shapiro 630–631. 641–644.

8. Ahlberg 46–68; Huber, I., Die Ikonographie der Trauerin der griechischen Kunst (2001) 61–86. For a recent discus-sion of the Geometric prothesis scenes upon a new ampho-ra from Marathon (= fig.1), cf. Vlachou, V., «A Group ofGeometric Vases from Marathon: Attic Style and LocalOriginality», in Mazarakis Ainian, A. (ed.), The Dark AgesRevisited. Acts of an International Symposium in Memory ofWilliam D. E. Coulson (2011) 759–779.

9. Morris 1, 46–52; Morris 2; Sourvinou-Inwood 1.10. Kurtz/Boardman pls. 36–38; Shapiro 634 n. 30–31;

Oakley 145–173. 218–219.


ceased, while men stand at the feet or at a distanceand are rarely shown charged with the placementof the co√n inside the grave, a moment rarelyshown. The practice of dressing and furnishing thedeceased, the choice and placement of the oπer-ings inside the grave have also been associated withthe women of the family11. Depictions of prothesison the red-figure loutrophoroi of the 5th cent. in-clude a smaller group of people; black can be seenfor the garments of the mourners, while red is de-picted on white lekythoi12.

3. The burial

The final stage of the ritual was marked by theinterment of the deceased and the final removalfrom the company of the living13. After the arrivalat the grave, the body was either inhumed or cre-mated. A wooden, clay or stone co√n could beused for the interment, while for cremation acinerary urn was used to collect the cremated re-mains, which in turn was interred. Plain stone sar-cophagi were in use since the Geometric period,according to the evidence from Corinth. Stone

sarcophagi of the early 6th to the 5th cent. B.C.were used in the chamber tombs on Aigina14. Claysarcophagi decorated and unpainted were found innumbers from the 7th cent. in Chios and later inEastern and Northern Greece. The decorated sar-cophagi of East Greece, painted or with relief dec-oration are mainly of the 6th and early 5th cent.The commonest class of the painted sarcophagi isthe so-called Clazomenian, which have been foundmainly in East Greece15. Wooden co√ns are onlyrarely preserved inside the graves16. An impres-sively preserved wooden larnax from Piraeus re-grettably unpublished, is exhibited in the local Ar-chaeological Museum.

Libations for purification or as an oπering tothe dead were common and residues of liquids arefrequently traced in cemeteries, while the ritualoπering of wine and oil is mentioned in a late 5thcent. inscription from Keos17. Burnt sacrificeswere also common according to archaeological andliterary evidence. Burnt deposits containing pot-tery and animal bones are usually found above orinside the grave, indicating that part of the funer-al ceremonies would take place while the tombwas still open.

11. Houby-Nielsen 5, 237–242; Shapiro 634–639.12. Shapiro 647; Boardman 2, 175. 177–179. For red-

figure loutrophoroi, cf. Van den Driessche, B., «Prothésiset cortège de porteurs de lébès sur des fragments deloutrophores attiques à figures rouges du Musée de Lou-vain-la-Neuve», RALouvain 18 (1985) 34–47. For white-ground lekythoi, cf. Oakley 76–87.

13. Garland 1, 34–37.14. Kurtz/Boardman 181–182.

15. Cook, R. M., Clazomenian Sarcophagi (1981). Forsome richly furnished burials in Clazomenian sarcophagifrom Abdera, cf. Morris 6, 48.

16. Protonotatiou-Deilaki, E., «KÙÈÛÙfi˜ ˘Ú·ÌÔÂÈ‰‹˜Ù¿ÊÔ˜ ÂÎ ÙÔ˘ ÓÂÎÚÔÙ·ÊÂ›Ô˘ ÙË˜ KÚ·ÓÓÒÓÔ˜», £ÂÛÛ·ÏÈÎ¿ 3(1960) 29–46; Kurtz/Boardman fig. 63; Hitzl, I., Diegriechischen Sarkophage der archaischen und klassischen Zeit(1991) 196 no. 33 pl. 16.

17. LSCG no. 97; Kurtz/Boardman 200; Andronikos,M., Totenkult. ArchHom III W (1968).

Fig. 1


Oπerings of food and drink, garlands, jewelry,weapons and mainly pottery were presented to thedeceased18 and were deposited with the cineraryurn or around the inhumed body inside the grave.Unburnt vases which were packed inside the gravehave been seen as food and drink containers for thejourney of the deceased to the underworld19.Oπerings are usually seen as symbols of the socialposition and status of the deceased as well as of theaspirations of the family who use the occasion as afocus for display20. Some of the oπerings wereprobably the personal possessions of the deceased,such as weapons and tools for men, dress ornamentsand household accessories for women, toys andminiature objects for children.

4. Cremation versus inhumation:evidence from the Early Iron Age

Diπerent regions of Greece had their own dis-tinctive mortuary practices. Inhumation and cre-mation were practised usually alternating for abrief time. Age, sex and wealth diπerences weregiven strong expression in burial, even in the samecommunities such as Athens21.

Single burials were the norm in Attica mark-ing a break with the multiple burials practice ofthe Bronze Age. From Protogeometric times un-til the 8th cent. cremation displaced inhumationfor adults. The cremation of the deceased tookplace outside the grave. The ashes were collectedand placed in urns, usually neck-handled am-phorae for men and belly-handled amphorae forwomen (fig. 2)22. The urns were then placed ina hole dug at the bottom of a rectangular shafttogether with some oπerings. The remains of thepyre were thrown into the shaft which was thenfilled with earth. This type is known as the«trench-and-hole» cremation23. In a few cases thecremated remains were thrown directly into theshaft together with the debris of the pyre and theoπerings. Remains of broken pots and animalbones found in the fill of the pits indicate thatperhaps a funeral feast had taken place. Fromaround the middle of the 9th cent. B.C. thegrave was occasionally divided by a barrier intotwo compartments, one deeper for placing thecremation urn and a shallow one for the unburntoπerings24.

By the second quarter of the 8th cent. inhuma-tion burials multiply and by the middle of the cen-tury become the prevailing rite in Athens, al-though in the rest of Attica there still isconsiderable diversity25. For an adult inhumationthe body was laid in the grave on its back, in asupine extended position (pl. 39, 1: Athens, Ker-ameikos), while in some cases traces of rectangu-lar wooden co√ns were found inside the graves.Pottery oπerings were placed around and over thedeceased. A funeral feast around the grave is indi-cated by the burnt remains that were swept insidethe shaft. At the end of the ceremony the gravewas filled with earth and covered by stone slabs.

In the cemeteries of Lefkandi, both inhumationand cremation were practised, but in most of thetombs no traces of full inhumation or cremationwere found. Fragments of human remains wereplaced inside the tombs along with grave goods,indicating the possibility of more complicated fu-nerary rites26. Cremations took place inside thegrave. The funeral pyres were built over the rec-

18. Garland 1, 113–115; Burkert, GrRel (Engl.) 192–193;Papadopoulos, J. K., The Early Iron Age Cemetery at Torone1 (2005) 385–387. For a Geometric prothesis scene, where giftsare presented to the deceased, cf. Ahlberg 211–212 fig. 39.

19. Coldstream 1, 33.20. Dickinson, O., The Aegean from Bronze Age to Iron

Age. Continuity and Change between the Twelfth and EighthCenturies B.C. (2006) 177–178; Strömberg, A., Male or Fe-male? A Methodological Study of Grave Gifts as Sex-Indicatorin Iron Age Burials from Athens (1993) 44–46. 53–54; Cold-stream 1, 78–80; Whitley 4, 221–231; Sabetai 303.

21. Cavanagh; Whitley 2, 102; Morris 1. On the roleof cremation in the social evolution of Athens, cf. Morris5, 45–74.

22. Boardman 2, 171–173; Whitley 2, 110–111; Ström-berg (n. 20) 66. 79–80.

23. Morris 1, 18–20 fig. 7. For a discussion of the Pro-togeometric burials from Athens, cf. Lemos 152–157.

24. Coldstream 1, 56. 81.25. Morris 5, 64–65.26. Lefkandi I, 209–216; Lemos 161–168.

Fig. 2


tangular shafts, with dimensions close to the hu-man body. Most of the grave oπerings were foundburnt inside the graves they were thrown to thepyre during the funeral, rather than deposited af-ter the burial.

In the Argolid, inhumation remained the pre-vailing rite ever since the Mycenaean period.Large stone cists, shafts and large pithoi were usedfor the inhumations of adults27. A local peculiari-ty is the re-use of earlier graves for later burialsand the presence of multiple burials as well. Inhu-mations of adults into large pithoi are also foundat Sparta dating from the Geometric period. AtCorinth the use of stone sarcophagi for the inter-ment is attested since the Geometric period.

In Crete, tholos and chamber tombs continueto be in use, and in some cases there is evidencefor use by individual families28. Both inhumationand cremation were practised, though cremationfor adults became fully established in the mid 9thcent. B.C. Urns, usually kraters and a variety ofpithoi, were used either as a cinerary container ora co√n that was placed in the chamber or the dro-mos of the tomb. Re-use of Minoan larnakes has al-so been identified.

At Vergina, early burials are found inside andbeneath mounds of earth (tumuli), each one con-taining within its defining circle of stones betweenfive and fifteen inhumations, both male and fe-male. Grave goods of jewelry, weapons and pot-tery suggest the social status of the deceased29. AtHalos, a unique cemetery of tumuli which con-tained varying numbers of cremation pyres cov-ered by stone cairns began to be used towards theend of the Protogeometric period continuing toArchaic times (pl. 39, 2). Males and females werecremated in situ; the cremation pyres were coveredby stone cairns which were then placed underneathearth tumuli. Iron weapons such as swords, spears,and daggers, as well as iron and bronze jewelry,bowls and phialae were found along with ceramicvessels inside the burials. No oπerings were asso-ciated with the child burials. Stone structuresserved as oπering tables for ritual use and in sev-eral cases the pyres were marked by standing slabs.

The centre of the tumuli was occupied by a small«tholos» of a rather peculiar type, while childburials in pithoi, pits and cists were placed roundthe periphery of the tumuli. Traces of funerarymeals indicate that ritual libations and animal sac-rifices probably took place during and shortly af-ter the burial30.

Further to the South, cremation burials under-neath stone tumuli were investigated at Tsikalarioon Naxos31. The tumuli covered one or more cre-mations, usually on flat ground or in cists coveredby stone slabs. Child enchytrismoi were presumablyplaced outside the tumuli, although no skeletal re-mains have been recovered from the interior of thevases. A kind of «road web» facilited, accordingto Ph. Zaphiropoulou, the way of the visitors inorder to find their own burial construction, whilea large «menhir» served as a marker of the necrop-olis. Ritual ceremonies at Tsikalario have been as-sociated with the veneration of ancestors.

5. Warrior burials

5.1. Geometric burials

Burials described as «warrior burials» were ac-companied by at least one sword and spearheadamong other oπensive weapons, and rarely ar-mour. However not each grave furnished withweapons can be identified as a warrior grave, al-though graves rich in weaponry were proven tobelong to young males32. Bronze cauldrons couldcontain the ashes of the dead warriors, with a lead,bronze or stone cover, in a particularly «heroicmanner»33. Inhumation is also attested as a burialpractice for male warriors.

