EARLY CRET AN TOMBS : THE POTTERY

Most of our know ledge of Minoan Crete is based on finds from palaces and settlements,
and the material from tombs has added relatively little to the general picture. Part of this has, of
course, to do with the overwhelming importance of the excavations at Knossos, Phaistos and
Mallia at the beginning of this century and with the fact that Evans used very little evidence
from tombs when he painted his picture of the Minoan civilization in The Palace of Minos.
Even studies of the prepalatial period are to a large extent focused on the finds from settlements
such as Myrtos and Vasiliki. After Xanthoudides's publication of The Vaulted Tombs of
Mesara in 1924, scholars have been interested mainly in tomb architecture and problems such
as the roof construction of the tholoi 1. The architecture of the Mesara tholoi has been
discussed by Hood and others, and Soles has studied the architecture of the Gournia house
tombs and, recently, the evidence of social ranking in prepalatial cemeteries. The finds from
the Mesara tholoi as a whole have been used as a point of departure for reconstructions of
Early Bronze Age society in the villages of southern Crete 2 . There are, however, very few
studies of specifie types of finds from the tombs. Branigan's study of copper and bronze-
working 3 is largely based on tomb material, but is not exclusively focused on the evidence
from the tombs. Yule's study of early Cretan seals includes much tomb material 4, and my
own study of provincial Middle Minoan pottery deals with Middle Minoan ceramics from
tombs, settlements and sanctuaries 5. None of these studies are, however, concerned with the
function of the objects in the tombs and with their role in the funerary context from which they
come. Branigan's study of the Mesara tholoi includes surveys of the different types of material
found in the tombs, but these surveys are, of course, rather brief.
Pottery forms the largest class of material from early Cretan tombs and is, therefore,
especially suit able for investigation. By studying the material from different types of tombs in
different parts of Crete -pithos burials and ossuaries in eastern Crete as well as the Mesara

(1) S. HOOD, Antiquity 34 (1960) p. 166 sq.; J. SOLES, The Gournia House Tombs : A Study of the
Architecture. Chronology and Use of Built Rectangular Tombs of Crete (Univ. Microfilms 1973).
(2) BRANIGAN, Foundations, p. 114 sq.; BRANIGAN, Tombs, p. 121 sq.
(3) K. BRANIGAN, Copper and Bronze Working in Early Bronze Age Crete (SIMA XIX [1968]).
(4) P. YULE, Marburger Studien zur Vor-und Frühgeschichte 4 (1980).
(5) WALBERG, Pottery.
 54 Gisela W ALBERG

