Kostas Paschalidis

In Gallery 60 of the National Archaeological Museum is exhibited a unique Mycenaean clay figurine from the Vlastos-Serpieris Collection. The object depicts a miniature four-legged bed with the inherent figure of a baby or an infant lying on its surface. This idiosyncratic work of art is said to have come together with three more Mycenaean clay figurines of common types from Markopoulo, Attica. The form of the figurine has no exact parallels throughout the Mycenaean world, an element that leaves an open field of commentary on its symbolism and possible function.

In this paper, we suggest that the unique Mycenaean clay model of a bed with an infant, dates to the LH III A2 period and seems to have belonged to a rare type of figurines. It is highly probable that this object derived from
a tomb in the plain of Markopoulo, due to its integrity and the large number of figurines and clay models of furniture from the Mycenaean tombs of east Attica, in which such objects were almost always offered to infants and young children. Finally, the minor damage of it surface indicates that this idiosyncratic figurine may have been in its first use, a small child’s toy

The Neolithic and Bronze Ages were highly transformative periods for the genetic history of Europe but for the Aegean—a region fundamental to Europe’s prehistory—the biological dimensions of cultural transitions have been elucidated only to a limited extent so far. We have analysed newly generated genome-wide data from 102 ancient individuals from Crete, the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands, spanning from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. We found that the early farmers from Crete shared the same ancestry as other contemporaneous Neolithic Aegeans. In contrast, the end of the Neolithic period and the following Early Bronze Age were marked by ‘eastern’ gene flow, which was predominantly of Anatolian origin in Crete. Confirming previous findings for additional Central/Eastern European ancestry in the Greek mainland by the Middle Bronze Age, we additionally show that such genetic signatures appeared in Crete gradually from the seventeenth to twelfth centuries bc, a period when the in...

Κατά τα έτη 1919-1922, περίοδο του Ελληνοτουρκικού Πολέμου, πραγματοποιήθηκε στην περιοχή της σημερινής δυτικής Τουρκίας εκτεταμένο και συστηματικό αρχαιολογικό έργο από το Τμήμα Αρχαιοτήτων της Ελληνικής Διοίκησης Σμύρνης. Η πλούσια δράση του καταγράφηκε σε περισσότερα από 1.500 διοικητικά έγγραφα και σε αναρίθμητα γυάλινα αρνητικά φωτογραφιών που συσκευάστηκαν και στάλθηκαν στην Αθήνα στις παραμονές της πυρπόλησης της Σμύρνης. Ένα μικρό μέρος αυτού του χαρτώου αρχείου και οι περισσότερες γυάλινες πλάκες φυλάσσονται σήμερα στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο και μας προσφέρουν τη δυνατότητα να παραθέσουμε ένα πλήρες χρονικό.

The varied geography and the archaeological data allow us to speak of different evolutionary processes that are
at work in the Early Mycenaean period in Eastern and Western Achaea. This paper focusses on Western Achaea
where we witness a fragmented political landscape and the dispersion of power in local principalities. The ongoing
excavation of the Mycenaean settlement at Mygdalia hill, near Patras, has given us the opportunity of
a comprehensive study of domestic and tomb material of the Early Mycenaean Period and it have provided
a measure of understanding this important and underrated period in Western Achaea. From the seaside at
Patras to the inland plain of Pharai and all way to Elis through Portes, literally the Gateway, settlements had
the means of accumulating wealth that manifests in monumental architecture, domestic and funerary, and rich
grave furnishings. An attempt is also made to collect the evidence and address the issue of the elusive palatial
sites in Western Achaea.

The building of the National Archaeological Museum, designed by Ludwig Lange in 1860 and officially founded in 1866, was gradually constructed – due to the money shortage - with the donation by Bernardakis, at first and later with the loans (offered to the government without interest) by the Archaeological Society at Athens. Until 1885, the west, north and south wings were completed, but only the west one was open to the public. Then, by the end of 1887 the government, bypassing economic and bureaucratic walls, decided the completion both of the building, with E. Ziller appointed as architect, and the exhibition, under Panagiotis Kavvadias. Ziller altered Lange’s plans cutting off the entrances with porticos in the middle of the north and south wings. The foundation of the north prostasis was excavated in 2003, during the works of renovation and re-exhibition of the Museum. We tend to support, that this as rapidly completion (with high state funding) was due to the royal wedding, in October 1889, of the heir Constantine with Princess Sofia, the sister of the powerful Kaiser, who visited the National Archaeological Museum and ‘admired the exhibition for its perfection and excellent lighting’.

The excavation on Mygdalia hill provides a unique opportunity in Achaea to investigate the life frame of a local Mycenaean society in Patras region, the settlement, the cemeteries, and the resources available (arable land, areas for herding, water supply).

Mygdalia belongs to the group of Mycenaean settlements that were founded and rose to local prominence in the Early Mycenaean period. Substantial architectural remains, floor deposits and a tholos tomb furnished with pottery, that now finds parallels in settlement strata, will help define this important period in Western Achaea. The ongoing excavation of the large elongated building complex on Terrace 3 has provided some intriguing evidence for the level of sophistication that Mygdalia has reached towards the end of Early Mycenaean Period. Its floruit seems to have declined in the beginning of the Palatial period and continuation of habitation on the hill remained restricted until its new floruit in the 12th century BC. The mansion on top of Mygdalia hill (Terrace 1) and a large storeroom (Terrace 2) provide solid evidence for the social organization in the Postpalatial period, the time of chamber tomb cemeteries and the warrior graves in Achaea. At the onset of the 7th century B.C., when the village had become a lush meadow, the inhabitants of the area had returned, this time to build at the top of the hill an early Greek temple and dedicate the place to the gods.

The ongoing excavations on the hill of Mygdalia near Patras give us the opportunity of a comprehensive study of domestic and tomb material and provide means of understanding early Mycenaean western Achaia. Mygdalia was founded in the transitional MH III/LH I period and became a local centre in the early Mycenaean period. The settlement was built on three successive terraces. The lower terrace was supported by a massive enclosure and retaining wall that seems to be part of the original plan. Substantial architectural remains, including a large building, floor deposits, pottery and metal finds as well as a tholos tomb of LH IIB–IIIA1 date testify to the rise of a local elite. The transition to the Palatial period was troubled, as witnessed by the abandonment of buildings and the plundering of the tholos tomb.

“(…) be in good health.
Heinrich Schliemann”. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION AND THE RISE OF THE 'MYCENAEAN MUSEUM' THROUGH THE DOCUMENTS OF THE PROTAGONISTS.

Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann excavated Mycenae in November 1876, bringing to light an enormous number of precious objects that were unparalleled to any known collection items of their time. This expedition led to the expansion of the Greek Antiquity under study, together with the need to create a decent exhibition for the newly-found treasures. In 1878 the precious finds from Mycenae were presented - together with the ones from the tombs at Spata - at the Athens Technical School, in a perfectly organized exhibition which thus became the first Prehistoric Collection of the Greek Bronze Age, open to the public. Soon after the publication of the first archaeological guide in 1881 by Milchhöfer on the Athenian museums, which included the Technical School, Schliemann proceeded with plans for a detailed catalogue of what he called the Mycenaen Museum. This paper presents for the first time an unpublished letter of the excavator sent to the then Prime Minister, Alexandros Koumoundouros, asking for permission to publish and distribute a guide-book on the Mycenaean treasures of the new museum. This manuscript, now kept in the Historical Archive of the National Archaeological Museum, reveals aspects of Schliemann’s social mobility and means to achieve his goals. It also encompasses both Schliemann’s portrait and that of a whole era, when much of what we consider as granted were newly born.