In the cremation burials, the sword had beendeliberately curved with fire and placed aroundthe neck or the belly of the amphora that con-tained their cremated remains (fig. 3). It seems thatsuch a personal possession of a warrior should notbe reused. Knives, spearheads and other ironequipment were also burnt in the fire and then in-serted inside the grave beside the urn. Hemispher-

27. Courbin, P., Tombes géométriques d’Argos I (1974);Folley, A., The Argolid 800–600 B.C. An Archaeological Sur-vey (1988) 34–46.

28. Coldstream 1, 383; Cavanagh, W., in Knossos NorthCemetery II (1996) 652–675; Sjögren, L., Fragments of Ar-chaic Crete. Archaeological Studies on Time and Space, Boreas31 (2008) 152–156.

29. Cremation is extremely rare, cf. Andronikos, M.,BÂÚÁ›Ó· I: TÔ ÓÂÎÚÔÙ·ÊÂ›Ô ÙˆÓ Ù‡Ì‚ˆÓ (1969) esp. 164;Snodgrass, A. M., The Dark Age of Greece (20002) 160–163figs. 60–62.

30. Wace, A. J. B/Thompson, M. S., «Excavations atHalos», BSA 18 (1911–12) 1–29, Malakasioti, Z., «T·ÊÈÎÔ›Ù‡Ì‚ÔÈ ÛÙËÓ ÂÚÈÔ¯‹ BÔ˘ÏÔÎ·Ï‡‚·-¶Ï·Ù¿ÓÔ˘ AÏÌ˘ÚÔ‡:H ÂÚ›ÙˆÛË ÙÔ˘ ·ÁÚÔ‡ ¢. ¢ÂÛÔÙÔÔ‡ÏÔ˘», inAÚ¯·ÈÔÊıÈˆÙÈÎ¿ 2 (1997) 189–196; Georganas, I., «Con-structing Identities in Early Iron Age Thessaly: The Case

of the Halos Tumuli», OJA 21 (2002) 289–298; id., «Dyingin Early Iron Age Thessaly», in AÚ¯·ÈÔÏÔÁÈÎfi ¤ÚÁÔ£ÂÛÛ·Ï›·˜ Î·È ™ÙÂÚÂ¿˜ EÏÏ¿‰·˜ 2, 1 (2006) 195–205.

31. Zaphiropoulou, Ph., «The Tumulus Necropolis atTsikalario on Naxos», AnnStorAnt n.s. 15–16 (2008–09)49–55; Snodgrass (n. 29) 156–157; Coldstream 92. 427.

32. Snodgrass, A. M., Early Greek Armour and Weapons(1964) 136–139; Lemos, I. S., «Homeric Reflections in Ear-ly Iron Age Elite Burials», in Alram-Stern E./Nightingale,G. (eds.), Keimelion (2007) 275–283; Whitley 4, 215–217;id., «Objects with Attitude: Biographical Facts and Falla-cies in the Study of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron AgeWarrior Graves», Cambridge Archaeological Journal 12 (2002)217–232.

33. The earliest examples were found at the cemeteriesof Kriezi St. (ArchDelt 22 B [1967] 93) and Dipylon (AM18 [1983] 104–106); Coldstream 1, 120.


ical bronze bowls were used to cover the urn34.The practice of the «killed» sword is testified inAthens since the Protogeometric period, but alsoin Euboea and the Cyclades35. In Knossos, crema-tion in urns accompanied by weapons was a fre-quent occurrence from the 11th cent. B.C.36. Inthe Argolid, three inhumation burials of the late8th cent. B.C. have been characterized as warriorburials, among them the cuirass tomb T. 45 fur-nished with bronze armour, iron axes, obeloi andfiredogs37. About the same period, in a grave excavated within the recently investigated necrop-olis at Kifissia, a sword of the Naue II type accom-panied a male inhumation, probably as an indica-tion of the social status of the deceased rather thanevidence for a warrior38.

A link between heroic status and the rite of cre-mation and the placement of the ashes in metalurns of the 8th cent. has been proposed. The man-ner in which the warriors were buried is striking-ly reminiscent of the descriptions of the burials ofsuch heroes as Patroklos and Hector in the Iliadand thus an interpretation of them as heroes hasbeen suggested39. The use of a bronze cauldron asan ash urn is well documented in Crete and spreadthrough Euboea to the West40. It seems that thiswas the socially accepted rite in order to com-memorate the life and deeds of a distinguisheddead person that not infrequently went far beyondthe domestic and private sector of the communi-ty and got a public character. Nevertheless, as O.Dickinson notes: «cremation may have high-sta-tus associations at the sites where it was adopted,but it does not seem to have been absolutely re-quired for high status burials»41.

5.2. The «Hero» of Lefkandi

One of the earliest examples of a warrior bur-ial in a «heroic manner» is the adult male crema-tion that was found beneath the large building atToumba Lefkandi dated to the early 10th cent.(fig. 4)42. The cremated remains were wrapped ina cloth and placed in a bronze amphora of Cypri-

ot origin, almost a century old. A set of ironweapons, a sword, a razor and a spearhead, weredeposited in the shaft next to the amphora. Nearthe male cremation, a woman was interred withher arms folded, hands and feet crossed. A wood-en co√n was used for the female inhumation thatwas accompanied by a quantity of jewelry includ-ing a golden heirloom pendant. An iron knife withan ivory pommel had been placed beside her head.The shaft with the human burials was lined withmudbricks and plastered with clay, while a wood-en floor and cover were also identified. The sac-rificial burial of four horses was found in a diπer-

34. Coldstream 1, 30–35. From MG II onwards drink-ing vessels such as skyphoi replaced the bronze bowls asstoppers.

35. Lemos 156 (Athens). 166 (Lefkandi); Coldstream, J.N., «Foreigners at Lefkandi», in Mazarakis Ainian (n. 8)135–139, esp. 138–139; Popham, M. R./Lemos, I. S., «AEuboean Warrior Trader», OJA 14 (1995) 151–157; Kourou,N., «Tenos-Xobourgo. From a Refuge Place to an Exten-sive Fortified Settlement», in Stamatopoulou, M./Yer-oulanou, M. (eds.), Excavating Classical Culture (2002) 261.

36. Whitley 2, 187.37. Courbin, P., BCH 81 (1957) 322–386; id., Tombes

géométriques d’Argos I (1974) 40–41; Deilaki, E., ArchDelt 26(1971) 81–82; ead., ArchDelt 28 B (1973) 99; Whitley 2,189–191.

38. Schilardi, D., «AÚ¯·ÈÔÏÔÁÈÎ¤˜ \EÚÂ˘ÓÂ˜ ÛÙ· BfiÚÂÈ·¶ÚÔ¿ÛÙÈ· ÙË˜ Aı‹Ó·˜ 1998–2003», in Vasilopoulou, V./Katsarou-Tzeveleki, S., Afi Ù· MÂÛfiÁÂÈ· ÛÙÔÓ AÚÁÔÛ·-

ÚˆÓÈÎfi, B\ E¶KA TÔ ¤ÚÁÔ ÌÈ·˜ ‰ÂÎ·ÂÙ›·˜ 1994–2003 (2009)593–612 esp. 597; id., «AÚÈÛÙÔÎÚ·ÙÈÎ¤˜ Ù·Ê¤˜ ·fi ÙÔ°ÂˆÌÂÙÚÈÎfi ÓÂÎÚÔÙ·ÊÂ›Ô ÙË˜ KËÊÈÛÈ¿˜», in Mazarakis Ainian (n. 8) 615–642.

39. Hom. Il. 23, 250–257; 24, 790–801. Antonaccio, C.M., «Lefkandi and Homer», in Andersen, O./Dickie, M.(eds.), Homer’s World: Fiction, Tradition, Reality (1995)5–27; Popham, M. R./Sackett, L. H./Touloupa, E., «TheHero of Lefkandi», Antiquity 56 (1982) 169–174; Whitley4, 216–217.

40. D’Agostino, B., «Funerary Ritual and Social Rep-resentation: Models and Perspectives», in Ancient Greece atthe Turn of the Millennium. Proceedings of the Athens Sympo-sium 2001 (2005) 187–197 esp. 190.

41. Dickinson (n. 20) 189.42. (= ThesCRA II 3 d Heroization, Apotheosis 12•

with bibl.) Popham, M. R./Calligas, P. G/Sackett, L. H.,Lefkandi II 2 (1993); Lemos 140–146. 166–168.

Fig. 3


ent shaft close to the human burials (fig. 5). A largeclay krater was placed after the burial and proba-bly served as a recipient for liquid libations. Var-ious interpretations have been suggested concern-ing the function of the building built over thetombs, which depends on the sequence of eventsfrom its construction to its abandonment and cov-ering by an earth mound.

It has been suggested in view of the presence ofthe knife and the fact that the burials were made si-multaneously, that the woman was killed in orderto be buried along with the male warrior43. Thisrite, similar to modern suttee, is mentioned byHerodotus for the Thracian kings. If this is the casethen human along with horse sacrifices were partof the funeral rites for the dead hero at Lefkandi.Sacrifice of horses is a funeral rite known in theEarly Iron Age44. Evidence for human sacrifice isfragmentary and rather ambiguous. The betterdocumented and frequently discussed case comesfrom the cemetery of Orthi Petra at Eleutherna45,where a decapitated young male, probably a slave,was found at the area of the funeral pyre A.

5.3. Archaic and Classical burials

The deposition of weapons in male graves de-clines rapidly in the early 7th cent. and disappearsat least from central Greece at that time46. Bycontrast, warrior burials continue further north.In the Late Archaic cemetery at Sindos male war-riors were interred along with their weapons andarms. Golden masks were occasionally placed onthe face of the deceased, a custom that can notbe associated exclusively with men but also withrich female interments (pl. 39, 3)47. Rich burialsof the mid-7th and 6th cent. B.C. were alsofound at Iolkos and Krannon, where urn-crema-tions were placed inside the chamber tombs. Anumber of oπensive and also defensive weaponsand armour accompanied the burials, among oth-er rich oπerings48. Among the «warrior graves»found at Derveni, just north of Thessaloniki,tomb B is known for the elaborate bronze volutekrater, used as the cinerary urn for the crematedremains of a middle-aged man and a youngerwoman49. A group of warrior burials has beenfound at Aigai dating to the 6th cent. B.C. Thedead warriors were cremated and furnished witha number of oπerings and weapons. In one casea bronze cauldron contained the cremated re-mains wrapped in a cloth, while the «killed»sword of another warrior was found around thecinerary urn50.

43. Hughes, D. D., Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece.The Literary and Archaeological Evidence (1989) 45–47; Lemos167.

44. Kosmetatou, E., «Horse Sacrifices in Greece andCyprus», JPR 7 (1993) 31–41. For 7th cent. B.C. horse buri-als from Crete, cf. Morris 6, 61; Rizza, G., «Tombes dechevaux», in The Relations between Cyprus and Crete, ca.2000–500 BC (1973) 294–301.

45. (= ThesCRA I 2 Sacrifices, Gr. 614) Stampolidis 1,289–308; id., Antipoina, ‘Reprisals’. Contribution to the Studyof Customs of the Geometric-Archaic Period (1996) 164–200.