tholoi- 1 hope to determine whether the pottery is different in different types of tombs and in
different parts of Crete, whether any significant changes take place during the Early and
Middle Bronze Age and whether there is any particular preference for certain shapes and
decorative motifs in the tombs. 1 also hope, if possible, to obtain sorne more information
concerning funerary rites.
The tholos tombs of Central Crete contained large amounts of pottery brought to the
tombs over long periods, and the material from them is, therefore, likely to reflect especially
chronological changes. The material was, as is well known, much disturbed by subsequent
burials, but enough observations have been made of the location of various vessels to permit
sorne conclusions about their use.
Tholos B at Koumasa is, for instance, comparatively large and contains material from
the EM 1 to the MM 1 phase 6 . Among the EM 1 vases are suspension pots and also sorne
pyxides. These vessels, which are small and have a diameter averaging 10 cm., were
presumably used to hold small-sized personal belongings of the dead. Four large lids can also
be connected with early burials in the tomb. The vessels to which the lids belonged could not
be identified, but the y must have been large and coarse. The lids are reminiscent of lids found
in Minoan sanctuaries and caves and it is generally assumed that the lids in these contexts were
used to protect ingredients for ritual meals. Later pottery, from the MM 1 phase, includes a
small necked jar and a jug. The area between tholos B and the smaller tholos A contained,
among other vessels, askoi, of which one can be identified as a bul!. There were also several
jugs with the dark cross-hatched decoration which has given the name to the so-caIled
Koumasa Style. A homed jug of a type found in CK sanctuaries at Phaistos was found in the
earth above tholos E. The area outside the tholoi contained chiefly bowls, cups and jugs of EM
III and provincial MM phase 1 type. There are also several animal- and bag-shaped askoi.
Three jugs with three vertical handles have a barbotine decoration which belongs to phase 2
and has several parallels from the palace at Phaistos and from the tholos tomb at Hagia Triada.
The find-context of a vase shaped like a pair of legs is not specified. The decoration shows that
it belongs to phase 1 and the motif has parallels on teapots from the setùement at Paterikies.
r
The same shape has been found above tholos at Platanos. An askos in the shape of a woman
with one of her arms (or a snake) wrapped around the spout of the vessel is to sorne extent
reminiscent of the so-called Myrtos Goddess from the sanctuary at Myrtos. The material from
outside the tombs also included a feeding-bottle. The material from the Koumasa tholoi thus
II
suggests that there was a change during the EM phase from small closed or lidded vessels to
small jugs and that in EM III and MM 1,jugs, cups and animal-shaped vessels are dominant.
The painted decoration is abstract and corresponds closely to that of vessels from
contemporary settlements and the palace at Phaistos. There is no special preference for any
particular type of motif. One bull-shaped askos and two small jugs have human figures
c1inging to the spout. The homed jug and the askos in the shape of a woman, as weIl as the

(6) XANTHOUDIDES, Vaulted Tombs, p. 3 sq. See also WALBERG, Pottery, p. 101-102.
 EARLY CRETAN roMBS : TIIE POTTERY 55

animal-shaped askoi, can be connected with cult and sanctuaries.

The finds from the so-called Tholos II at Porti confirm the observations about the
change in pottery shapes in EM ID 7. The tomb seems to have been built in EM ID and to have
been in use mainly during the Middle Minon period. The shapes include jugs, bowls and cups,
and there are several teapots and bridge-spouted jars, which like the jugs must have been used
for the storing of liquids. There are also animal-shaped askoi, lamps and an offeringtable of
clay. The decoration of the vessels is, as in the case of the Koumasa vessels, of a kind that
appears on vessels from other types of sites. Sorne of the motifs are paralleled at Paterikies and
at Geophyrakia, where there may have been a small sanctuary.
The material from the site of Drakones, three kilometers east of Koumasa, does not
come from the two tholoi excavated at the site by Xanthoudides, but from burials outside the
tholoi. Xanthoudides dated the material in MM 1, but there is also sorne EM ID material 8. The
shapes are jugs, teapots, spouted bowls and cups. There is also a small necked jar and two
large lids, of which one must have belonged to a pithos or a large jar. It seems, therefore, that
the custom of storing material in the tombs in large coarse vessels continued from the early part
of the Early Bronze Age. The decoration of the jugs consists of knobs and barbotine ridges of
a type which is found in Geophyrakia and in the Upper East Well deposit at Knossos.
The tholoi and small square tombs at Platanos contained EM TIl and phase 1 and 2
material 9. Tholos A contained a bridge-spouted jar, which is reminiscent of spouted bowls
from other Mesara tholoi, a spouted bowl, a teapot with basket handle and a cylindrical cup.
The cup, which is decorated with alternating red and white elements has several parallels from
Phaistos and other sites, from contexts of non-funerary type. Most of the pottery from tholos
B at Platanos belongs to phase 1 and 2. A spouted bowl is probably as early as EM TIl. The
shapes are again teapots, cups, bowls or plates and jugs. There is also a large jar with
horizontal ridges and two leg-shaped vases of the type that we have already encountered at
Koumasa. A bull-shaped askos recalls the bull-shaped askos from Koumasa. The decoration is
also here abstract and of a kind that has parallels at many other sites and in non-funerary
contexts.
The most common shape at Varou, northeast of Gortyn, is the based, conical cup or
"eggcup" 10. It appears in several different varieties, representing early as well as late stages of
phase 1. The cups are reported to have been found in small groups of two or three. There were
also teapots of which one belongs to phase 2, and a jug and two cylindrical cups that may
belong to phase 3. ln addition to these vessels the tomb contained pithoi, used for burials and
larnakes of Late Minoan date. Outside tholos A a great number of sheepbells were found.
What was the function of the vessels found within and outside the tholoi ? Branigan has