A group of 56 Mycenaean vases and minor finds, with the indication “Athens, Acropolis” has been kept for years at the storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum. They were first registered in the Museum’s inventory in 1998 and 2001 and were identified with the pottery illustrated in a volume published by Graef and Langlotz in 1925. According to the authors, the antiquities were discovered during Kavvadias’s 1885-1890 excavations of the Debris from the Persian sack of the Acropolis; however, Kavvadias’s own records, published in 1907, do not verify such a provenance. The vases’ shapes and condition indicate a funerary rather than domestic character; moreover, their date implies that they come from a cemetery, although it does not coincide with that of any of the known cemeteries around the Acropolis. It is hereby suggested that the particular group of vases and minor finds kept in the National Archaeological Museum, together with an equal number of finds stored in the Acropolis Museum, may have derived from earlier excavations, prior to 1877, when those objects were first named Mycenaean. Furthermore, since the warrior’s chamber tomb revealed in 1965 on the south slope of the Acropolis, overlaps chronologically with a big part of the material under study, the existence of a late Mycenaean cemetery in the area is quite possible.

A brief version of the same study is published in Papadimitriou N. et al. (eds), Athens and Attica in Prehistory, Athens 2020, 529-540.
This is the complete presentation of the topic with the entire catalogue of finds.

A group of 56 Mycenaean vases and minor finds, with the indication “Athens, Acropolis” has been kept for years at the storerooms of the National Archaeological Museum. They were first registered in the Museum’s inventory in 1998 and 2001 and were identified with the pottery illustrated in a volume published by Graef and Langlotz in 1925. According to the authors, the antiquities were discovered during Kavvadias’s 1885-1890 excavations of the Debris from the Persian sack of the Acropolis; however, Kavvadias’s own records, published in 1907, do not verify such a provenance. The vases’ shapes and condition indicate a funerary rather than domestic character; moreover, their date implies that they come from a cemetery, although it does not coincide with that of any of the known cemeteries around the Acropolis.

It is hereby suggested that the particular group of vases and minor finds kept in the National Archaeological Museum, together with an equal number of finds stored in the Acropolis Museum, may have derived from earlier excavations, prior to 1877, when those objects were first named Mycenaean. Furthermore, since the warrior’s chamber tomb revealed in 1965 on the south slope of the Acropolis, overlaps chronologically with a big part of the material under study, the existence of a late Mycenaean cemetery in the area is quite possible.

The tholos tomb of Atreus or the Treasury of Atreus or Treasury B of Mycenae (as it has been documented in excavation journals of the 19th century) is together with the Lion Gate the most famous monument of the mythical city of the Atreides. The immense tomb that was built possibly in the late 14th c. BC had been accessible and looted already since the Late Geometric period, as indicated by finds unearthed in the dromos, the great chamber and the earthen mound (tumulus) it was surmounted by, that bear witness to visits, interventions and various uses of the site after the Mycenaean period. This must have been the time in which the magnificent structure ceased to be used as the burial site of the Mycenaean rulers and turned into a monument of the heroic past. The Treasury has been frequently referred to by travellers of the Roman period and modern times. Fortuitously, the confirmed removals of movable finds from its deposits were few and took place no sooner than the early decades of the 19th century.

The first systematic archaeological survey in the tholos tomb was conducted by Panagiotis Stamatakis and lasted one and a half months, from mid-January to the end of February 1878, working six days a week. Stamatakis documented twice the research activities in a detailed journal; a rough draft was initially written in pencil, followed by a neatly written copy in ink. The text is similarly divided into two parts. The first includes the history of the excavation per working day, from Monday 16 January to Tuesday 28 February 1878. The second part contains two detailed catalogues of the movable finds of the excavation: “the grave goods unearthed at the gate”, classified based on their material (gold, silver, bronze, stone, clay, glass and ivory) and also “those uncovered at the entrance”, similarly divided into gold, clay and stone. The archive of Stamatakis’ drawings includes detailed site plans, sketches of the entrance and the wall surfaces of the dromos, valuable notes on the retrieval of stone fragments and other finds around the monument and also on the damages, the mortise-and-tenon joints and the imprints of the stone decoration that was inset into the façade.

The hand-written chronicle of the excavation conducted by Panagiotis Stamatakis in the Treasury of Atreus is kept today at the Archive of the National Archaeological Museum. For the purposes of the present study the valuable manuscript has been prudently used, as it can and must form in the future the basis for the re-examination of the excavation deposits and the stratigraphic evidence documented in its pages, the identification of the architectural and other finds and a fresh understanding of the Treasury of Atreus. In addition, the stone fragments from the façade of the monument found in the exhibition and the storerooms of the Museum are presented here in their entirety for the first time. In their majority they are unpublished (although widely known) and come from the excavations of Panagiotis Stamatakis and Veli Pasha and also the collections and handovers of Markellos Mitsos.

The study of the Clauss cemetery illustrates a smooth passing of the local society from the palatial to the post-palatial period and the emergence of new social structures, such as the birth of the warriors’ elite. The discussion of the post-palatial local elites occupies much space in contemporary Mycenaean bibliography and Achaea provides one of its best study-cases. The Clauss cemetery revealed a sequence of three generations of such warriors, well preserved and documented during the excavations, who shed fresh light on the matter of their appearance and role.
Finally, the study of the Clauss material achieved to distinguish all LH III C burials in six successive chronological phases, which correspond more-or-less to six generations of its people. This was accomplished with the combined and careful classification of the local pottery, workshops and styles, together with the tombs’ stratigraphy. The evaluation of such a sequence gave the unique opportunity to trace the biographies of its people. Through the identification of mothers, children, farmers, craftsmen, traders, noble 'ladies of the oikos', hunters and warriors – based on the grave goods and modes of burials – the story unfolds of a vivid local society at the periphery of the Mycenaean world towards the end of its era

