P. Lera, S. Oikonomidis, A. Papayiannis, A. Tsonos, “The ancestral message of the dead: tumuli, settlements, landscape and the utility of memory in the prehistory of Albania and Western Greece”, in ΕΣΠΕΡΟΣ / HESPEROS. The Aegean Seen from the West (Aegaeum 41, 2017) (original) (raw)
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The main aim of the Argos ‘Tumuli’ Project is to publish the assemblage of the Argos ‘tumuli’ cemeteries, excavated during rescue excavations in the late ‘70s. The ‘Tumuli’, i.e. groupings of ca. 110 tombs found in the important settlement of Argos, were interpreted as burial mounds by the excavator, the late Dr E. Deilaki. These tombs are very important for our understanding of social organisation during a crucial phase of Greek prehistory: the Middle Bronze Age and the transition to the Late Bronze Age, a period marked by rapid and pervasive social change which eventually led to the formation of the Mycenaean palatial polities. The ultimate aim of our study is to understand the position of Argos in the changing political landscape of the Middle Bronze Age Argolid. The project involves an up-to date study of the burial assemblage and the funerary practices, and the re-examination of archival information pertaining to the Argos ‘tumuli’. The project includes a full osteological examination of the (extant) skeletons, while various scientific methods of analysis (radiocarbon analysis, stable isotopes analysis in order to establish dietary variation and ancient DNA analysis in order to establish kinship relations) are planned for the immediate future. In this paper we will focus on the following questions: • Do these graves belong to an elite? Do they reflect social differentiation in the • When were individual graves, or the ‘tumuli’ as a whole, in use? • Can we reconstruct the history of use of grave groupings or ‘tumuli’? • Are we dealing with real and typical tumuli? community?
Excavation of the Prehistoric Burial Tumulus at Lofkënd, Albania
The burial tumulus of Lofkënd lies in one of the richest archaeological areas of Albania (ancient Illyria) home to a number of burial tumuli spanning the Bronze and Iron Ages of later European prehistory. Modern understanding of the pre- and protohistory of Illyria has largely been shaped by the contents of such burial mounds, yet some were robbed long ago, others reused for modern burials, and few were excavated under scientific conditions. What inspired this systematic exploration by UCLA was more than the promise of an unplundered necropolis; it was also the chance to revisit the significance of this tumulus and its fellows for the emergence of urbanism and complexity in ancient Illyria. In addition to artifacts, the recovery of surviving plant remains, bones, and other organic material contributed to insights into the environmental and ecological history of the region. Full analysis of all the skeletal remains, inhumed and cremated, enhanced knowledge about the demography and human population in this region of Albania. Finally, an intensive survey of the environment around the burial mound revealed the long-term history of its human and natural landscape. For more information and book orders, go to: http://www.ioa.ucla.edu/publications/browse-books/monumenta-archaeologica/the-excavation-of-the-prehistoric-burial-tumulus-at-lofkend-albania