46. Morris 6, 19. 22. 54–55. 57 (Western Greece).47. Vokotopoulou, I., et al., ™›Ó‰Ô˜. K·Ù¿ÏÔÁÔ˜ ÙË˜

¤ÎıÂÛË˜ (1985) 80–81. 86–103. 120–127. 152–173.48. Morris 6, 37–39. 50.49. Yiouri, E., O ÎÚ·Ù‹Ú·˜ ÙÔ˘ ¢ÂÚ‚ÂÓ›Ô˘ (1978); Mus-

grave, J. H., «The Cremated Remains from Tombs II andIII at Nea Mihaniona and Tomb Beta at Derveni», BSA 85(1990) 301–325; Themelis, P. G./Touratsoglou, J. P., OÈT¿ÊÔÈ ÙÔ˘ ¢ÂÚ‚ÂÓ›Ô˘ (1997); Barr-Sharrar, B., The DerveniKrater (2008).

50. Kottaridi 1, 359–361.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5


6. After the burial

The rites performed on behalf of the dead fol-lowing the interment are generally referred to ascult of the dead and varied widely both in originand in actual ritual. Ceremonies were intended ascommemorative actions by the family of the de-ceased after the burial, or to retain the memory ofthe dead as an ancestor or a hero, although the rit-uals performed are often di√cult to discern.

Ceremonies at the grave were practised on cer-tain days after the funeral. On the third day (ÙaÙÚ›Ù·), the ninth (Ùa öÓ·Ù·) and a year after (ÙaâÙ‹ÛÈ·), when additional oπerings were made bythe relatives to honour the recently deceased. Pe-riodic oπerings were also made on special occa-sions, while visits to the tombs were fairly fre-quent judging by the very fact that laws had to beenacted in later periods. The family performedrites on the anniversary of the death, at the graveand at home, and participated in the most impor-tant annual public festival for the dead, the Gene-sia51. Ceremonies of purification were intended topurify the relatives and the house after the burial,as it was believed that death and accordingly thecorpse caused pollution for the living52.

Cult activities are expressed in an archaeologi-cal context by the deposition of oπerings as a rit-ual action. Liquid oπerings, namely wine and oil,were made on the grave or were directed inside

the grave through a libation vessel by a hole pierc-ing the bottom53. Burnt deposits also occur54. Insome cases ritual activities on contemporary struc-tures can go beyond the private and domesticsphere and take a communal or public character.In these cases the distinguished status of the de-ceased is considered to function as the motive forsuch activities.

At the site of Skala Oropou a group of stonestructures over the partly destroyed oval house IAare dated to the early 7th cent. and were associat-ed with the cult of a local hero. The oπerings andcult utensils included a pedestalled clay lamp,probably for ceremonial use, terracotta horsefigurines and a terracotta boat model. The assem-blage has been interpreted by the excavator as thecenotaph of a distinguished man who received ex-ceptional honours55.

The most important piece of evidence for thepreparation and visit to the tomb are the whiteground lekythoi, the production of which begins inthe decade 470 to 460 B.C. Men and usuallywomen are shown visiting the tomb bringing a variety of grave goods (fig. 6). Oπerings weretransported in a wide shallow basket (kaneon orkaniskion), where wreaths, ribbons, lekythoi andfood, mainly fruits, are shown arranged in the in-terior56. In addition to food and drink, some of thegifts were intended to decorate or simply deposit-ed at the tomb.

51. Alexiou, M., The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition(1974) 7–10; Garland 1, 38–47; Johnston 39–43; Burkert,GrRel (Engl.) 192–193.

52. Garland 1, 43–47; Houby-Nielsen 5, 238–239;Shapiro 634–635; Parker, Miasma 33–39.

53. Kurtz/Boardman 200; Bohen 45; Wells, B., AsineII. Results of the Excavations East of the Acropolis 1970–1974.The Protogeometric Period (1983) 24; Rethemiotakis G./Egglezou, M./Kritzas Ch., TÔ °ÂˆÌÂÙÚÈÎfi NÂÎÚÔÙ· ÊÂ›ÔÙË˜ \EÏÙ˘Ó·˜ (2010) 80–82. 205. For the custom of anoint-ing the grave monument, cf. Hägg, R., «A Scene of Fu-nerary Cult from Argos», in Hägg, Iconography 169–176.

54. Hägg, R., «Gifts to Heroes in Geometric and Ar-chaic Greece», in Linders, T./Nordquist, G. (eds.), Gifts tothe Gods, Boreas 15 (1987) 93–99.

55. (= ThesCRA II 3 d Heroization, Apotheosis 11•with bibl.) Mazarakis Ainian, A., in Stamatopoulou,M./Yeroulanou, M. (eds.), Excavating Classical Culture(2002) 161–164 fig. 8.

56. Garland 1, 104–120; Oakley 203–209. 214; Sourvi-nou-Inwood 2, 324–327; Shapiro 649–655.

Fig. 6


7. The cult of the dead in Early Greece

Ritual activities as expressions of veneration ofthe dead ancestors or the heroized dead present lo-cal variation and are linked in most cases to an old-er grave, where cult is carried out. Tomb cult is atype of ancestor cult, which by returning toBronze Age tombs «creates ancestors by the adop-tion of ancient dead unrelated by linear descentand unacknowledged for centuries»57. The term isemployed to diπerentiate the rituals performed at

the tomb from hero cult at formal shrines. Depo-sitions of later material at Bronze Age tombs in-dicate cult activities carried out either by a singlevisit to the tomb during the 8th cent. B.C. or dur-ing a longer period, from the Late Geometric tothe Classical period. Cult in relation to BronzeAge tombs seems to appear in areas where burialcustoms changed radically during the Early IronAge58 and has been extensively discussed in rela-tion to social changes and the formation of earlystates59. The cult of the dead may rarely be relat-ed to eponymous heroes from the epics and themythic cycles. At Eleusis, an enclosure of the Geo-metric period was constructed to surround a groupof seven Bronze Age cist graves. A rather appeal-ing suggestion identified the group of graves witha «Heroon of the Seven against Thebes»60.

Excavations at Grotta and Mitropolis on Nax-os revealed the successive stages of ancestral cultincluding pyres and the use of an heirloom hydriaas the grave marker of a Protogeometric tomb61.In the Geometric period platforms were made ofstones and pebbles, which were used for libationsand other rituals addressed to the ancestors buriedbelow. The cult continued at least to the end ofthe 6th cent. B.C. around a low mound of mudbricks which covered the funerary enclosures inthe Late Geometric period. Similar forms of an-cestral cult consisting of libations and other ritualsincluding funerary meals on pebble platforms havealso been found at Tsikalario on Naxos and atXombourgo on Tenos (pl. 39, 4), in Euboea, inthe Peloponnese62.

Warrior graves could also become the focus ofcult activities. Among the seventeen burials of thesmall necropolis by the West Gate of Eretria, atleast seven were secondary cremations (fig. 7, pl.39, 5)63. The cremated remains had been gatheredin a cloth and placed in bronze cauldrons whichwere then positioned in stone boxes formed by

57. Antonaccio 1, 400; Snodgrass 1, 107–108; id. 2;Mazarakis Ainian, A., «Reflections on Hero Cults in Ear-ly Iron Age Greece», in Hägg, AGHC 9–36; id., ThesCRAII 3 d Heroization, Apotheosis II.B.1.

58. Coldstream 2, 8–17.59. Whitley 1, 173–182; Snodgrass, A. M., Archaic

Greece. The Age of Experiment (1980) 38–40; Polignac, Nais-sance 127–151; Antonaccio 2; ead., «The Archaeology of Ancestors», in Dougherty, C./Kurke, L. (eds.), Cultural Po-etics in Archaic Greece. Cult, Performance, Politics (1993) 46–70.

60. (= ThesCRA II 3 d Heroization, Apotheosis 4• withbibl.) Mylonas, G., Prakt 108 (1953) 81.

61. (= ThesCRA II 3 d Heroization, Apotheosis 14•)Lambrinoudakis, V., «Veneration of Ancestors in Geomet-ric Naxos», in Hägg/Marinatos, EarlyGCP 235–246; id.,«Die Rolle der heroischen Vergangenheit bei der Entwick-lung der griechischen Städte», in Agathos Daimon. Mél.Kahil 299–310.

62. Zaphiropoulou, Ph., «La necropoli geometrica diTsikalario a Naxos», Magna Grecia 18, 5–6 (1983) 1–4; ead.(n. 31) 49–55; Kourou, N., «Tenos-Xobourgo. From aRefuge Place to an Extensive Fortified Settlement», inStamatopoulou, M./Yeroulanou, M. (eds.), Excavating

Classical Culture (2002) 258–262; ead., «The Dawn of Im-ages and Cultural Identity: The Case of Tenos», in Albadella citta, alba delle immagini?, Tripodes 7 (2008) 63–90; Sa-pouna-Sakellaraki, E., «Geometric Kyme. The Excavationat Viglatouri, Kyme, on Euboea», in Bats, M./d’Agosti-no, B. (eds.), Euboica. L’Eubea e la presenza euboica in Cal-cidica e in Occidente (1998) 69–70. 85–86; Hägg, R., «Funer-ary Meals in the Geometric Necropolis at Asine?», in id.(ed.), The Greek Renaissance of the Eighth Century BC. Tra-dition and Innovation (1983) 189–194.

63. (= ThesCRA II 3 d Heroization, Apotheosis 13•with bibl.) Bérard, Cl., L’hérôon à la porte de l’ouest, EretriaIII (1970); id., «Récupérer la mort du prince. Héroïsationet formation de la cité», in Gnoli/Vernant 89–106;Crielaard 45–47; Bettelli, M., «A Supposed MycenaeanSpearhead from Eretria», SMEA 43 (2001) 189–193;Blandin 40–58 pls. 55–112; Schweizer, B., «Fürstengräber –Heroengräber: Zwei Modi der Distinktion im archaischenGriechenland und Italien», in Kümmel, Chr./Schweizer,B./Veit, U. (eds.), Körperinszenierung – Objektsammlung –Monumentalisierung. Totenritual und Grabkult in frühen Ge-sellschaften: archäologische Quellen in kulturwissenschaftlicherPerspektive (2008) 233–270.

Fig. 7


stone slabs. Oπensive weapons such as iron spear-heads and swords constitute the oπerings of fourof those cremations which were identified as malesaccording to anthropological analysis. The centralcauldron of tomb 6 which is considered also to bethe earliest was furnished with Phoenician doublescarab of serpentine and a total of ten weapons, including a bronze spearhead that was originallyinterpreted as the scepter of the dead «prince».Around 680 B.C. a triangular structure was erect-ed over the tombs, where cultic rituals were tak-ing place for over a century according to the vo-tive oπerings from the interior of the triangleconstruction and the bothros found nearby64. Theburials of the necropolis by the West Gate havebeen attributed to a privileged genos, while thedead warriors are usually connected with theLelantine war. The cult of the heroized warriorswas integrated within the framework of the cultsof the polis and is directly related to the rise of thepolis.