The central west Μainland comprises the regions of Achaia, northern Arcadia, Elis, Acarnania and Aitolia. The area is characterized by geomorphological diversity comprising on the one hand the mountainous parts of northern Arcadia (ancient Azania) and broadly so of east Achaia, and on the other the vast plains of western Achaia and Elis. Aitolia and Acarnania actually encompass both types of terrain.
Most of the sites known to archaeology in the central west Mainland were established on low hills, near rivers and fertile valleys: they had a ready passage to the hinterland, overlooking the gulf of Patras and the Corinthian gulf, providing communication to the neighboring regions (Achaia, Elis, Aitolia, Acarnania, and also Phocis and Corinthia). A good number of sites on the mountainous passageways of Achaia and Arcadia also demonstrate the importance of the late Mycenaean trafficking of goods and the movement of people (Aktypi 2014, 153; Salavoura 2015, 544-545).
The sea route provided mainly by the Corinthian gulf led towards the West, while also ensuring communication with other regions such as Corinth and Phocis. The open maritime routes to the West ensured that the central west Mainland enjoyed access to the Adriatic resulting in the acquisition of wealth and import of novel elements in war, the expression of status and everyday life.
The central west Mainland can, then, be assigned the character of a unified district, mainly due to its geomorphological characteristics. This very uniformity of the landscapes, the organization of the inhabitation along the river valleys, their separation by vast mountains, though often connected by passageways through them, all led to the formation of a cultural world sharing similarities and yet displaying marked local differences.
Judging from the archaeological data, what is termed here as “central west Mainland” is in fact a vast territory, far from homogenous in LBA. Achaia, Elis and northern Arcadia were fully incorporated into the Mycenaean koine, while Aitolia and Acarnania remained truly peripheral until the end. Interestingly, all of the regions seem to have experienced a common outcome in the Postpalatial period (LH IIIC). The transition from the Mycenaean to the IA was also differentiated between the south and north sides of the Corinthian gulf.
Although during the 10th-9th centuries a pottery koine is detectable in the whole region, the situation changed in the 8th and 7th centuries. Aitolia and Acarnania become mainly oriented towards the northwest; after the PG ceramic koine, the differences in material culture grow more prominent.
Achaia seems to form a common cultural unity with parts of Elis (i.e. that of Elian Pylos) and the northern part of Arcadia, namely the Azanian territory, especially during the second half of the 8th and the early 7th centuries.
During the LG and early AR periods Achaia’s eastern part was oriented towards Corinthia, though its connections with Phocis are obvious in the wide circulation of the Thapsos class, a pottery style which originated in Achaia and spread as a material koine in the Corinthian Gulf (Achaia, Corinthia, Aitolia, Phocis and Boeotia) and beyond (Ithaca, Ancient Ambracia, Apollonia in modern Albania and South Italy) forming a number of pottery micro-styles (Gadolou 2011a).
With the formation of their religious landscapes and the erection of a number of monumental temples, the communities of the central west Mainland moved on from the institution of local cults to the establishment of “common” social and political identities.
Ancient sources reflect the relations between central west Mainland communities. According to Strabo (8.3.33), the eponymous founder of the Aitolian genos was Aitolos, a legendary king of Ilida, who along with a group of Elians moved to Aitolia. Before Aitolos was Oxylos who led the descendants of Herakles from Aitolia to Elis (Pausanias 5.3.5-7). The ancient authors touch upon the relations of the Achaians with their neighbors. Thus, Pausanias (5.4.3) relates how Agorios from Helike helped Oxylus in the foundation of Elis. Bacchylides (Ode 11.95-117) informs his readers that the sanctuary of Artemis Himera at Lousoi, in northern Arcadia was the place from where the Achaians started their journey for the colonization of Metapontum. Pausanias (5.18.7) again states that Corinth had ties to Achaia, since the small polis Gonoessa was said to be the home of the ancestors of Cypselus, the ruler of Corinth. Nevertheless the only way to transform legend into reality is the precise interpretation of the archaeological record.

Available here:

https://research-bulletin.chs.harvard.edu/2019/08/05/report-agamemnon-legend-mycenae/

This project combines a comparative study of the ‘biographies’ of the individuals buried in Mycenaean tombs at the west slope of the citadel (Grave Circle A, Grave Circle B, a nearby chamber tomb and the Clytemnestra Tholos) with the emergence of epic memory and hero-cult, from the Late Geometric altars until the Hellenistic theater, which covered the land of the dead with performances and verses. In brief, we wish to explore the possible connection of the actual remains of the ancestors with the legacy created upon them, in – what we believe – was the birthplace of the legend: the west slope of Mycenae.

For that purpose we use Panagis Stamatakis’s detailed excavation diary of Grave Circle A, which was recently discovered at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. This new precious excavation data, together with previous published studies of ours on some hero-cult episodes of the Late Geometric times upon Mycenaean graves, the study of the Hellenistic theater’s establishment upon the royal Clytemnestra Tholos and the search of evidence from ancient sources involving the site of Mycenae, provides the opportunity to examine this topic of interest: the creation of the legend of Agamemnon at the west slope of Mycenae.

The ongoing excavation at Mygdalia Hill gives us the opportunity of a comprehensive study of domestic and tomb material and provides a measure for understanding a full chronicle of the Mycenaean era in Western Achaea. Memory is inextricalbly linked to the life of a settlement, to real events that have direct consequences both to the living and the dead. At times the inhabitants embraced memory and at others they had to reject, maybe forcefully, the past.

(The full text in English)

Unraveling the secrets of Shaft Grave V at Mycenae

Heinrich Schliemann’s pioneering excavation of Grave Circle A (Graves I–V) at Mycenae in 1876 was conducted under the auspices of the Archaeological Society at Athens and the supervision of the Greek Ephor of Antiquities Panayotis Stamatakis, who later excavated Grave VI. The controversy between the two men — the charismatic, flamboyant and ambitious Schliemann and the underrated, modest Stamatakis — has become a part of the Shaft Grave legacy. Stamatakis, by providing important insights, as a thorough and meticulous eyewitness, in his reports, along with the recent study of the physical remains of those buried in the graves, emended and enriched Schliemann's account.

Grave Circles A and B at Mycenae were the burial ground of the first rulers at Mycenae, part of an extended extra muros early Mycenaean cemetery. The shaft graves are simple constructions, comprising a main shaft cut into the bedrock with a larger pit above that was covered with earth after the burial was sealed. The rich grave offerings startled Schliemann's contemporaries and impressed them with a picture of the ruling class’s accumulated wealth, which confirmed Homer’s legendary saying "Mycenae rich in gold". Death was considered a socially acceptable venue in which to manifest power and status during Mycenaean society’s formative years (late 17th-16th century BC). This extravagant display of wealth during funerary rites was meant to honour the dead but also to enhance the prestige of the living.

The newly risen elites at Mycenae had developed relations with Crete’s highly sophisticated Minoan civilization, then at the peak of its power. Imported luxury goods arrived at the Mainland from Crete and the Cyclades, along with itinerant artists, new technical skills, and notions of social organization, including the use of the script. Contacts with the settlement at Akrotiri in Thera had also been established before a volcanic eruption buried its multi-storey buildings, decorated with wall paintings, beneath ash and pumice. Prestige goods coming from the land of the Hittites in Asia Minor and amber from the remote area of the Baltic Sea indicate the full extent of the numerous connections of this emerging power.

The graves in Grave Circle A had been used for multiple burials of men, women and, occasionally, children, presumably all part of an extended family. The study of the physical remains of those buried beneath the gold masks in Graves IV and V has only partly verified the assumption that men only wore them; it has not definitely ruled out that women could not have done too as in the case of two of the gold masks in grave IV. In both graves we find an array of long (Type A) or shorter and sturdier (Type B) bronze swords with ornate blades and handles, and precious inlaid daggers depicting elaborate scenes: all betray the deceased’s’ martial spirit. Fighting and hunting were of paramount importance to the Mycenaean ruling class. The chariot, for riding both to battle and to hunt from, is the principal motif on the sculptured stone stelai that were set up over the graves. Gold and silver ornate tableware, fit for the table of a king, stone vessels from Crete and ostrich eggs from Egypt, modified in Crete to be used as rhyta, are valuable prestige goods.An array of hammered bronze vessels, such as cauldrons, jugs and tripods, many showing signs of wear and repair, reveal the importance of drinking rituals and communal feasting in early Mycenaean society.

