Excavations of chamber tombs at the Mycenaean Greek cemetery at Aidonia by the Tombs of Aidonia Preservation, Heritage, and explOration Synergasia (TAPHOS) have revealed a long history of use spanning the entirely of the Late Bronze Age (c. 16th-12th centuries BCE). Many tombs at Aidonia were reused over centuries. Some earlier burials consisted of curated inhumations of deceased individuals laid out with ornate adornments, vessels, and weapons. Anyone entering the tomb would encounter a spectacle that referenced the glory of the past embodied in the burials of each individual. This paper explores how the living constructed, reconstructed, and communicated ideas about death and the dead each time the tomb was entered. The complexity of the burial practices is illustrated through case studies of two tombs that were subject to careful excavation including bioarchaeological approaches, pXRF analysis of metal finds, and aDNA analysis. The result is an important understanding of Mycenaean Greek burial practices that were constantly negotiating and renegotiating the power of the past.

Selected Bibliography

Kvapil, K., Shelton, K. 2019, Among the Ancestors at Aidonia, in Borgna, E., Caloi, I., Carinci, F.M., Laffineur, R. (eds), MNEME. Past and Memory in the Aegean Bronze Age: Proceedings of the 17th International Aegean Conference, University of Udine, Department of Humanities and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Department of Humanities, 17-21 April 2018, Leuven, 293-299.

https://nemeacenter.berkeley.edu/fieldwork-aidonia/