A diπerent form of heroized warriors’ cult wasidentified at Paroikia on Paros (pl. 40, 3). A com-munal burial there contained forty cremation am-phorae inside a rectangular trench with stonedpaving. The neck-handled amphorae contained theburnt bones of young men, aged around 30 yearsold, which had been cleaned from the ashes andperhaps washed before their placement inside thevases. A second pit was also discovered in the samearea containing 120 amphorae arranged in two suc-cessive rows, most of them bearing the burnt re-mains of young males. In the 7th cent. B.C. thepolyandrion was marked by a huge marble stele andfor at least two centuries oπerings and sacrificestook place in honour of the dead65.

8. Burial practices in Archaic Athens

Primary cremations, in which the deceased wascremated inside the grave, predominate after 700B.C. The best evidence for the adult graves of the7th cent. comes from the Kerameikos cemetery,where the large scale excavations and detailed pub-lication oπer a constant reference for most schol-ars66. The funeral pyres were built inside the graveshaft which attains larger dimensions than in theearlier periods (fig. 8). After the cremation wascompleted, human remains were left at the bot-tom of the shaft which was then filled with earth.

The deposition of burial gifts inside the grave is farless common during this period. Oπerings wereusually placed on perishable constructions in theoπering channels or areas close to the grave dur-ing the cremation. At the end of the 7th cent. cre-mation ceased to be the norm for adult burials.Oπering channels became rare and oπerings wereonce more placed inside the grave, consisting al-most exclusively of pottery.

Earth mounds were raised directly over crema-tion and inhumation graves, either to cover singlegraves or groups of burials. Whether we can iden-tify family or social groups in the case of veryclosely situated or even superimposed earth tumuliand built tombs, remains uncertain. In only a fewcases can this be established on solid arguments,while it seems that social relations were muchmore taken into account during the 7th and early6th cent. B.C.67.

The diameter of the round mounds reachesusually 4 to 6 m and a height of 50 cm, whilethe large reach 6 to 10 m in diameter and 1 min height. Rectangular mounds of generallysmaller size were also in use from the early 7thcent., with flat roof and sloping walls68. Aroundthe end of the 7th cent., built tombs with ver-tical brick walls and a probably flat roof withsloping sides were introduced in the cemetery ofKerameikos, perhaps as an answer to the limit-ed space left from the construction of the largeearth mounds of the earlier period. Built tombsstood over the earth fill that covered a singlegrave69.

64. Descoeudres, J.-P., «Die vorklassische Keramik ausdem Gebiet des Westtors», in Eretria V (1976) 13–58.

65. (= ThesCRA II 3 d Heroization, Apotheosis 15) Za-pheiropoulou, Ph., «I due polyandria dell’antica necropolidi Paros», AION n.s. 6 (1999) 13–24; ead., «K·‡ÛÂÈ˜ ÛÙÈ˜°ÂˆÌÂÙÚÈÎ¤˜ K˘ÎÏ¿‰Â˜. OÈ ÂÚÈÙÒÛÂÈ˜ ÙË˜ ¶¿ÚÔ˘ Î·ÈÙË˜ N¿ÍÔ˘», in Stampolidis 2, 295–297; ead., «GeometricBattle Scenes on Vases from Paros», in Rystedt, E./Wells,B. (eds.), Pictorial Pursuits. Figurative Painting on Mycenaeanand Geometric Pottery (2006) 271–277.

66. Kübler 2, 87–92; Morris 3, 128–137; Kurtz/Board-man 68–90; Houby-Nielsen 1, 345–346 table 2; Houby-Nielsen 2, 129–191.

67. Kübler 2, 16; Humphreys 106–108; Houby-Nielsen2, 144–146. 153–156; Morris 1, 90; Alexandridou, A., TheEarly Black-Figured Pottery of Attica in Context (c. 630–570BCE) (2011) 210–211.

68. Kurtz/Boardman 81.69. Kurtz/Boardman 81–83; Boardman 1, 52.

Fig. 8


The «mound G»70 was erected some time be-fore the middle of the 7th cent. in the cemetery ofKerameikos and the «South Mound»71 was raisedaround 540 B.C. Both mounds attain extremelylarge dimensions and were raised over large pri-mary burials in deep shaft graves. Few oπeringswere placed inside the shaft around the body, con-sisting mainly of oil containers. A number of ivory

fragments were found inside the shafts, apparent-ly from the exterior decoration of the funeral kli-nai, used probably for the prothesis of the deceasedand then buried with him.

A number of mounds have been detected in theAttic countryside, at Anavyssos, Vari, Velanideza,Petreza72 and most recently at Oropos73. After thePersian Wars, archaeological evidence in Attica issignificantly restricted, although a few Classicalmounds have also been excavated, presumably un-dermining the uniform simplicity of the contem-porary burial rites74.

9. Archaic funerary rituals:the «Opferrinnen» ceremony

Although the deposition of gifts inside thegrave had been the normal practice during theearlier periods, a significant change is observed inProtoattic burials. The appearance of long oπer-ing trenches and special areas close to the gravecan be traced towards the end of the Late Geo-metric period75, while they appear for burials inthe 7th and early 6th cent. only in Athens andAttica. Oπerings in clay and perhaps also smallanimals were placed on table-like structures thatstood in shallow trenches («Opferrinnen»), be-tween 3 and 12m long and 1m wide for carryingand displaying the objects (fig. 9). Rows of mud-bricks limited the sides of the trenches and oftena row of mud-bricks ran lengthwise in the mid-dle. After the inhumation or cremation of thebody was completed, the oπering trenches werecovered, probably simultaneously with the grave,and never used again76.

The oπerings in the trenches consisted of elab-orate vases which could have been used for diningand feasting or clay vessels and funerary votives ofcultic character, such as clay cauldrons with clayattachments and occasionally impressive thymiate-ria in the form of a sphinx, which were meant torecall the activities and lifestyle led by the de-ceased77. The oπerings were placed in the trench-es while the grave was still open and covered with

70. Kübler 3, nos. 2–12, 5–16, 207–218; Knigge, U.,The Athenian Kerameikos (1991) 105–107. On attributionsand connections of mound G to Solon or the Alkmaionidkinship, cf. Kübler, K., «Eine archaische Grabanlage vondem Heiligen Tor und ihre Deutung», AA (1973) 172–193;Stahl, M., Aristokraten und Tyrannen im archaischen Athen.Untersuchungen zur Überlieferung, zur Sozialstruktur und zurEntstehung des Staates (1987) 138–197. 230–231; Houby-Nielsen 2, 156–163; Knigge, U., «Ein Grabmonument derAlkmeoniden im Kerameikos», AM 121 (2006) 127–163.

71. Knigge, U., Kerameikos IX. Der Südhügel (1976).72. Humphreys 105–112; Whitley 3, 222–227; Houby-

Nielsen 2, 153–163; Houby-Nielsen 3, 44–46, especially n. 16.73. Mazarakis Ainian, A., Prakt (1996) 85–88.74. Morris 3, 132–133 n. 5; id., «Everyman’s Grave», in

Boegehold, A. L./Scafuro, A. C. (eds.), Athenian Identityand Civic Ideology (1994) 67–101.

75. Kerameikos: Opferinnen 1–2, Grab 51. Agora: PyreXII. Kübler 1, tables 132–138. Young, R. S., Late Geomet-ric Graves and a Seventh Century Well in the Agora, HesperiaSuppl. 2 (1939) 55–67; Houby-Nielsen 3, 46 n. 17.

76. Houby-Nielsen 1, 343–374; Houby-Nielsen 2,129–192; Houby-Nielsen 3, 41–54; Kistler 31–77. 147–171;d’Onofrio 3, 143–171. For the oπering trenches from Atti-ca cf. Houby-Nielsen 3, 45–46 n. 16; Kurtz/Boardman 75.

77. Kübler 3, 453–454 pls. 32–35; 461–464 pls. 43–45(Anlage XI. Opferrinne Á); Houby-Nielsen 1, 354–357;Houby-Nielsen 3, 42–48; Sabetai 301. On the productionand use of Protoattic pottery in relation to Athenian no-bles, cf. Whitley, J., «Protoattic Pottery. A ContextualAnalysis», in Morris, I. (ed.), Classical Greece. Ancient His-tories and Modern Archaeologies (1994) 51–70; Rotroπ, S. I.,BMCR 6.2 (1995) 221–228.

Fig. 9


earth along with the grave. The sacrificial pyres inthe trenches involved the presentation, but not thepreservation of the highly decorated vases and oth-er clay objects, as the ceremony involved their rit-ualised destruction. Oπerings were probably de-posited on the wooden constructions over thelength of the trench, which under the eπect of thefire collapsed with them. The vessels were thussmashed and burnt in the fire and finally sweptoutside the grave into the Opferinnen. The sameritual can be traced again (sporadically) in the LateArchaic and Late Classical periods, when pitscould replace the long mud-brick trenches78.

It becomes evident that in the 7th and early 6thcent. funerals and burial rites remain the mainmedium of competitive display among thewealthy landowners of Athens as well as those ofthe periphery. By the end of the 7th cent. oπer-ing trenches in relation to cremation burials be-neath mounds of earth can be found at Vourva(Spata)79 in the eastern part of Attica and Vari inthe southern part80. Adult cremations, usuallythose of males, and the practice of cremation be-neath tumuli, are interpreted as a deliberate evo-cation of «heroic» burial practices which is themanner in which the warrior heroes of the Iliadwere interred81. The elaborate oπerings from thetrenches have been associated with the aristocraticstatus of the deceased. The disposition of the oπer-ings in special areas outside but close to the graveas ritual behaviour towards the dead, may not substantially diπer from the ritual oπering of giftsto the gods and the heroes82.

Oπering trenches became rare from 600 B.C.onwards and even rarer around the middle of the6th cent. in Kerameikos83, a period that coincidesin Athens with Solon and his reforms84. Neverthe-less, wealthy families of the second half of the 6thcent., apparently unaπected by sumptuary legisla-tion, set up beautiful and expensive monuments totheir dead in family grave plots, especially when

these were men who, like most epic heroes, diedprematurely and/or in battle85.

10. Burials of the Classical period

Burial practices of the Classical period demon-strate a certain degree of uniformity, in compari-son to previous periods86. The cemeteries are sit-uated outside the city’s walls and inhumationappears as the usual method of burial. Cremationsare still found among the inhumations, althoughin smaller numbers than in the Archaic period87.Simple rectangular shafts dug in the ground or avariety of cist graves were in use, along with clayand stone sarcophagi. Clay roof tiles could be usedas lids for cist graves and sarcophagi, and from theLate Archaic period they were used for the con-struction of the whole grave, usually of triangularshape88. Cremations in bronze cauldrons continueto be found in the 5th and 4th cent. B.C. The cre-mated remains were usually gathered in a clothand put inside the cauldron which was then placedin stone cists, recalling parallels to «Homeric» bur-ial rituals89.

From around the end of the Archaic periodlekythoi constitute the most common type of giftto the dead90, an oil container used according tothe custom for anointing the deceased, or placedaround his bedside during the prothesis in order tominimize pollution. The arrangement of these vases inside the graves is believed to imitate theirarrangement during the prothesis91. It has been sug-gested that pots deposited inside the graves wereespecially chosen to suit the circumstances of a particular man or woman92. Occasionally metalobjects such as mirrors, strigils or rings accompa-ny the burial93.