(7) XANTHOUDIDES, Vaulted Tombs, p. 54 sq.; WALBERG, Pottery, p. 100-101.

(8) XANTHOUDIDES, Vaulted Tombs, p. 76 sq.; WALBERG, Pottery, p. 102-103.
(9) XANTHOUDIDES, Vaulted Tombs, p. 88 sq.; WALBERG, Pottery, p. 99-100.
(10) Sp. MARINATOS, Mo 1tproÏjlOt JltVWïICOl-ru<pOt ÈICBapou Mwapâs, ArchDelt 9 (1924-1925), p. 53
sq.; WALBERG, Pottery, p. 103-104.
56 Gisela W ALBERG

suggested that the vessels found inside the tombs may have been used for sorne kind of
"toasting" ceremony in connexion with the deposition of the body in the tomb 11. The ritual
would, according to him, have involved the drinking of a liquid (wine ?), poured into one or
several cups and a token meal, consisting of meat, fruit and bread. But a ritual me al held inside
the tomb seems rather unlikely, because while anyone entering a Minoan tholos tomb in use
may need a stiff drink, it is not probable that he or she would stay for very long. Branigan
dismisses the possibility that the vessels may have held food gifts to the dead, because very
few food remains have been found in the tholoi, and also the possibility that the vessels were
the personal belongings of the dead, buried with them, because so many of the vessels are
jugs. Branigan finds it possible that every man and woman might have owned his own cup
and plate or bowl but not a jug as weil 12. The pottery found outside the tholoi cornes partly
from antechambers and partly, as we have seen, from areas near the tombs. Antechambers at
Hagia Triada A, Apesokari II, Lebena II, Vorou A and Kamilari 1 contained masses of conical
cups 13. Branigan takes these cups to be mass-produced for ritual purposes and suggests that
the "toasting" ceremony may have been removed from the main part of the tomb to the outside
chamber 14. The ritual would, according to mm, have involved "toasting" and libations from
animal-shaped askoi in connection with the funeral. The picture given by Branigan is that of a
very brief and simple ceremony with two or three participants, as the grouping of the cups at
Vorou would indicate 15.
Several of the tholos tombs had surrounding pavements or enclosures. Apesokari 1
possibly had an altar within the enclosure, slightly off center 16. ln a corner of the paved area
of Kamilari 1, there were flat stone slabs placed on top of each other 17. On the slabs were
inverted, conical cups, reminiscent of cups found in various sanctuaries and sometimes
covering the remains of vegetable matter. The presence of three bronze double-axes outside the
tombs at Platanos also suggests that sorne kind of ritual must have taken place in front of
the tombs 18. Branigan suggests that the se ceremonies involved ritual dancing and that they
were not primarily connected with the burials, but rather forerunners of the ceremonies later
held on the palatial courts 19.
We have, however, seen that several vessels found inside the tholoi have parallels in
sanctuaries, and the tholoi also contained stone palettes of a kind that appears, for instance, in

(11) BRANIGAN, Tombs, p. 93.

