DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0035
8
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
tholos b certain solitary tombs, were buried in the tombs as occasion required. They
were literally ' gathered to their fathers.' The proof lies not only in the dis-
turbed state of the bones but, as we shall see, in the chronological differences in
the objects found with them.
III. THE SEPULCHRAL GEAR OF THOLOS B
Looting of the Although the number of important objects found in Tholos B was great,
Objects I believe these to be only a small part of what had been deposited in the tomb
in its many years of uninterrupted use. The excavation of these tombs has
taught me that the objects of the greatest intrinsic value, and especially those
of metal, were looted or disappeared whenever a new funeral gave crowds the
opportunity of access. For I observed that little or nothing was found with the
bones where these had been moved, which must mean that when the earlier
skeletons were disturbed their property was taken away. On the other hand,
in the upper layer of the last burials, which had not been desecrated, objects
were found in greater numbers and of material value. In Tholos A at Platanos,
for example, where the lower, earlier, burial stratum had been covered up with
white clay and this new floor had been used for the latest burials, though these
were far fewer, their gold and other property was intact; while little had been
left to the dead of the lower stratum, perhaps only what had escaped the looter's
eye. Further, I remarked that certain tholoi, especially very large ones like E
at Koumasa and those at Hagia Triada and Drakones, had been stripped of
everything ; and the great mass of earth and stones that covered them suggests
that the plunderings must have been done in the Minoan age or not long after.
They were stripped bare, or, if anything was left, it was quite out of proportion
to the size of the tomb and the mass of interments. These instances of complete
plundering we must suppose to have occurred after the tomb had stood for a
long time, when the people of the Later Minoan age or of a subsequent period
made new use of it as a burial or dwelling place, as happened for example with
the tholoi of Hagia Eirene, Salame, and Praesos.1
I have classified the objects found in Tholos B as follows :—
A. Vases and utensils of clay.
B. Vases and utensils of stone.
C. Figurines.
D. Metal objects.
E. Seals.
F. Miscellaneous.
1 B.S.A., VIII, pp. 240-245. This tholos, in my used again at a later date for burial, for purposes
view, like those of Mesara, belongs to the Early of worship, or as a dwelling.
Minoan period, but lost its earlier contents when
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
tholos b certain solitary tombs, were buried in the tombs as occasion required. They
were literally ' gathered to their fathers.' The proof lies not only in the dis-
turbed state of the bones but, as we shall see, in the chronological differences in
the objects found with them.
III. THE SEPULCHRAL GEAR OF THOLOS B
Looting of the Although the number of important objects found in Tholos B was great,
Objects I believe these to be only a small part of what had been deposited in the tomb
in its many years of uninterrupted use. The excavation of these tombs has
taught me that the objects of the greatest intrinsic value, and especially those
of metal, were looted or disappeared whenever a new funeral gave crowds the
opportunity of access. For I observed that little or nothing was found with the
bones where these had been moved, which must mean that when the earlier
skeletons were disturbed their property was taken away. On the other hand,
in the upper layer of the last burials, which had not been desecrated, objects
were found in greater numbers and of material value. In Tholos A at Platanos,
for example, where the lower, earlier, burial stratum had been covered up with
white clay and this new floor had been used for the latest burials, though these
were far fewer, their gold and other property was intact; while little had been
left to the dead of the lower stratum, perhaps only what had escaped the looter's
eye. Further, I remarked that certain tholoi, especially very large ones like E
at Koumasa and those at Hagia Triada and Drakones, had been stripped of
everything ; and the great mass of earth and stones that covered them suggests
that the plunderings must have been done in the Minoan age or not long after.
They were stripped bare, or, if anything was left, it was quite out of proportion
to the size of the tomb and the mass of interments. These instances of complete
plundering we must suppose to have occurred after the tomb had stood for a
long time, when the people of the Later Minoan age or of a subsequent period
made new use of it as a burial or dwelling place, as happened for example with
the tholoi of Hagia Eirene, Salame, and Praesos.1
I have classified the objects found in Tholos B as follows :—
A. Vases and utensils of clay.
B. Vases and utensils of stone.
C. Figurines.
D. Metal objects.
E. Seals.
F. Miscellaneous.
1 B.S.A., VIII, pp. 240-245. This tholos, in my used again at a later date for burial, for purposes
view, like those of Mesara, belongs to the Early of worship, or as a dwelling.
Minoan period, but lost its earlier contents when