In Grave V Schliemann and Stamatakis, in his reports, written some time after the excavation, give an account of three primary burials, found in situ furnished with precious funerary gifts. Recent research revealed that before the final interments they were other individuals buried in the same grave, two adults, a minor and a child. 

The so called ''mask of Agamemnon'' in Grave V (NAM 624), which depicts an imposing bearded male, covered the face of a warrior in his prime, about 25years of age, who lived 400 years before the Trojan War. He had a robust body that had seen action in his day and a height of approximately 1.80 m: surely a figure of authority that would have made a lasting impression on his contemporaries. In the rough draft, provided by P. Stamatakis in his report, this is individual T associated, with the ‘’ the most beautiful mask ever found depicting a bearded man’’.
He is placed on the south side and with a north/south orientation. He wore a necklace of ten gold pendants depicting antithetic eagles or ravens, a real insignium dignitatis. A gold breastplate decorated with spirals covered his chest. Bronze weapons, swords and daggers, one with inlaid decoration of lilies (NAM 764), a gold cup (NAM 727), part of the wooden pyxis covered with ornate gold plates (NAM 808-811) and numerous gold minor artefacts were by his side. In the middle of the grave, individual Y is a male about 30 to 35 years of age, deposited in an east/west orientation with no notable grave furnishings.

The main attraction for Schliemann was the body of individual Φ, placed in the north side of the grave. According to him the bodywas ‘’wonderfully preserved’’ and its ‘’color resembled very much that of an Egyptian mummy’. Stamatakis didn’t share Schliemann’ enthusiasm and provided no comments on the condition of the bones. In his usual professional manner he described the grave furnishings, the gold mask (NAM 623) and the plain breast plate (NAM 626). This was by far the richest burial, certainly of a person of authority, associated with bronze long swords, three gold Vapheio-type cups (Nam 628-630) and a gold goblet (NAM 656), two silver cups (NAM 755-756), a large jug (NAM 855), two alabaster vases (NAM 854, 869) and numerous other gold or silver artefacts. In the northwest corner of the grave an impressive assemblage of large and small bronze vessels were deposited. In the same area were found a wooden pyxis (NAM 812), two ostrich eggs turned into rhyta, one decorated with dolphins (NAM 828) and clay vessels (NAM 856, 858)

The remains of the so called ‘’mummy’’ were detached from the grave, along with the soil on which they rested, framed with plaster and transferred to Athens. They became a part of the permanent exhibition first in the Polytechneion and then in the Mycenaean Gallery in the National Archaeological Museum, well until the Second World War. The truth is that neither Schliemann in his short guide to the Treasures of Mycenae nor the other eyewitnesses, including the directors of the National Museum and Schliemann’s successor in the excavation of Mycenae Christos Tsountas, ever speak of a ‘’mummy’’ but of simple skeletal remains. Schliemman’s Albums, now in the possession of Sinclair Hood, has provided us with the original oil painting of the ‘’mummy’’ commissioned by Schliemman at Mycenae.

What it shows is not certainly a mummified body. J. L. Angel, the anthropologist first to study the bones of Grave circle A and B in 1937 remained also entirely silent about it and his results were published only in 1973. The plaster casing of the ‘’mummy’’ survived in the storerooms of the Prehistoric Collection of the National Museum but the bones had already been removed. To our present knowledge these bones have not yet been identified with certainty, so despite the impressive amount of scholarship surrounding the Shaft Graves, they have not yet revealed all their secrets.

Grave Circle A and those buried within it were considered the ancestors who founded the might of Mycenae. They held an important place in the collective memory and they were venerated already in Mycenaean times. The Cult Centre of Mycenae was erected in their vicinity and around the middle of the 13th century BC the extension of the Western Wall led to the enclosure of the area, marked now by a double ring of poros limestone, within the Citadel. Grave Circle A remained virtually clear of later reoccupation in Classical and Hellenistic times and by then it has already entered the realm of legends.


General bibliography

O. Dickinson, L. Papazoglou-Manioudaki, A. Nafplioti, J. Prag, ‘Mycenae Revisited Part 4: Assessing the New Data’, BSA 106 (2012), 161-188.

G. Karo, Die Schachtgräber von Mykenai, Munich 1930-33.

Ι. Kilian-Dirlmeier, Beobachtungenzu den Schachtgräber von Mykenai und zu den SchmuckbeigabenmykenischerMannergräber, JbRGZM 33 (1986), 159-198.

G. Mylonas, Ο Ταφικός Κύκλος Β των Μυκηνών, Athens 1973

L. Papazoglou-Manioudaki, A. Nafplioti, J.H. Musgrave, R. Neave. D. Smith. A.J.N.W. Prag, ‘Mycenae Revisited Part 1. The human remains from Grave Circle A: Stamatakis, Schliemann and Two New Faces from Shaft Grave VI’, BSA 104 (2009), 233-277.

L. Papazoglou-Manioudaki, A. Nafplioti, J.H. Musgrave, A.J.N.W. Prag, ‘Mycenae Revisited: The human remains from Grave Circle A at Mycenae. Part 3. Behind the masks: A study of the bones of Shaft Graves I-V’, BSA 105 (2010), 157-224.

K. Paschalidis, (…) έρρωσο. Ερρίκος Σχλιέμανν. Η ανακάλυψη του Μυκηναϊκού Πολιτισμού και η δημιουργία του Μυκηναίου Μουσείου μέσα από τις αναφορές των πρωταγωνιστών της,in P. Kalogerakou & E. Kountouri (eds), Festschrift for Professor G. Korres (forthcoming).

Schliemann H., Mycenae; a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenae and Tiryns, New York 1880.

J.C. Wright, ‘A Survey of Evidence for Feasting in Mycenaean Society’, in J.C. Wright (ed), The Mycenaean Feast, Hesperia 73 (2004) special issue, 133-178.

D. Vasilikou, Το χρονικό της ανασκαφής των Μυκηνών 1870-1878, Athens 2011.

K.A. Wardle, Reshaping the past: Where was the ‘Cult Centre’ at Mycenae? in A.J. Schallin&I. Tournavitou, Mycenaean’s up to date. The archaeology of the northeastern Peloponnese-current concepts and new directions, Stockholm 2015, 577-596.

The Mycenaean cemetery at Achaea Clauss, near Patras was first discovered and excavated by Nikolaos Kyparissis in the late 1930’s. Eventually, 40 years on, Thanassis Papadopoulos excavated 16 new tombs providing the opportunity to re-evaluate the older material and add to the discussion of the Late Mycenaean Period in Achaea. The study of the skeletal remains, undertaken by Dr P.J.P. McGeorge, revealed an enigmatically small number of children burials, suggesting that they were buried elsewhere and not in the adults’ cemetery. This paper deals with the matter of those children, who were chosen to be inserted with their relatives once they were dead, in other words with the phenomenon of simultaneous burials of parents and children at Clauss.