(12) BRANlGAN, Tombs, p. 92.
(13) BRANlGAN, Tombs, p. 98.
(14) BRANIGAN,Tombs, p. 101.
(15) MARINATOS, op. cil., p. 149.
(16) A. SCHORGENDORFER, in Fr. MATZ (ed.), Forschungen auf Krela 1942 (1951), p. 18.
Schôrgendorfer does, however, identify il as a roof support.
(17) D. LEVI, AnnScAlene n.s. 23-24 (1961-1962), p. 80 sq., fig. 105-106.
(18) XANTHOUDIDES,Vaulled Tombs, pl. LVI, inv n. 1909 and 1943.
(19) BRANIGAN,Tombs, p. 136.
 EARLY CRETAN TOMBS: TI-IE POTTERY 57

sanctuaries at Phaistos 20. Gesell has suggested that these palettes were used for the crushing
of pigments, intended for the decoration of cult objects 21. This means that there is no reason
to believe that the rites performed in the outside area were unrelated to the tomb. One rnight,
indeed, expect ceremonies taking place in the enclosure in front of a tomb to be focused on the
tomb. It seems like1y that the rites performed outside the tombs were the funerary rites and that
sorne of the vessels and other equipment used during the ceremonies were brought into the
tomb in connexion with the deposition of the body or, when space was lacking, left in the
antechambers. If libations and ritual meals took place outside the tomb and the vessels that had
contained the food and the liquids were buried with the dead, we wou Id have an explanation of
the proportionally high number of jugs found inside the tombs and also of the lack of food
remains. Sorne of the vessels found inside the tombs may, of course, have been the personal
belongings of the dead. The vessels in the antechambers are likely to represent the bulk of the
vessels used for the ritual and the chambers may have served as storage rooms.
If we turn to tombs in other parts of Crete, we find that the material from them is in
many cases sirnilar to the material from the Mesara tholoi. The pottery from the premier
charnier at Mallia consists mainly of jugs, teapots, cups and bowls 22. The second charnier
contains cups, bowls, small jars and a jug decorated with an incised representation of a man,
dressed in a loin-clotho There was also a small bull's head and an askos in the shape of a
woman reminiscent of the one from Koumasa 23.
Most of the material from the so-called Chrysolakkos came from a deposit north of the
tomb. The fragments are mainly of cups, but there are also a few fragments of jugs 24. The
decoration has parallels from several other sites, among them sorne from Paterikies 25. One of
the chambers of the tomb contained an altar and another a cupule stone, which again shows a
strong connexion between cult and burials 26.
Most of the vessels from the EM il-MM 1 Molchos tombs are jugs, teapots and
cups 27. Tomb XIX contained a lid or fruitstand of the same type as the lids from Koumasa
and tomb il an offeringtable of stone 28. A bull-shaped askos was found in tomb XI and in
tomb Xill an askos in the shape of a woman holding her breasts 29. The decoration of the
vases from the Mochlos tomb is of a type found in sanctuaries and settlements elsewhere, and
nothing suggests that any decorative motifs were specifically painted for funerary use 30. The

(20) XANTHOUDIDES,Vaulted Tombs, pl. XXI, XXXVIII and XLIII; D. LEVI,

Festos e La Civilta Minoica 1 (lncunabula Graeca 60 [1976]), p. 87.
(21) G. GESELL, Town. Palace and House Cult in Minoan Crete (SIMA LXVII [1985]), p. 11, 16.
(22) SEAGER, Mochlos. See also WALBERG, Pottery, p. 129-130.
(23) SEAGER, Mochlos, p. 71.
(24) SEAGER, Mochlos, p. 60, fig. 28,29 and p. 64, fig. 32, 34.
(25) WALBERG, Pottery, p. 69.
(26) SEAGER, Mochlos, p. 41, fig. 15.
(27) DEMARGNE, Nécropoles, pl. II-N, XXVII-XXX.
(28) DEMARGNE, Nécropoles, pl. V-IX, XXXI-XXXIII.
(29) DEMARGNE, Nécropoles, pl. XII-XXI, LIX-LX.
(30) WALBERG, Pottery, p. 111-112.
58 Gisela WALBERG