After 460 B.C. white-ground vessels, particu-larly lekythoi, are placed as grave oπerings. Thedistinctive iconography of those vessels refers to

78. Houby-Nielsen 3, 46–51; Sabetai 298.79. Stais, V., «O T‡Ì‚Ô˜ ÂÓ BÔ˘Ú‚¿», AM 15 (1890)

318–329.80. Humphreys 108–110; Stears 46; Alexandridou, A.-

F., «Oπering Trenches and Funerary Ceremonies in theAttic Countryside», ActaHyp 12 (2009) 497–522.

81. Garland, R. S. J., «Geras Thanonton: An Investi-gation into the Claims of Homeric Dead», BICS 29 (1982)69–80 esp. 73–74;Whitley 4, 230; Houby-Nielsen 1; ead. 2;ead. 3.

82. Hägg (n. 53); Snodgrass, A., Archaic Greece. The Ageof Experiment (1980) 38–40. 49–65; Houby-Nielsen 3, 51–54.

83. Kübler 2, 87; id., 4, 187–188.84. Shapiro 630–631; Pomeroy 100–105; Blok, J. H./

Lardinois, A. P. M. H. (eds.), Solon of Athens. New Histor-ical and Philological Approaches (2006).

85. Shapiro 644.86. For a detailed treatment of the Archaic burials, cf.

Morris 6, 1–91.87. Variations of the funerary practices can be found on

Thera, Eretria etc. Kurtz/Boardman 195–199; Schörner,H., Sepulturae graecae intra urbem: Untersuchungen zum Phä-

nomen der intraurbanen Bestattungen bei den Griechen (2007).Intramural burials are extremely rare except for the cases ofSparta and Taras, the Spartan colony in southern Italy. In-tramural burial was customary in Archaic and ClassicalSparta and is to be found even close to temples.

88. Kurtz/Boardman 188–194; Drakotou-Tsirigoti, I./Chatzipouliou, E., ArchDelt 47 B 1 (1992) 22–23.

89. Guggisberg, M. A., «Gräber von Bürgern und He-roen: ‘Homerische’ Bestattungen im klassischen Athen», inKümmel/Schweizer/Veit (n. 63) 287–317 (with detailed catalogue of the burials from the Geometric to Classical periods).

90. Houby-Nielsen 1, table 8.91. Knigge (n. 71) 15; Kurtz/Boardman 207–209; Hou-

by-Nielsen 5, 239–240.92. Sourvinou-Inwood 2, 303–361; Osborne, R.,

«Death Revisited, Death Revised: The Death of the Artistin Archaic and Classical Greece», Art History 11 (1988) 1–16;Burn, L., «Honey Pots: Three White-ground Cups by theSotades Painter», AntK 28 (1985) 93–105.

93. Houby-Nielsen 6, 245–246.


scenes of mourning, preparing for a visit to thetomb or commemorating the deceased, limited tothe closest family members, but also themes asso-ciated with the beliefs in an afterlife with Hermesas Psychopompos, escorting the dead to Hades. Thequite limited range of imagery of white lekythoi isassociated with their use as grave oπerings for pri-vate but also public burials94. Nonetheless, themesdepicted on white lekythoi and mainly domesticsubjects, the presence of women either as mourn-ers or as the deceased, anticipate the production ofthe Classical gravestones95.

11. Classical family periboloi

Evidence for family plots exists already in the10th cent. and continues throughout the Geomet-ric period96. However, an emphasis on familygroupings in Athens and elsewhere during the 7thcent. B.C. has been strongly challenged97, infavour of the political and public role of the de-ceased. It is since the last quarter of 5th cent. B.C.that family plots, sometimes in use for several gen-erations, were enclosed by a peribolos wall, whereelaborate series of grave monuments were usuallyerected.

The peribolos, a well-constructed tall façadewall, supported the earth of the burial ground en-closed, while the elaborate front side served as the

focal point for the visual display directed to thepasserby. A variety of sculpted monuments wereplaced along the peribolos wall, such as inscribedrosette stelai, figural naiskoi, stone lekythoi and onoccasion large clay vases (e.g. fig. 10: temenos ofHierokleos at Rhamnus). When inscriptions sur-vive, they demonstrate a clear familial relationshipbetween those commemorated in the plot98.

Large and extensive family groupings are rare.Usually tomb enclosures were made to includefrom 2–3 up to 10 graves. Nevertheless, it isdi√cult to be precise about the proportion ofgraves within 4th cent. monuments, since in manycases the excavation data are incomplete or stillmissing. Few periboloi were in use for several gen-erations. The construction and use of such monu-ments, although wider during the 4th cent., wouldstill be associated with only a relatively smallgroup of people which Morris estimates as around10% of the population99. The majority of theAthenian graves would have had a simple inscribedstele, as indicated by the number of such stelai thathave been found, usually out of context.

The peribolos tomb was not the only classicaltomb structure that included multiple graves. Al-though Classical earth mounds have been excavat-ed, their function in relation to family burials hasbeen strongly debated100. Peribolos tombs are foundboth in urban and rural locations. They were setup individually, perhaps on private property, or

94. Shapiro 648–649; Oakley 215–216.95. Humphreys 112–121; Shapiro 648–649. 653–654. On

the date of the Classical marble stelai, cf. Clairmont, C. W.,«Some Reflections on the Earliest Classical Attic Grave-stones», Boreas 9 (1986) 27–50; Garland 2, 3–7; Stears 53;Leader, R. E., «In Death Not Divided: Gender, Family,and State on Classical Athenian Grave Stelae», AJA 101(1997) 683–699.

96. Smithson, E. L., «The Protogeometric Cemetery atNea Ionia», Hesperia 30 (1961) 147–178; Young (n. 75);

Brann, E., «Late Geometric Grave Groups from the Athen-ian Agora», Hesperia 29 (1960) 402–416.

97. Morris 2, 314–315; Humphreys 122–123; Houby-Nielsen 2, 152–163. For a discussion on the use of familyplots for several generations, cf. Whitley 1, 67; Morris 1, 90.

98. Stears 41–42; Closterman 2, 56–58; Garland, R., «AFirst Catalogue of Attic Peribolos Tombs», BSA 77 (1982)125–176; Sabetai 302–303.

99. Morris 3, 135–138.100. Houby-Nielsen 2; Closterman 2, 61.

Fig. 10


grouped within cemeteries. The most commoncharacteristic was their location along major roads,thus serving the accessibility of the family and vis-ibility to others. The markers of the façade devel-oped gradually, while names of the deceased couldalso be added to already existing markers101. Bothinhumations and cremations are associated withperibolos tombs.

12. Communal burials of the Classicalperiod

12.1. State burials

Funerals at public expense (‰ËÌÔÛ›0) were agreat honour, reserved in Classical Athens for thewar dead who were treated in this way as heroes102.According to Thucydides (2, 34), patrios nomos re-quired the war dead to be transferred to Athensand buried collectively on a certain day each year.Honorific burial at public expense was not limit-ed to members of the Athenian demos but was al-so given exceptionally to foreigners who died inAthens103.

From 460 B.C. onwards the war dead werebrought back to Athens, in order to be buried ina reserved area, the demosion sema. Public gravemonuments were erected there in the 5th and 4thcent. along the road that led from the DipylonGate to the Academy. Details concerning the pub-lic funerals are only summarily described byThucydides; the bones of the deceased were laidout in a public space, where oπerings werebrought by each family. On the third day thebones were carried on wagons to the cemetery andwere buried in the public tomb. Women and chil-dren were probably not meant to participate andwomen were allowed as mourners at the grave.The tombs were modest, marked by simple stoneslabs giving only their names, arranged by tribe,the so-called casualty lists104. Public funeral gameswere instituted and a funeral speech, the epitaphioslogos, was intended to honour and commemoratethe war dead.

At least four communal burials (polyandria)were investigated recently in the area north ofKerameikos and have been identified as part of thedemosion sema, once located near the ancient streetthat led from the Dipylon Gate to the Acade-

my105. The cremated remains of at least 200 to 250young males have been identified. A number ofred-figure loutrophoroi decorated with battle sceneswere presented to the young warriors who haddied unmarried. Many polychrome white lekythoiwere also deposited among the grave oπerings inthe same way as they were deposited in privateburials. The evidence from the unburnt pottery,as opposed to the cremated human remains, seemsto reflect the Athenian custom of cremating thewar dead abroad and bringing their ashes toAthens to receive a proper burial.

Communal burials (polyandria) are attestedfrom the end of the 6th cent. B.C. in Athens andelsewhere. One communal tomb stands out fromthe rest not only because of its date in the early5th cent., but also as it is a public funerary mon-ument. The tumulus at Marathon, the so-calledsoros, identified as the burial site of the 192 Athe-nians who fell at the battle of Marathon (fig.11)106, echoes as to its form and oπering trenches,elements of the Archaic aristocratic burials. Thedead were cremated and oπerings were placed ina long clay-lined trench, consisting primarly oflekythoi. Cremation burial beneath a tumulus, as in

101. Closterman 1, 292–296.102. Thuk. 2, 34–46; Stupperich, R., «The Iconogra-

phy of the Athenian State Burials in the Classical Period»,in Coulson, W. D. E./Palagia, O., et al. (eds.), The Ar-chaeology of Athens and Attica under the Democracy (1994)93–103.

103. Loraux, N., The Children of Athena (1993) 20–24.37–71; Clairmont; Patterson 21–31.

104. Thuk. 2, 34, 1–8; Clairmont 7–15. 46–59;Humphreys 123; Shapiro 646–647.

105. Rose, M., «Fallen Heroes», Archaeology 53, 2 (2000)42–45; Oakley 215–216; for a recent discussion on the demo-

sion sema with a detailed treatment of the evidence, cf. Ar-rington.

106. Stais, V., «^O âÓ M·Ú·ıáÓÈ T‡Ì‚Ô˜», AM 18 (1893)46–63; Whitley 2. Mersch, A., «Archäologischer Kom-mentar zu den Gräbern der Athener und Plataier in derMarathonia», Klio 77 (1995) 55–64; Goette, H. R./WeberTh. M., Marathon: Siedlungskammer und Schlachtfeld – Som-merfrische und olympische Wettkampfstätte (2004) 79–83; Hsu,C.-L., «The Mounds associated with the Battle ofMarathon in 490 BC and the Dating of Greek Pottery», inKurtz, D. (ed.), Essays in Classical Archaeology for EleniHatzivassiliou (2008) 165–169.

Fig. 11


the aristocratic burials of the 7th cent., has beentaken as a deliberate allusion to the manner inwhich heroes were buried in the Iliad. This polit-ical monument, as Whitley stresses, is an exampleof public commemoration of the dead warriorswho received heroic funeral honours from thestate107.

12.2. Mass burials

Mass burials of the 5th cent. are known fromAttica, Central and Northern Greece108, but onlya few may be related to extreme circumstances. Animpressive mass burial dated around 430 B.C. orwithin the next decade may be associated with theevents of the first years of the Peloponnesian warand the plague (loimos), the disease that erupted inAthens suddenly109. A simple pit 6.50 m long and1.60 m deep that contained the inhumation of 150adults and children was found to the west of theexcavated part of the Kerameikos cemetery (fig.12). The hasty and impious way of inhumationand the absence of proper funerary rites are relat-ed by the excavators to the turmoil caused by thespread of the disease. Only a few oπerings werefound, establishing thus a secure date for the buri-als. Children, in contrast with the careless burialof the adults, were treated with some care as theirbodies were covered by sherds of large vases. Ac-cording to recent excavations in Athens, it seems

that new cemeteries appeared in the last quarter ofthe 5th cent., probably because of the outburst andspread of the plague.