Μικρή συμβολή στο πρόγραμμα της λεπτομερούς και διεπιστημονικής επανεξέτασης των τύμβων Βρανά Μαραθώνος, ανασκαφών Σ. Μαρινάτου, που διεξάγεται υπό την διεύθυνση της Μ. Παντελίδου Γκόφα και των μονίμων επιστημονικών συνεργατών του προγράμματος, G. Touchais, Α. Φιλίππα Touchais και Ν. Παπαδημητρίου.

While excavating Grave Circle B in 1952 and 1953, Ioannis Papadimitriou identified and investigated an Early Mycenaean chamber tomb, which remained unpublished to this day. The tomb’s importance lies both in its finds and its location directly below the acropolis next to Grave Circle B, outside any organized cemetery contemporary with the tomb. The tomb preserved the skeletal remains of a young man, whose grave gifts included pottery, bronze vases, intricate weapons, and numerous pieces of jewellery. This paper examines the relationships of these finds with others known from earlier excavations in the same region, and discusses local weapons manufacturing workshops and their distinctive artistic traits. The second part of the paper examines the relationship between this chamber tomb and the monumental tombs of the citadel’s south slope, and the process of distinguishing the cemeteries’ location from that of inhabitations at the time of the city’s dynamic expansion shortly before the dawn of the Palatial period.

This contribution in a multi-authored paper presents the preliminary results of the re-evaluation of the pottery from the Mycenaean cemetery at Argos Deiras, which was excavated and published in the early 20th c. by W. Vollgraff and in the 1950s by J. Deshayes.

"In 1930, during construction works at Koukaki, Athens, a Mycenaean chamber tomb was unearthed. The few finds that escaped looting included some impressive pieces of gold, amber and glass jewellery and a seal stone, which were published half a century later in the monograph: Ai Proistorikai Athinai by M. Pandelidou-Gofa. During the recent works for the renovation of the National Archaeological Museum, some unknown Mycenaean bronzes and pieces of jewellery deriving from the same tomb were located. These objects altogether, seem to comprise the context of a richly buried Athenian lady, who lived and died in the early 14th c.BC. Furthermore, the presence of precious ornaments together with a complete set of toilet equipment in the tomb, reveal the personal articles of a deceased, who was honoured and intended to be remembered especially for her elegance and beauty.
Together with the re-evaluation of the Koukaki context, this paper deals with the inconceivable – in contemporary terms – coexistence of beauty and death, in many female burials of the Mycenaean and the Minoan World. In order to shed light on this matter, this paper examines the presence of mirrors and beauty articles in contemporary burials of Egypt and the Orient, as well as in some significantly similar burials of Classic Athens, where the custom of reflecting eternal beauty seems to have survived"

In the summers of 1952 and 1953, during the excavation of Grave Circle B at Mycenae,  Ioannis Papadimitriou located and excavated an early Mycenaean chamber tomb, that remained until now unpublished. Its position and finds preserve evidence for the honouring of the dead and ancestors in successive periods, each time with a different content. 
The extended presentation of the tomb’s architecture is followed by the evidence on the “hero-cult”, as the excavator interpreted the rich remains of the LG period, inside and over the chamber.  There is also a discussion on the neighboring of important burial monuments (Grave Circle B, Clytemnestra Tholos tomb, Papadsimitriou’s chamber tomb) to the Hellenistic theatre of the city, where the misfortunes of the House of Atreus relived. Finally, tribute is paid to the excavator himself, the diaries of whom reveal a great archaeologist and an ordinary man. The tomb’s study is followed by an appendix presenting the animal skeletal remains found inside the chamber and on top of it, by the LG altar.

"The Mycenaean cemetery of Achaea Clauss is located at the SE edge of the modern city of Patras. It was first discovered and excavated by Nikolaos Kyparissis in the late 1930’s . Eventually, 40 years on, Thanassis Papadopoulos excavated 16 new tombs  providing the opportunity to re-evaluate the older material and add to the discussion of the Late Mycenaean Period in Achaea. The study of the skeletal remains has been undertaken by Dr P.J.P. McGeorge, while Constantinos Paschalidis is the sole responsible for the study of the rest of the archaeological finds and for the final publication.
This paper presents the preliminary results of the cemetery' s study and sheds light on various aspects concerning terms of life, society and death towards the end of the Mycenaean era in NW Peloponnese."

The sea routes and contacts between the Prehistoric Aegean and the Black Sea have been often viewed within the mythical sphere of the Argonauts and the search for metal sources. The occurrence of exotic Aegean style elements in the coastline and mainland of the Pontic Sea is now regarded as a result of the “international” travels and contacts of the Late Bronze Age.
This paper presents a new hoard of bronze weapons and tools from central Euboea, near the busy port of Kyme and sheds light on the matter of local metallurgy in the periphery of the Mycenaean World. It also examines the possible sea routes of the ships of these times from the Aegean to the sea of Marmara and the Pontic waters. This post mortem voyage traces the bronze ingots, stone anchors and hoards discovered so far in the Helladic, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Georgian coastlines and reevaluates their affinities and importance far from any epic context.

The National Archaeological Museum houses a group of ten bronze weapons, tools and other artefacts that come from Andronianoi on Euboea. Study of their typology and comparison with parallels from the  rest of the Mycenaean world date the two swords, two daggers, spear, saw, double axe, razor, bowl and the enigmatic piece of silver sheet to the LH IIB / LH IIIA1 period.
The region of Kyme was well populated in the Mycenaean period, as is clear from the sites excavated there. The documented traces of metalworking in the area, and the ingots of Cypriot copper from the shipwreck in the harbour of Kyme, which is probably contemporary with the hoard, supplement the lively picture of metalworking and commercial activity. The group from Andronianoi is probably to be assigned to this active scene of commercial exchanges, as a hoard for exchange.

"The National Archaeological Museum houses two complete clay rhyta in the shape of a closed shoe with a hooked toe, inv.nos.8557 and 15879. Both vases, which date from the late 14th c. BC, come from tombs at Alyki near Glyfada and Pikermi. In addition to their use for libation purposes, they both had a special allegorical significance connected with their unique shape.
Comparison with the numerous clay models of shoes made by peoples of prehistoric Anatolia, and the depiciction of this type of shoe in religious scenes in Mycenaean art point to their 'magic' power and special significance. Three more unusual rhyta come from the cemetery at Alyki near Glyfada (Athens, Nat.Arch.Mus. nos.23, 10724 and 13883), with shapes either rare of not found at other Mycenaean centres. The wealth and ingenious shapes of the rhyta of Mycenaean Attica, frequently revealing exotic influences, are suggestive of an aesthetic and religious syncretism and imply the existence of active local workshops and ports."