area outside tombs IV, V and VI was paved in the same way as the area outside sorne of the
Mesara tholoi 31. This suggests that funerary rites were performed in the northeastern part of
Crete as in the south-central part of the island, and material from Gournia and Palaikastro
points in the same direction. Fewer burials were evidently made inthe East Cretan tombs than
in the Mesara tombs and they are not reported to have been filled up with banes to the same
extent as sorne Mesara tombs.
The tombs we have dealt with so far are all intended for several burials. While they
were in use from EM II-MM III, single burials in larnakes and pithoi were introduced in EM
III. Early larnakes have been found in tholos D at Drakones together with two seals of MM 1
date. There are also EM ID child burials in vessels as far east as Pachyammos 32. Tholos A at
Varou contained several larnakes of a later date and also pithos burials as did tholos B ca. 1
kilometer south of tholos A 33. Rutkowski sees the pithos burial as a continuation of Early
Minoan tradition, whereas he regards the larnax burial as an innovation which he links with
innovations in metallurgy, stone-working and architecture 34. Branigan has connected the
appearance of individual burials with the establishment of large urban settlements and the
breakdown of the clan solidarity. Both explain it as a growth in individualism and a reaction to
urban life 35. Sorne objections can, however, be made to their suggestions. Since bath pithos
burials and larnakes appear in the same tomb, it seems unlikely that they should represent
different and separate traditions. The fact that the larnakes and pithos burials appear at small
sites and not in the vicinity of palaces or large settlements also makes the idea of individual
burials as a reaction to urban life improbable. Besides, a Mesara village may not have
encouraged individualism more than a Minoan palace. The pithoi and the larnakes in the tholoi
may have been used to protect the body from the repeated disturbances that new burials would
have created and in order to keep sorne objects with the dead person.
Rutkowski has also suggested that the larnakes are adapted from domestic vessels and
that one type is derived from wooden troughs 36. This is, of course, impossible to prove, but
the use of a jar, very similar to EM IIB and later domestic jars for a child burial at the so-called
Maison des Morts at Mallia supports the connexion between larnakes and household
vessels37.
The two most interesting sites with burials in larnakes and pithoi are Pachyammos and
Sphoungaras. The cemetery at Pachyammos was 150 meters long and 40 meters wide. There

(31) DEMARGNE, Nécropoles, p. 33-38, pl. XLVII-LI.

(32) St. XANTHOUDIDES, MÉras 1tpClYto~LVo>ïKOÇ 'ta.<poç nupyoç, ArchDelt 4, p. 136 sq.;
XANTHOUDIDES, Vaulted Tombs, p. 76; R.B. SEAGER, The Cemetery of Pachyammos, Crete
(1916), p. 9.
(33) MARINATOS, op. cit., p. 152-153.
(34) B. RUTKOWSKI, 'A1to TI]V iCHopiav 'trov KPllnKrov ÀaPVa.KO>V,nE1tpar~Éva 'toû B' ôu:9voûç
KPll'tOMyt.KOÛouvEôpiou A (1%7), p. 236.
(35) BRANIGAN, Foundations, p. 177; BRANIGAN, Tombs, p. 131.
(36) RUTKOWSKI, op. cit., p. 234-235.
(37) Van EFFENTERRE, Nécropoles, pl. XXXIX.
 EARLY CRETAN lDMBS: TIIE POTTERY 59