13. Marking the tombs

13.1. Semata of the Early Iron Age

The chosen few were not simply buried butcommemorated with imposing funerary monu-ments. After the burial, a grave marker was oftenset up. The practice of using large vases as gravemarkers goes back to at least 900 B.C. at Athens(fig. 13: Kerameikos). At the beginning of the LateGeometric period kraters and amphorae of monu-mental dimensions were specially commissionedby the Athenian nobles to mark the graves of theirkin: amphorae were destined for women of highrank, while pedestalled kraters were the monu-ments for men110. Stone markers did not get a for-mal shape before the mid-7th cent. B.C.

The practice of pouring oπerings into thegraves and the heightened visibility of the place ofburial is related to a change in the burial ritual andthe social function of certain large ceramic vases111.Class identity and social beliefs were rea√rmedthrough the rituals of death which can be recon-structed from the lavish ceremonies and funeralprocessions depicted on the pottery.

107. Whitley 2, 226–230. For state burials in connectionwith heroic burials and honours, cf. Humphreys 123; Lo-raux, N., in Gnoli/Vernant 27–43. Contra, cf. Morris 3, 144.

108. Kurtz/Boardman 108. 247–259.109. Baziotopoulou-Valavani, E., «A Mass Burial from

the Cemetery of Kerameikos», in Stamatopoulou, M./Yer-oulanou, M. (eds.), Excavating Classical Culture (2002) 187–201.

110. Bohen 48–50; Kurtz/Boardman 38.111. Whitley 1, 117.

Fig. 12


13.2. The Archaic grave markers

Monumental markers of various forms appearat the end of the 7th cent. B.C. as alternatives toceramic vases112 which were placed on top of buri-als and burial monuments. Unlike the case of geo-metric markers, a tendency to frontal accentuationis now evident, a characteristic element of the fu-nerary art of both Archaic and Classical periods.Wealthy graves were marked by stone shaft-stelaiand sculptures, marble lions and sphinxes113.

Kouroi and korai marked the graves of thewealthy elite and are considered as commemorativein nature114. A number of statues are known fromAthens and the Attic countryside, but also from theislands and most recently Corinth. Statues of nudeyouths placed over the tombs of men seem to cre-ate a heroic allusion to the deceased, associated withheroes celebrated in the epics. The inscription onthe base of Kroisos from Anavyssos informs us thathe died in battle. Men in military garb and nudeyouths are commemorated on relief stelai accompa-nied by inscriptions that varied from a singlename to short epigrams115. Women also received exceptional funerary monuments like Phrasikleiawho died unmarried, according to her epigram, deprived of her nuptial rites because of her prema-ture death and thus attained a special status.

Long slabs with the name of the dead vertical-ly inscribed were used during the 7th cent. atThera and elsewhere. In the cemeteries of Therathere is also evidence for inscribed stone tablesand blocks116. The Archaic grave stelai from EastGreece carried no decoration until the later 6thcent., some time before the end of the Attic series.This transition is usually associated with the activ-ity of artists from Attica117.

13.3. Classical grave stelai

The disappearance of the Archaic funerarymonuments around 480 B.C. has been associated

with the presumed legislation under Kleisthenes orThemistokles, with the latter being more favouredby scholars118. In addition, the war dead were the«o√cial heroes» of the democracy and privateburials could not outshine them119. Outside Atti-ca, decline in funerary art may be noticed in var-ious regions; there is an end to the series of greattumuli at Vergina and a few years later to thechamber tombs on Aigina. The series of Thessaliangrave stelai flourishes just when the Athenian se-ries becomes rare120.

The earliest gravestones in the Classical style ap-pear after the middle of the 5th cent.121 and diπerfrom their Archaic predecessors both in form andin the way that they commemorate their subjects.The deceased is depicted as a member of the fami-ly group, a selection in accordance with the focuson family life and the family enclosures wherethose monuments were positioned (fig. 10)122.

112. Kerameikos: High-footed cauldron, inv. 97–98,Kübler 2, 53–56. Kübler 3, pl. 80. Dinos, inv. 1295, Kübler2, 43–45. Kübler 3, pl. 76. Krater, inv. 153, Kübler 3, pl.60. Krater, inv. 98, Kübler 3, pl. 29. Krater, inv. 129,Kübler 2, 51–53. Kübler 3, pls. 78–79. Krater, inv. 801,Kübler 2, 72–73. Kübler 3, pls. 87–88. Amphora, inv. 658,Kübler 3, pl. 89. Athens, Agora: Morris, S. P., The Blackand White Style. Athens and Aigina in the Orientalizing Peri-od (1984) 9, 11. For a list of possible grave markers fromAthens: Houby-Nielsen 3, 44 n. 14.

113. Richter, G. M. A., Archaic Gravestones of Attica(1961); Ridgway, B. S., The Archaic Style in Greek Sculp-ture (19932) 220–227; Sourvinou-Inwood 2, 221–278.

114. D’Onofrio 1; D’Onofrio 2; Kissas, K., Die attischenStatuen- und Stelenbasen archaischer Zeit (2000); Meyer,M./Brüggemann, N., Kore und Kouros. Weihegaben für dieGötter (2007). On the new finds by the Sacred Gate at Ker-ameikos, cf. Niemeier, W. D., Der Kouros vom Heiligen Tor(2002); Stieber, M., «Homeric in Death: The Case of theAnavyssos Kouros. With an Appendix on the Discovery ofthe Statue», Boreas 28/29 (2005/06) 1–33. For a 7th cent.Daedalic kore and an early 6th cent. kouros from Eleuther-

na, cf. Stampolidis 1, 289–308; id., «Eleutherna on Crete: anInterim Report on the Geometric-Archaic Cemetery», BSA85 (1990) 375–403.

115. Clairmont, C. W., Gravestone and Epigram. GreekMemorials from the Archaic and Classical Period (1970); Peek,W., Attische Versinschriften (1980); Humphreys 103–104;Sourvinou-Inwood 2, 147–191. 279–297. 362–387; Day, J.W., «Rituals in Stone. Early Greek Grave Epigrams andMonuments», JHS 109 (1989) 16–28.

116. Kurtz/Boardman 235–236.117. Kurtz/Boardman 223. For the insular stelai of the

early 5th cent., cf. Hiller, H., Ionische Grabreliefs der ersten Häf-te des 5. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. (1975); Despinis, G., «Kykladi-sche Grabstelen des 5.–4. Jh. v. Chr.», AntPl 7 (1967) 77–86.

118. Clairmont, C. W., «Some Reflections on the Ear-liest Classical Attic Gravestones», Boreas 9 (1986) 27–50;Clairmont; Garland 2, 3–7.

119. Shapiro 646–647; Humphreys 123.120. Biesantz, H., Die thessalischen Grabreliefs (1965).121. Stears 53.122. Leader (n. 95); Humphreys 112–121.

Fig. 13


Groups of male and female figures of diπerent agesare depicted together and funerary scenes are onlyrarely included. During the late 5th and 4th cent.these private funerary monuments took elaboratearchitectural forms.

The sequence of monuments comes to an endaround 317 B.C., after the legislation of Demetriosof Phaleron prohibiting lavish sculptural display.Athenian citizens were now commemorated eitherby a monument called trapeza (mensa), or by akioniskos (columella). The name of the deceased, hisfather’s name and his deme were inscribed on thesemonuments. This commemoration in the plaineststyle has been seen as an extreme expression of thepolis ideology of isonomia, the essential equality ofall citizens123.

13.4. Clay plaques, pinakes and vessels

A series of clay plaques and pinakes are consid-ered to have decorated the walls of the builttombs, by simple attachment on the plaster walls.Two types of plaques may be distinguished, thosethat form part of a series depicting a single subjectand smaller single plaques. Their funerary iconog-raphy from the last quarter of the 7th cent. B.C.provides a number of details about funeral lamentand the prothesis of the deceased, in addition to thefunerary scenes painted on loutrophoroi (ThesCRAVI pls. 51–52)124. The focus of this period appearsthe private lamentation at home, as ostentatiousekphora scenes of the Geometric style were bannedby law.

The use of clay plaques and probably clay vasesas grave markers is generally interpreted as a moremodest alternative to the stone monuments. Al-though clay loutrophoroi cannot be securely iden-tified as standing on a tumulus or a peribolos wallin any archaeological context, the variability ofthis particular shape in funerary customs provessuch a use possible. Nevertheless, clay loutrophoroiare less common in less elaborate tombs after themiddle of the 5th cent., white lekythoi stopped be-ing produced around the end of the 5th cent. B.C.,while funerary clay pinakes ceased to be made af-ter 480 B.C. Marble loutrophoroi and lekythoi aredocumented from the last quarter of the 5th intothe 4th cent. B.C. to mark low tumuli or stand ongrave enclosures (fig. 10)125. Because of the close

association of this particular shape with weddings,the loutrophoros was used to mark the tombs ofyoung people who died unmarried, while a gen-der distinction is made in their use; loutrophoros-amphorae are for burials of men and loutrophoros-hydriae for those of women126.

It has been suggested that grave monumentswere set up by ordinary citizens, metics and slavesalong with the wealthy and distinguished citizens,and thus has been challenged the assumption thatgrave stelai were indicative of wealth and preten-sion. Evidence from Attic tombstones of the 4thand 3rd cent. B.C. testifies that ordinary citizenscould in fact aπord a grave monument inscribedwith their name. Simple stelai and small columnsinscribed with one or more names were set up ingreat numbers both before and after Demetrios’law, of which a number is considered to commem-orate ordinary citizens127.

14. Macedonian tombs

Cremation is attested in Macedonia since theArchaic period for the burials of noble males,while inhumation is the norm for the richly fur-nished female burials of the same period128. Gravesof the 6th and 5th cent. B.C. reveal a stratified so-ciety and the wealthy funerary oπerings reflect theprosperity of the individuals buried. Since the sec-ond half of the 5th cent. B.C., cremation burialsare practised regardless of gender and later on,from the 4th cent. B.C. cremation is also practisedregardless of social status. Macedonian chambertombs reflect the wealth of the individuals buried,while their appearance and contents commemorat-ed the royal and aristocratic. The rituals associat-ed with the royal burials seem reminiscent of theHomeric funerary rites129.

A number of tombs were found at Vergina,Pella and elsewhere in Macedonia dating from the4th cent. B.C. to the Hellenistic period. Macedon-ian chamber tombs are very rare in the NortheastAegean islands. A half-destroyed example was ex-cavated in the town of Mytilene at Lesbos and oneon Chios130. More Macedonian tombs (five innumber) were found in the wider area around Ere-tria and are associated with the presence of mem-bers of the Macedonian garrison there131. Simpler

123. Houby-Nielsen 6; Knigge (n. 70) 42.124. Boardman 1, 51–66 pls. 1–8; Kurtz/Boardman 83;

Huber (n. 8) 94–100; Shapiro 633–644; Papadopoulou,Loutrophoroi 16; Sourvinou-Inwood 2, 218–221. ThesCRAVI 1 e Death and burial, Gr. p. 23–25.