Together with the constant homeric interest in the island of Ithaca, the archaeological research of the last century provided a whole net of prehistoric sites, chronologically extended from the 3rd millennium to the 12th century B.C. Sites as Pelicata, Stavrow, Aghios Athanasios, Tris Langadhes, Cave of Polis and Pisaetos form a pazl of wealth and absence, of rich evidence and numerous problems, which remain unanswered. We are able to recognize at Pelicata the only Early Helladic fortified settlement in western Greece so far, with many interesting finds, even though many elements need clarification. On the other hand, the small valley of Polis presents a complete tripartite model of settlement-port-shrine in the Late Helladic period, consisting of the settlement at Tris Langadhes, the cave sanctuary of Polis and the nearby natural harbor.
Recent research in two prehistoric sites, Pelikata in northern Ithaca and Kanata in the vicinity of Vathy, which was unknown until now, provides some light and new suggestions. In this paper groups of prehistoric material are presented for the first time, followed by discussion about their incorporation into the already given archaeological map of the island. The Pelikata material remained into the same grid with the already excavated material from this area. The Kanata material on the other hand, even though it cannot be dated accurately, due to its small quantity, expands the horizon of the already known sites on the island. A possible prehistoric site at Vathy creates a whole new perception on the problem of the lack of habitation in southern Ithaca.

The Mycenaean cemetery at Lapoutsi Brauron is known as a result of the rescue excavations at the site. Between November 1972 and May 1973 over thirty tombs were excavated under the direction of P. Themelis. There are two separate ceramic finds, which are of special interest. The first is a conical rhyton with pictorial decoration from tomb 20. The second find cosists of two sherds of a closed pictorial vase, from the dromos of chamber tomb no. 12. These pieces are discussed and compared to other already known pictorial vases in orded to shed light on the Attic production of pictorial decoration and the possible existence of a local workshop or "school".

The Mycenaean Cemetery at Achaia Clauss near Patras: People, material remains and culture in context comprises the study of the finds from the excavation of the Mycenaean cemetery of Clauss near Patras, carried out by the University of Ioannina and the Archaeological Society at Athens from 1988 to 1992, under the direction of Professor Thanassis Papadopoulos. In the course of the excavation project, fifteen chambered tombs were located and researched in detail, to be added to those already known from the pre-war excavations by Nikolaos Kyparissis. The presentation of the topic expands into seven thematic chapters: from a general review of the cemetery space and the sites, to analytical description of the excavation, remarks on the architecture, study of the finds, analysis of the burial customs and finally, narration of the overall history of the cemetery according to chronological period and generation of its occupants. The eighth and last chapter is an addendum including a brief presentation of the anthropological analysis of the skeletal material by Photini J. P. McGeorge and Wiesław Więckowski. The Mycenaean cemetery at Achaia Clauss near Patras presents fragments of the life and death of some members of a local community that existed for almost four centuries at the western end of the Mycenaean world.

See more, here:
https://archaeopress.wordpress.com/2018/11/20/the-mycenaean-cemetery-at-achaia-clauss-near-patras-people-material-remains-and-culture-in-context/?fbclid=IwAR0kIUSXOWb5nz40ePPxp2XKSMk3lBFSsqsf4fWOitiEEbG6gA6BoFQ3DOg

"Summary (Περίληψη)

ΤΟ ΥΣΤΕΡΟΜΙΝΩΙΚΟ ΙΙΙ ΝΕΚΡΟΤΑΦΕΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΤΟΥΡΛΩΤΗΣ ΣΗΤΕΙΑΣ.
Ο «ΖΩΓΡΑΦΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΞΑΝΘΟΥΔΙΔΗ» ΚΑΙ Ο ΠΟΛΥΠΟΔΙΚΟΣ ΡΥΘΜΟΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ ΚΡΗΤΗ.

Στην εργασία αυτή παρουσιάζονται τα αποτελέσματα της μελέτης δύο θαλαμωτών τάφων, καθώς και μιας ομάδας αγγείων από το ΥΜ ΙΙΙ νεκροταφείο στη θέση Πλακάλωνα Τουρλωτής Σητείας, στην ανατολική Κρήτη. Η θέση του ΥΜ ΙΙΙ νεκροταφείου, καθώς και του σύγχρονου χωριού της Τουρλωτής βρίσκεται στα υψώματα πίσω από το λιμάνι του Μόχλου και πάνω στο δρόμο από τον κόλπο του Μιραμπέλλου προς τον Πετρά και το Παλαίκαστρο.

Ο πρώτος θαλαμωτός τάφος ανεσκάφη από τη Μεταξία Τσιποπούλου το 1984. Περιείχε δύο παραμερισμένες ταφές και δύο αγγεία: ένα τρίωτο πιθαμφορέα και μια τριφυλλόστομη οινοχόη. Το πρώτο αγγείο, που ίσως να προέρχεται από την Κνωσό, χρονολογείται στην ΥΜ ΙΙΙΑ1 περίοδο και αντανακλά την εμπορική κυριαρχία της ‘μυκηναϊκής πρωτεύουσας’ της Κρήτης, πριν από την πτώση της. Η σύγχρονη, τριφυλλόστομη οινοχόη αποτελεί συνήθη τύπο του αποκαλούμενου ‘κεραμικού εργαστηρίου των Μόχλου-Μυρσίνης-Τουρλωτής’. Στις οινοχόες του τύπου αυτού επιβιώνουν πολλά παραδοσιακά μορφολογικά και διακοσμητικά χαρακτηριστικά της προ-μυκηναϊκής μινωικής κεραμικής. Τέλος, παρουσιάζονται για πρώτη φορά τρεις παρόμοιες οινοχόες από το ίδιο εργαστήριο, που προέρχονται από λαθρανασκαφές και φυλάσσονται σήμερα στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο.

Ο δεύτερος θαλαμωτός τάφος ανεσκάφη από το Νικόλαο Παπαδάκη το ίδιο έτος. Περιείχε έξι αγγεία, δύο σφονδύλια και μία χάνδρα, καθώς και τα καμμένα οστά ενός νέου άνδρα και ενός παιδιού, που χρονολογούνται στην πρώιμη ΥΜ ΙΙΙΓ περίοδο. Από τους τέσσερις ψευδόστομους αμφορείς του συνόλου ο ένας διακοσμείται κατά τον πολυποδικό ρυθμό, ο δεύτερος φέρει εικονιστική παράσταση θαλάσσιου τοπίου και οι δύο τελευταίοι πρέπει να προέρχονται από τη βόρεια Ρόδο. Το σύνολο συμπληρώνει ο στάμνος, που περιείχε τα καμμένα οστά και το πώμα του. Η ανεύρεση των λειψάνων ανδρός και παιδιού στο ίδιο τεφροδόχο αγγείο, εύρημα που απαντά σε δύο ακόμη σύγχρονα παραδείγματα στο γειτονικό νεκροταφείο της Κριτσάς, ίσως να μαρτυρεί ένα συγκεκριμένο ταφικό έθιμο ή ένα άγνωστο ιστορικό γεγονός σε αυτήν την περιοχή.

Το τρίτο σύνολο ευρημάτων από το νεκροταφείο της Τουρλωτής παραδόθηκε από το Μανώλη Φυγετάκη στο Μουσείο Σητείας πριν από πενήντα χρόνια. Περιλαμβάνει δύο πρόχους, έναν πιεσμένου σχήματος ψευδόστομο αμφορέα του ‘εργαστηρίου του Παλαικάστρου’, δύο ψευδόστομους αμφορείς του πυκνού πολυποδικού ρυθμού και έναν τελευταίο, που πρέπει να προέρχεται από τη Σκύρο. Τα αγγεία αυτά χρονολογούνται μεταξύ της πρώιμης και της μέσης ΥΜ ΙΙΙΓ περιόδου.