were very few objects placed with the dead, except for a few clay cups, which had been placed
inside the large vessels with the body 38. Many of the burial vessels were undecorated, but
sorne of them were painted with various motifs. Several vessels have a dark-on-light network
of disc-spirals of a type that is frequent at many sites in eastern Crete. There are also more
elaborate spiral motifs and rosettes, and several have a simple trickle pattern 39. A few vessels
have, however, a more unusual decoration. One is, for instance, decorated with leaping
dolphins, another with dolphins and rocks and a third with an octopus motif 40. Octopus-
motifs appear on vases from the Kamares Cave and from Grotta M at Phaistos, and while it is
possible that the octopus-motif had sorne religious connexion, there is no conclusive
evidence 41. A leaping dolphin in relief decorates the stem of a fruitstand from Phaistos and
dolphins are also represented on the fresco from the Queen's Megaron at Knossos, which may
suggest a religious connexion, but again the material does not permit any safe
conclusions 42. The cemetery at Sphoungaras contained sorne hundred and fifty burial
jars 43. Many were undecorated and sorne had the same simple trickle pattern as the previously
mentioned jars from Pachyammos. Sorne had a dark-on-light network of disc-spirals, while
the more elaborately decorated examples were painted with zones of spirals and foliate bands.
At both cemeteries, the bodies had been placed sitting up with the knees close to the chin and
with the jar or pithos over the head 44. No enclosures or pavements are reported from these
cemeteries and the religious element is less obvious here than in the tombs with multiple
burials.
Do the cemeteries with single burials indicate a radical change in beliefs and attitude
towards the dead ? 1 do flot think that this is necessarily the case. As we have seen, larnakes
are found in sorne cases within the tholos tombs from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age
and at the same time burials were made outside the tholoi. It is obvious in many cases that
sorne of the tholoi were filled-up. The burials outside the tholoi in Central Crete may be the
result of a wish to reserve the tholoi for certain important dead and the comparatively
fewer burials in the East Cretan Mochlos tombs suggest that sorne restrictions and limitations
existed there. The cemeteries at Pachyammos and Sphoungaras could in that case represent
groups of persons not entitled to be buried in such a tomb. The funerary rites may to sorne
extent have been similar to those performed in connexion with the tombs with multiple burials,
even though we do not find objects with religious connexions immediately together with the
burials. Since the cemeteries of this type offered no coyer, cult objects, vessels, etc., must
have been removed and stored elsewhere between the ceremonies. The material does,

(38) SEAGER, op. cit., pl. XXXIX.

(39) ID., op. cit., pl. IV-VII.
(40) ID., op. cit., pl. IX, XIII, XIV.
(41) G. WALBERG, "Early Cretan Sanctuaries : The Pottery", in Gifts to the Gods (symposium, Uppsala
Sept. 20-22 1985, forthcoming).
(42) Ibidem.
(43) E. HALL, Excavations in Eastern Crete. SpJwungaras (1912), p. 45.
(44) ID., op. cil., p. 61-62.
60 Gisela W ALBERG

obviously, not allow any conclusions, but the absence of objects usuaIly found with the
multiple burials does not necessarily mean a vast difference in funerary rituals.
A study of the material thus shows that the same pottery types appear in aIl communal
tombs in different parts of Crete. ln EM n, there is a change from small closed vessels, such
as suspension pots and pyxides suitable for holding small objects, combined with large coarse
vessels, to vessels for pouring, eating and drinking such as jugs, cups and plates and, in sorne
cases, teapots and bridge-spouted jars. There are also large lids indicating the continued
presence of large, coarse vessels. There is no particular preference for certain decorative motifs
in the tombs and the vessels found in the tombs were probably not specificaIly made for
funerary purposes in this period, with the exception of the' vessels in the shape of two legs and
the askoi in the shape of animaIs and women. Several vessels and other objects from the tombs
have parallels from contemporary sanctuaries, which indicates that the funeral rites may have
been related to the cult in the sanctuaries and that they included more than a simple "toasting"
ceremony. The presence of altars outside the tombs points in the same direction. The many
cups, jugs, plates and bowls suggest that the ceremonies included libations and ritual meals
and the se are likely to have taken place outside the tombs. The use of larnakes and pithoi for
burials should not be seen in sharp contrast to each other, but rather as the employment of two
different types of large vessels to protect the bodies. The introduction of individual burials in
pithoi and larnakes in cemeteries may, finally, represent a less substantial change in attitude
towards the dead than it seems to be.

Gisela W ALBERG