125. Schmaltz, B., Untersuchungen zu den attischen Mar-mor-Lekythen (1970); Kokula, G., Marmorloutrophoren(1984); Parlama, L./Stampolidis, N. Chr. (eds.), H fiÏËÎ¿Ùˆ ·fi ÙËÓ fiÏË (2000) 369–370; Fabricius, J., «AÙÙÈÎ‹ÂÈÙ‡Ì‚È· ÏÔ˘ÙÚÔÊfiÚÔ˜», in Vlizos, S. (ed.), EÏÏËÓÈÎ‹ Î·ÈPˆÌ·˚Î‹ °Ï˘ÙÈÎ‹ ·fi ÙÈ˜ Û˘ÏÏÔÁ¤˜ ÙÔ˘ MÔ˘ÛÂ›Ô˘MÂÓ¿ÎË (2004) 151–161; Sabetai 303–304.

126. See ThesCRA V 2 b Cult instruments p. 176–178.127. Nielsen, T. H., et al., «Athenian Grave Monu-

ments and Social Class», GRBS 30 (1989) 411–420.128. Kottaridi 1, 359–371; ead. 2; ead., «The Lady of

Aigai», in Pandermalis, D. (ed.), Alexander the Great. Treas-ures from an Epic Era of Hellenism (2004) 139–147.

129. Huguenot 227–228; ead., «La réutilisation desédifices funéraires helladiques à l’époque hellénistique»,QuadTic 31 (2003) 81–140, esp. 111–118.

130. Archontidou-Argyri, A., «Macedonian Tombs»,in X›Ô˜ Ù\ öÓ·ÏÔ˜ fiÏÈ˜ OåÓÔ›ˆÓÔ˜ (2000) 310–317.

131. Huguenot.


rock-cut chamber tombs have been investigated atVeroia132, smaller chambers built of mud-brickwere discovered at Vergina, plain pits lined withstone and covered with wooden or stone roofsconcealed inside a tumulus, and simpler formselsewhere in Macedonia133.

Macedonian chamber tombs underneath tumuliare stone built chambers with stone barrel vaults,elaborate facades and imposing doorways (fig. 14:Vergina, tomb II)134. An antechamber and in somecases more than one chamber may be found. Apassageway (dromos) stepped or slightly slopingleads to the entrance of the monument, filled withearth after the burial. The façades were generallyelaborate, of finely dressed masonry which is ei-ther stuccoed or painted and imposing entrances,with marble doors and Ionic or Doric columns.The façade of the tomb at Lefkadia (Naousa)135 al-ludes to temple architecture and probably contem-porary palatial exteriors. The tomb has a two-storey façade: Doric below and Ionic on the upperstorey with false doors between the columns.Among the Doric columns four painted figureswere arranged: the dead warrior, Hermes, whoguided souls to Hades, Rhadamanthys and Aiakos,the Judges of the Dead.

The deceased were laid on stone klinai or onwooden surfaces supported by stone or clay struc-tures inside the main chamber of the tomb136.Otherwise stone sarcophagi contained the inhuma-tion or cremation remains, or the walls of thetomb included niches to receive the ashes of thedead. An exaggerated example is the tomb atLefkadia where twenty-two niches in two rowscontained the ashes along with burial oπerings.The names of the deceased were painted over theniches.

The earlier Macedonian tomb, dated just afterthe middle of the 4th cent. B.C. (344/3 B.C.), be-longs to a woman, identified as Queen Eurydike,wife of Amyntas III137. A monumental funerarypyre was built for the cremation of the deadwoman probably in the form of a square or rec-tangular wooden edifice with a façade and an elab-

orate two-leaved wooden door. Remains of mon-umental funerary pyres have been discovered atVergina reflecting a Macedonian tradition whichrecalls the exaggerated funerary pyre ordered byAlexander at the funeral of Hephaistion at Baby-lon138. A number of oπerings was presented to thedeceased in order to be burnt on the funeral pyre,among which were silver vessels and clay vases fullof food and liquids. Glass and ivory attachmentswhich are usually found among the cremation re-mains indicate the richness of the funerary bier onwhich the deceased was laid out139. The crematedremains of the dead Queen were wrapped in agold-purple cloth and placed in a marble chest onthe gold-embellished marble throne inside thechamber of the tomb (pl. 40, 1).

Four tombs and a heroon were excavated be-tween 1976 and 1980 under the so-called Great Tu-mulus at Vergina, measuring 100 m in diameterand 13 m in height140. The Tomb of Philip hasbeen identified as the tomb of Philip II, father ofAlexander but also as Philip III Arrhidaios, half-brother and successor to Alexander. The façade ofthe tomb was decorated with Doric columns anda Doric frieze, crowned by a painted frieze depict-

132. Drougou, S./Touratsoglou, I., EÏÏËÓÈÛÙÈÎÔ›Ï·ÍÂ˘ÙÔ› Ù¿ÊÔÈ BÂÚÔ›·˜ (1998).

133. Kurtz/Boardman 273–283; Gossel, B., MakedonischeKammergräber (1980); Themelis, P./Touratsoglou, J., OÈÙ¿ÊÔÈ ÙÔ˘ ¢ÂÚ‚ÂÓ›Ô˘ (1997); Chrysostomou P., MacedonianTombs at Pella (1998).

134. Gossel (n. 133); Andronikos, M., Vergina. The Royal Tombs and the Ancient City (1984); id., «Some Reflec-tions on the Macedonian Tombs», BSA 82 (1987) 1–16;Huguenot 38–43.

135. (= LIMC VIII Suppl. Nekyia 11*) Petsas, F., OT¿ÊÔ˜ ÙˆÓ §Â˘Î·‰ÈÒÓ (1966); Rhomiopoulou, K., «ANew Monumental Chamber Tomb with Paintings of theHellenistic Period near Lefkadia», AAA 4 (1973) 87–92;Miller, S. G., The Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles. A PaintedMacedonian Tomb (1993). For the painted scenes of theMacedonian funerary monuments, cf. Brecoulaki, H., Lapeinture funéraire de Macédoine (2006).

136. Huguenot 228–229. For the furniture inside thechambers, cf. Sismanidis, K., KÏ›ÓÂ˜ Î·È ÎÏÈÓÔÂÈ‰Â›˜Î·Ù·ÛÎÂ˘¤˜ ÙˆÓ Ì·ÎÂ‰ÔÓÈÎÒÓ Ù¿ÊˆÓ (1997).

137. Kottaridi 1, 364–365. 368; ead., in Pandermalis, D.(ed.), Alexander the Great. Treasures from an Epic Era of Hel-lenism (2004) 139.

138. Huguenot 229–231 (with all the recent bibliogra-phy).

139. Ignatiadou, D., «Colorless Glass in Late Classicaland Early Hellenistic Macedonia», JGlSt 44 (2002) 11–24,esp. 18; Andronikos 1, 220–221.

140. Andronikos (n. 134); Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, Ch., T·ÂÈÙ¿ÊÈ· ÌÓËÌÂ›· ·fi ÙË MÂÁ¿ÏË TÔ‡Ì· ÙË˜ BÂÚÁ›Ó·˜(1984); Lehmann, P. W., «The so-called Tomb of Philip II:an Addendum», AJA 86 (1982) 437–440.

Fig. 14


ing young men hunting. Each chamber was ap-proached through a two-leaved marble door. Amarble sarcophagus containing a gold larnax wasplaced in the antechamber with the cremated re-mains of a woman wrapped in a gold-purple cloth.In the main chamber a second marble sarcophaguscontained a second gold larnax, where the burntbones of the male deceased were placed along withhis golden wreath, undoubtedly a crown. The re-mains of the funerary kline were found in front ofthe sarcophagus while a number of precious ob-jects and weapons were also placed in the cham-ber. Four horses and the dogs of the male royalwere sacrificed on the funeral pyre. Food and liq-uid oπerings were also placed on the funerarypyre, along with fish, birds and small animals.

After the deposition of the cremated remainsthe entrance of the tomb was sealed. For the mostlavish burials which probably lasted several days,the richly decorated façade of the tombs would re-main visible until the completion of the proper rit-uals and the deposition of the deceased in the in-terior. Funeral meals in order to honor the deadtook place during the burials, as is suggested bythe banquet services dispersed and mingled withthe earth of the tumuli and in the area of the roadsleading to the tombs. A unique painted frieze wasplaced above the lintel of the entrance of a Mace-donian tomb found in the area of Ag. Athanasiosbetween Thessaloniki and ancient Pella, dated tothe last quarter of the 4th cent.141. The scene de-picts a banquet comparable to the numerous Etr-uscan wall paintings and the «Diver’s Tomb» atPaestum142. The tomb is considered to belong toa high-ranking Macedonian military o√cer, inline with the iron weaponry found on the floor ofthe chamber tomb. The deceased was laid on aluxurious wooden couch with ivory decoration.Funeral games were attested as part of the ritualspractised for the dead royal males143.

From the same area a narrow chamber tombwith a cremation of a woman was found. The en-trance was sealed by three massive stone blocks.The interior of the chamber was decorated withfrescoes, a rather common element in Macedoniafrom the middle of the 4th cent. B.C. Inside thetomb a wooden chest, coated with a thick sheet ofpure silver, was found on a stone base. Inside thechest the cremated remains of a woman, wrapped

in a gold-purple cloth, were placed. Among thefew funeral oπerings placed close to the silverchest, two pairs of leather sandals were also found.On the floor of the tomb there was a bronze phialeand some clay vases of the late 4th cent. B.C. Justoutside the entrance of the tomb the remains ofthe funeral pyre were discovered. The deceasedwoman was cremated on a luxurious wooden bed,decorated with inlaid glass and ivory figures whichwere found burnt in situ144.

15. Child burials

Although it is di√cult to infer social structuresbased on the presence of infant and child burialswithin settlements or organized burial areas, theseparation of infants and children from the rest ofthe dead is rather indicative of the functioning ofthe communities. It is generally accepted that thediπerential burial of infants and children reflectsthe family’s dominant role145. Although no specialinterest was invested in infants and small childrenuntil the 4th cent. B.C., when iconographic andtextual references become plentiful, infants andsmall children seem to have held a special signifi-cance in burial customs.

As E. Scott clearly pointed out, «at a bland lev-el infancy equates to babyhood, but exactly whenan infant ceases to be an infant and becomes a childis open to debate and varies from culture to cul-ture»146. Houby-Nielsen suggests concerning thechild burials in Athens, that from the way womenoften buried their infants and children, it is possi-ble to distinguish up to three age groups duringthe «city–state period» as she calls the period offormation and peak of the Athenian city–state(720–400 B.C.): infants (0–1 year old), small chil-dren (1–3 to 4 years old) and older children (3–4to 8–10 years old)147.