Η παρουσίαση των παραπάνω ευρημάτων από το νεκροταφείο διαμορφώνει έμμεσα ένα μέρος της εικόνας της ζωής στην Τουρλωτή και του δικτύου των σχέσεών των ανθρώπων της, αρχικά με τη μυκηναϊκή Κνωσό και κατόπιν με την ηπειρωτική χώρα, τη Σκύρο και τα Δωδεκάνησα κατά τη μετανακτορική περίοδο. Το εύρημα της κοινής ταφικής πυράς των δύο νεκρών προσφέρει νέα στοιχεία για τις ταφικές πρακτικές στην ανατολική Κρήτη και νέα ερωτήματα.

Στο δεύτερο μέρος της εργασίας παρουσιάζεται ο ψευδόστομος αμφορέας του πολυποδικού πυκνού ρυθμού ΜΣ 4026 από την παράδοση Φυγετάκη, ο οποίος αποδίδεται σε έναν συγκεκριμένο και διακριτό κεραμέα, που αποκαλείται συμβατικά «Ζωγράφος του Ξανθουδίδη». Στον καλλιτέχνη αυτόν αποδίδονται δύο ακόμη γνωστοί ψευδόστομοι αμφορείς από παλαιές ανασκαφές στα Μουλιανά, καθώς και ένας ακόμη, που φυλάσσεται σήμερα στο Μουσείο Κυκλαδικής Τέχνης (Ίδρυμα Ν.Π. Γουλανδρή). Αναλύεται η κοινή τεχνοτροπία των τεσσάρων αγγείων και τα προσωπικά καλλιτεχνικά ιδιώματα του «Ζωγράφου του Ξανθουδίδη» Ακόμη ανιχνεύεται η καλλιτεχνική συγγένεια του «Ζωγράφου» με αγγεία και λάρνακες άλλων εργαστηρίων της ανατολικής Κρήτης. Στη συνέχεια γίνεται συζήτηση για το ζήτημα της χρονολόγησης του πολυποδικού πυκνού ρυθμού και τέλος εντοπίζονται τα κοινά χαρακτηριστικά των αγγείων του ρυθμού αυτού από την ανατολική Κρήτη και η διασπορά τους στο υπόλοιπο Αιγαίο.

Στο τελευταίο μέρος παρουσιάζεται αναλυτικά η ανθρωπολογική μελέτη τού σκελετικού υλικού, που προέρχεται από την κοινή πυρά των δύο νεκρών του τάφου, που ανέσκαψε ο Νικόλαος Παπαδάκης. Αποδεικνύεται ότι το υλικό ανήκει σε δύο άτομα, έναν ενήλικα 25 ετών με παθολογικά ευρήματα στη σπονδυλική στήλη, κι ένα παιδί 6 ετών. Η εύρεση του παιδιού αποδεικνύει ότι δικαίωμα στην πυρά δεν είχαν μόνον οι ενήλικες, αλλά και τα παιδιά. Η πρώιμη αυτή περίπτωση είναι μοναδική μέχρι τώρα στο νεκροταφείο τής Τουρλωτής, όπου επικρατούσε ο ενταφιασμός. Η μεικτή πρακτική πυράς και ενταφιασμού στην Ανατολική Κρήτη κράτησε μερικούς αιώνες. Το γεγονός αυτό και η έλλειψη ανθρωπολογικών μελετών των καύσεων θέτει σε αμφισβήτηση τη θεωρία του αποκλεισμού των παιδιών από την πυρά.

Summary (Estratto)

LA NECROPOLI TARDO-MINOICA III DI TOURLOTÌ (SITIA).
IL «PITTORE DI XANTHOUDIDIS» E L’ OCTOPUS STYLE  NELLA CRETA ORIENTALE.

In questo lavoro sono presentati i risultati dello studio di due tombe a camera e di un  gruppo di vasi provenienti dalla necropoli TM III individuata in contrada Plakalona Tourlotì (Sitia), nella Creta orientale. La posizione della necropoli TM III così come del moderno villaggio di Tourlotì si trova sulle colline dietro il porto di Mochlos, sulla strada che va dalla Baia di Mirabello fino a Petra ed a Palekastro.

La prima tomba a camera è stata scavata da Metaxia Tsipopoulou nel 1984. Essa conteneva due sepolture dismesse e due vasi: un’anfora piriforme triansata e un’oinochoè trilobata. Il primo vaso, proveniente forse da Knossos, è datato al TM IIIA1 e riflette la posizione commerciale dominante della “capitale micenea” di Creta, prima della caduta. L’oinochoè trilobata, ad esso contemporaneo, risulta essere un tipo comune della cosiddetta “officina ceramica di Mochlos-Myrsini-Tourlotì”. Nelle oinochoè di questo tipo sopravvivono molte caratteristiche tradizionali morfologiche e decorative della ceramica minoica pre-micenea. Infine, sono presentate per la prima volta tre oinochoè simili dallo stesso laboratorio, provenienti da scavi clandestini ed oggi conservate presso il Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Atene.

La seconda tomba a camera è stata scavata da Nikos Papadakis, nello stesso anno (1984). Essa conteneva sei vasi, due fuseruole e un pendente di faïence, e ossa bruciate appartenenti ad un giovane uomo e un bambino, risalente agli inizi del TM IIIC. Delle quattro anfore a staffa, una è decorata con l’ Octopus Style, la seconda reca immagini di un paesaggio marino e le ultime due dovrebbero provenire dalla zona nord dell’isola di Rodi. Il gruppo è completato da uno stamnos, che conteneva le ossa bruciate, e dal suo coperchio. La scoperta di resti di un adulto e di un ragazzo nella stessa urna cineraria, fatto che si ritrova in altri due esempi contemporanei nella vicina necropoli di Kritsà, testimonia forse un determinato uso funerario o uno sconosciuto avvenimento storico in questa regione.

Il terzo gruppo di reperti provenienti dalla necropoli di Tourlotì, è stato consegnato da Manolis Fygetakis presso il Museo di Sitia cinquant’anni fa. Esso comprende due brocche, un’anfora a staffa di forma schiacciata dell’ “officina di Palekastro”, due anfore a staffa dello stile denso del polpo e un’ultima, che deve provenire da Skyros. Queste ceramiche sono datate tra l’inizio e la metà del TM IIIC.

La presentazione di questi risultati dalla necropoli crea indirettamente un’immagine parziale della vita a Tourlotì e la rete di relazioni dei suoi abitanti dapprima con la Knossos micenea e poi con la terraferma, Skyros e con il Dodecanneso durante il periodo post-palaziale. Il rinvenimento della pira funebre comune a due defunti offre nuove informazioni sulle pratiche di sepoltura nella Creta orientale, e fa sorgere nuovi interrogativi.

Nella seconda parte del lavoro è presentata l’anfora a staffa dello Close Octopus Style, (n. Inv. MS 4026) consegnata da Fygetakis, che è attribuita ad uno specifico e distinto ceramista, chiamato convenzionalmente «Pittore di Xanthoudidis». A questo artista sono attribuite altre due note anfore a staffa rinvenute nei vecchi scavi a Moulianà, e una terza che è oggi conservata presso il Museo di Arte Cicladica (Fondazione N.P. Goulandrì) ad Atene.