The method of burial is always the same: in-fants and young children were inhumed insidepithoi, coarse jugs or amphorae (enchytrismos), theirhead placed towards the opening of the vase andtheir knees drawn up to the chest. The funeraryvase was placed on its side inside a shallow pit (pl.40, 2: Oropos). Generally no particular orienta-tion has been noticed for the deposition of the funerary vases, although in some cases they may

141. (= ThesCRA II 4 a Banquet, Gr. 248 with bibl., VI1 e Death and burial, Gr. pl. 60, 1) Tsibidou-Avloniti, M.,M·ÎÂ‰ÔÓÈÎÔ› Ù¿ÊÔÈ ÛÙÔÓ ºÔ›ÓÈÎ· Î·È ÛÙÔÓ \AÁÈÔ Aı·Ó¿ÛÈÔ£ÂÛÛ·ÏÔÓ›ÎË˜: Û˘Ì‚ÔÏ‹ ÛÙË ÌÂÏ¤ÙË ÙË˜ ÂÈÎÔÓÔÁÚ·Ê›·˜ ÙˆÓÙ·ÊÈÎÒÓ ÌÓËÌÂ›ˆÓ ÙË˜ M·ÎÂ‰ÔÓ›·˜ (2005).

142. (= ThesCRA II 4 a Banquet, Gr. 245 with bibl.)Napoli, M., La Tomba del Tuπatore (1970).

143. Kottaridi 1, 368.144. Tsibidou-Avloniti, M., «…Ï¿ÚÓ·Î\ â˜ àÚÁ˘Ú¤ËÓ»,

in M‡ÚÙÔ˜. MÓ‹ÌË I. BÔÎÔÙÔÔ‡ÏÔ˘ (2000) 543–575145. Hertz, R., Death and the Right Hand (1907, transl.

1960) 82–84; Binford, L. R. «Mortuary Practices: their

Study and their Potential», in id., An Archaeological Perspec-tive (1972) 234. Much has been written since on the «socialpersona» of the dead infants and children in relation to theirburial within the precincts of the family’s life space: Gar-land 1, 77–88; Sourvinou-Inwood 1, 44–45; ead. 2, 430–431;Golden, M., «Mortality, Mourning and Mothers», inDasen, V. (ed.), Naissance et petite enfance dans l’Antiquité(2004) 145–157. Cf. ThesCRA VI 1 a Birth p. 7-8.

146. Scott, E., The Archaeology of Infancy and InfantDeath (1999) 2–5.

147. Houby-Nielsen 4, 151–152; Golden, M., Childhoodin Classical Athens (1990) 12–22.


follow the orientation of adult graves within thelimits of the cemeteries148. Oπerings were placedinside the urn, or inside the pit, while a numberof burials had no oπerings. The urn was sealedwith a small stone, a sherd or a small vase. Somestones were often placed around the urn, in orderto keep it in place. The pit was afterwards filledwith earth.

Inhumation in cist and shaft graves was morecommon for older children, buried in the sameway as the adults, although this practice was notaltogether excluded for younger children too.They were placed directly on the ground or inwooden co√ns, while they were only rarely cre-mated149. From around the end of the 5th cent.B.C. clay basins of 0,80 cm to 1 m long were usedas co√ns for single or multiple child burials; thecommon position of the body was extended supinewith both arms at the side.

Grave goods oπered at infant and child burialsusually relate to the particular age groups either bytheir miniature size or their function. Vases forfood and drink, miniature and multiple vases,feeders, toys and jewelery were oπered probablyby the dutiful parents150. Nevertheless, the num-ber of child burials which were not at all provid-ed with grave oπerings is rather large; oπerings aremore common in pit inhumations rather than withpot burials. However, exceptions and variations asto the deposition or not of grave gifts make anygeneral rule on the subject rather doubtful.

Burnt or unburnt deposits as the remains ofthe rituals practised to honour the dead can on-ly occasionally be found in relation to child buri-als. The absence of rituals should probably be as-cribed to the plain character of those burials ingeneral. Grave markers and funeral monumentswere unfitted to child burials; however, childburials can be found among groups of adult buri-als commemorated in this way. The reaprisal oftomb H 16:6 in the area of the ancient Agora,

known as the tomb of the «rich Athenian Lady»,brought to light the presence of a foetus andshowed that the adult female died during preg-nancy or premature childbirth. Special funeraryrites, including the lavish outlay of funerarygoods, might refer to the status of both individ-uals buried there151.

During the Early Iron Age infant and childburials were either made «intramural», that is tosay within the limits of the settlements152, or insmall family cemeteries or in larger cemeteriesalong with adults, although usually on the periph-ery153. At the site of Oropos (Attica), the small fu-nerary urns were placed at the bottom of deep cir-cular pits, with a diameter around 0.90 m at theopening, while their depth varied from 0.95 m to1.30 m. All pit-burials can be dated to the secondhalf of the 8th cent. B.C. and were found withinthe limits of the settlement154; occasionally, stonecairns marked the exact place of the burials, recall-ing similar practices in the first Euboean settle-ment on the island of Ischia (Pithekoussai). Thistype of burial was reserved for the premature andnewly born infants, according to few bone-frag-ments that were found inside one of the urns, andmay represent a symbolic gesture related to theperception of infant death in the early communi-ty of Oropos.

In a few cases, infant and child burials were ex-cluded from «formal» burial to be deposited insidewells. At the Academy of Plato a deep pit con-tained around 40 small amphorae with the burialsof small children in nine successive layers dated tothe second half of the 8th and early 7th cent.B.C.155. In the area of the Agora of ancientMessene, P. Themelis excavated a well which con-tained a number of bones of infants, along withthe burial amphorae (the upper part of which wasmissing in most cases) and a number of bones ofdogs156. A Hellenistic well (G 5:3) from theAthenian Agora was also found half full of bones

148. Young (n. 75). For the case of Mende, cf. Voko-topoulou, I., ErgoMakThr 4 (1990) 411; ead., ErgoMakThr3 (1989) 414–415.

149. For the case of 6th–5th cent. burials from Ker-ameikos, cf. Houby-Nielsen 2, 178 n. 348; Garland 1, 82.

150. Blandin, B., «Recherches sur les tombes à inhuma-tion de l’Heroon d’Eretrie», in Bats, M./D’Agostino, B.(eds.), Euboica. L’Eubea e la presenza euboica in Calcidica e inOccidente (1998) 135–146; Kourou, N., «Silent Oπsprings andDutiful Parents: Amphoriskoi and Multiple Vases in EarlyIron Age Child Burials», in Simantoni-Bournia, E., et al.(eds.), \AÌ‡ÌÔÓ· öÚÁ·, ÙÈÌËÙÈÎfi˜ ÙfiÌÔ˜ ÁÈ· ÙÔÓ Î·ıËÁËÙ‹B·Û›ÏË K. §·ÌÚÈÓÔ˘‰¿ÎË (2007) 62–76; Pomadère, M.,«Un ‘héritier choyé d’innombrables biens’ (Il. IX, 482): Lesenfants de l’élite sociale au début de l’âge du fer», inMazarakis Ainian (n. 8) 501–509; Houby-Nielsen 4, 153–155.

151. Liston, M. A./Papadopoulos, J. K., «The ‘RichAthenian Lady’ was pregnant. The Anthropology of aGeometric Tomb Reconsidered», Hesperia 73 (2004) 7–38.On the «special dead», cf. Garland 1, 77–103.

152. For an overview of the Early Iron Age, cf.Mazarakis Ainian, A., «Buried among the Living in Early

Iron Age Greece: Some Thoughts», in Bartoloni, G./Benedettini, M. G. (eds.), Sepolti tra i vivi. Buried among theLiving. Evidenza ed interpretazione di contesti funerari in abitato, ScAnt 14/1 (2007–08) 365–398.

153. Houby-Nielsen 4; Mariaud, O., «Rituel funéraireet transformations spatiales en Ionie archaïque: Le cas destombes d’enfant à Smyrne», REA 108 (2006) 173–202.Blandin; Blandin, B., «Les enfants et la mort en Eubée audébut de l’Age du Fer», in Guimier-Sorbets/Morizot47–65; Moschonissioti, S., «Child Burials at the SeasideCemetery of Ancient Mende», in Guimier-Sorbets/Mori-zot 207–225;

154. Vlachou, V., «Oropos: the Infant and Child Inhu-mations from the Settlement (late 8th – early 7th CenturiesB.C.)», in Mazarakis Ainian, A. (ed.), Oropos and Euboea inthe Early Iron Age (2007) 213–240.

155. Mazarakis Ainian, A., «Tombes d’enfants a l’in-térieur d’habitats au début de l’Âge du Fer dans le MondeGrec», in Guimier-Sorbets/Morizot 70–71.

156. Themelis, P., Ergon (2004) 28–29; Bourbou, C./Themelis, P., «Child Burials at Ancient Messene», inGuimier-Sorbets/Morizot 111–128.


of animals, mostly dogs, and of approximately 447infants157.

An exceptional case of a child necropolis hasbeen found on the island of Astypaleia158. A largearea on the slope of the hill of Kylindra was reservedfor the burials of the newborn and young childrenup to the age of three years old. Approximately2754 burials have been discovered up to now, all inhumations inside clay vessels (enchytrismoi) whichcan be dated from the Geometric through the Roman period (pl. 40, 4). The vases were disposedon several layers and occasionally small stone struc-tures were erected above them. According to theanalysis of the bones from the vases, the great majority, about 77%, died during birth or soon af-terwards. Only a few burials received oπerings,among which was a small figurine of the Egyptiangod Bes which was placed with a burial of a young

child aged about one year and a half. In a single casetwo children were inhumed inside a pit; a smallpyre was found in the vicinity of the burial with afew animal bones and a small hydria that may rep-resent the remains of the funerary ritual practices.Evidence of rituals was also found around a stoneconstruction, probably of the earlier phases of thenecropolis according to the pottery. Adults andolder children were buried in the cemeteries foundat some distance from Kylindra159, while the largeburial ground reserved for child enchytrismoi hasbeen associated with the goddesses of childbirth,Artemis Lochia and Eileithyia named in two inscrip-tions from the Chora. Whether the site functionedas a necropolis of infants within the limits of a sanc-tuary is still rather ambiguous.

vicky vlachou

157. Colloquium: «The Reanalysis of a Well Depositfrom the 2nd c. B.C. in the Athenian Agora: Animal Sac-rifice and Infanticide in Late Hellenistic Athens?», AJA 103(1999) 284–285; Papadopoulos, J. K., «Skeletons in Wells:Towards an Archaeology of Social Exclusion in the AncientGreek World», in Hubert, J. (ed.), Madness, Disability andSocial Exclusion. The Archaeology and Anthropology of«Diπerence», One World Archaeology 40 (2000) 96–118.

158. Michalaki-Kolia, M., «Un ensemble exceptionneld’enchytrismes de nouveau-nés, de fœtus et de nourrissonsdécouvert dans l’île d’Astypalée en Grèce: cimetière de bébésou sanctuaire?», in Guimier-Sorbets/Morizot 161–205.

159. Farmakidou, E., in Stampolidis 2, 321–330;Clement, A./Hillsom, S./Michalaki-Kolia, M., «The An-cient Cemeteries of Astypalaia, Greece», Archaeology Inter-national 12 (2010) 17–21.

addendum vi 1.e. death and burial, gr. iv 39

1. Death and Burial, gr. (note 25)



5. Death and Burial, gr. (note 63)4. Death and Burial, gr. (note 62)

40 addendum vi 1.e. death and burial, gr. iv

3. Death and Burial, gr. (note 65) 4. Death and Burial, gr. (note 158)



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ThesCRA VIII