È analizzata la tecnica comune ai quattro vasi ed il personale stile artistico del «Pittore di Xanthoudidis». Si rintraccia inoltre l’affinità artistica del «Pittore» in vasi e “larnakes” di altri laboratori della Creta orientale. Segue quindi un dibattito sulla questione della cronologia dello Close Octopus Style ed, infine, si localizzano le caratteristiche comuni dei vasi di questo stile nella Creta orientale e la loro diffusione nel Mar Egeo.

Nell’ ultima parte del libro è presentato analiticamente lo studio dei materiali antropologici, dalla pira comune dei due defunti della tomba, che è stata scavata da Nikos Papadakis. Risulta che il materiale appartiene a due individui, un maggiorenne di 25 anni, con evidenze patologiche sulla colonna verterbrale, e un bambino di 6 anni, la cui scoperta dimostra che il diritto alla cremazione era riservato pure ai minorenni. Questo caso, datato all’inizio del TMIIIC, è finora unico nei confronti del cimitero di Tourloti, dove prevaleva la sepoltura. La pratica mista tra cremazione e sepoltura alla Creta orientale durò alcuni secoli. Questo fatto, accostato alla mancanza di studi antropologici sulla cremazione, mette in dubbio la teoria dell’esclusione dei bambini dalla creamazione
"

Available online:
https://www.lifo.gr/mag/features/3728

Διαθέσιμο εδώ:
https://www.lifo.gr/mag/features/3704

During a period of six months prior to the German invasion of Greece a group of workers and archaeologists was digging the floors of the National Archeological Museum to bury Athens’s most valuable treasures: its Kouroi and Lekythoi.

Διαθέσιμη διαδικτυακά εδώ:
https://www.blod.gr/lectures/erroso-errikos-shliemann-i-anakalypsi-tou-mykinaikou-politismou-kai-i-dimiourgia-tou-mykinaiou-mouseiou-mesa-apo-tis-anafores-ton-protagoniston-tis/

Η επικρατούσα άποψη ότι ο Σλήμαν ανέσκαψε και αποκάλυψε μέσα σε τέσσερις μήνες του 1876 έναν νέο Πολιτισμό, συνάδει με τη δική του επιθυμία να καρπώνεται το μέγιστο δυνατό κέρδος από κάθε του επιχείρηση. Ωστόσο, δεν ήταν ο Σλήμαν, αλλά ένας άλλος αρχαιολόγος που κατέγραψε με λεπτομέρεια την αποκάλυψη των “πολύχρυσων Μυκηνών” την ώρα που συνέβαινε, συνέστησε τον πρώτο, πλήρη κατάλογο των πολύτιμων ευρημάτων σε χρόνο ρεκόρ, ανέσκαψε και ανέδειξε κι άλλες αρχαιότητες της ίδιας εποχής, έκανε την πρώτη συνθετική προσέγγιση συγχρονισμού των ευρημάτων και έστησε την πρώτη, λαμπρή έκθεση της νέας αρχαιολογίας, στο πρωτοποριακό θεματικό, αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της χώρας: το Μυκηναίο Μουσείο (1878-1894)

Διαθέσιμη διαδικτυακά εδώ:
https://www.blod.gr/lectures/i-idrysi-i-istoria-kai-oi-peripeteies-tou-ethnikou-arhaiologikou-mouseiou-130-hronia-leitourgias-se-mia-dialeksi/

και εδώ:
https://www.blod.gr/lectures/i-idrysi-kai-oi-peripeteies-tou-ethnikou-arhaiologikou-mouseiou-ena-synoptiko-hroniko-me-aformi-tin-epeteio-ton-150-hronon-apo-ti-themeliosi-tou-1866-2016/

Ιδρύθηκε από την αρχή ως "Εθνικόν" και παρά τις πιέσεις να ονομαστεί "Κεντρικόν" διέσωσε τον αρχικό του τίτλο. Aποπερατώθηκε με ζήλο για να πλαισιώσει τους βασιλικούς γάμους του διαδόχου Κωνσταντίνου και της Σοφίας, στέγασε τα σπουδαιότερα αριστουργήματα της αρχαίας ελληνικής τέχνης, με νόμο που προέβλεπε να συγκεντρώνονται στο εξής εκεί τα μεγαλύτερα ευρήματα της σκαπάνης και αποτέλεσε από τις πρώτες μέρες της λειτουργίας του τον κεντρικό χώρο συντήρησης και αποκατάστασης των αρχαιοτήτων της χώρας.

Εκκενώθηκε σχεδόν εν μία νυκτί για το φόβο των βομβαρδισμών, στους μήνες που διήρκεσε το Αλβανικό Έπος. Χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως χώρος συναυλιών της Κρατικης Ορχήστρας, ως Υγειονομείο και ως προσωρινό κρατητήριο στην Κατοχή. Βομβαρδίστηκε ανελέητα και έχασε τη στέγη του στα Δεκεμβριανά, γιατί βρέθηκε στη ζώνη του πυρός. Κινδύνευσε να μετατραπεί σε έδρα του Άρειου Πάγου, αλλά αποκαταστάθηκε ως Μουσείο χάρη στις επιδέξιες διπλωματικές κινήσεις των διευθυντών του, αμέσως μετά τον Πόλεμο.

Επανεξέθεσε το σύνολο των Συλλογών του δύο φορές μέσα στα τελευταία 65 χρόνια φτάνοντας τα 10.000 τετραγωνικά μέτρα μόνιμων εκθέσεων, με δεκάδες χιλιάδες αρχαιότητες σε προθήκες και διακόσιες χιλιάδες καταγεγραμμένες στις αποθήκες του. Έχει εξυπηρετήσει περί τις 9.000 διαφορετικές μελέτες ειδικών επιστημόνων από όλο τον κόσμο στα 130 χρόνια της λειτουργίας του, καθώς και δεκάδες περιοδικές εκθέσεις με τεράστια επιτυχία, ενώ τα τελευταία 15 χρόνια εκπονεί και παρουσιάζει αναρίθμητα εκπαιδευτικά προγράμματα για μαθητές και βέβαια, δέχεται ετησίως πολλές εκατοντάδες χιλιάδες επισκέπτες.

Το Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο. Το αθόρυβο θαύμα στο κέντρο της πόλης σε μία διάλεξη, που φιλοδοξεί να σκιαγραφήσει το αδύνατο. Τα 130 χρόνια της Ιστορίας ενός δημόσιου και μοναδικού στον κόσμο Ιδρύματος.

The legendary excavation of Mycenae’s Grave Circle A in 1876 resulted in the celebration of Heinrich and Sophia Schliemann as the sole excavators. The crucial role of Panayotis Stamatakis, the systematic and perceptive archaeologist who was assigned to supervise the excavation as a representative of the Greek state, was – for a long time – largely unacknowledged. Stamatakis’ invaluable manuscripts, where he recorded one by one all the finds and their locations, attributing them to specific burials, went missing for more than a century. Now part of the Archive of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, these manuscripts shed new light on the taphonomy and burial customs of Grave Circle A, revealing the biographies of the first Mycenaean rulers.