Tombs, Graves, Burial

Question 1

Burial customs

Answer 1

• drink offerings to the gods - badly damaged metal cups have been found on the floor of tholos tombs
• Meals in honour of the dead - bones of animals and sea-shells have been found
• gifts would have been offered - decayed or robbed in ancient times
• a stele would be placed over the tomb

Question 2

What do painted scenes on clay caskets tell us?

Answer 2

• shows a funeral procession of women, wearing elaborate dresses
• some women were an unusual feathered cap
• women, rather than men, have their hands raised to their heads - sign of grief
• on one casket, a body lies on a bed and the body is wrapped in a short tunic
• on another casket, a libation seems to be poured in honour of the dead

Question 3

Structure + use of cist grave

Answer 3

• most basic type
• shallow pit dug in the earth + the sides covered in slabs of stone
• pile of stones was placed at the bottom for the body to lie on
• pits were small -> body had to be in curved position
• before the Mycenaean age they were intended for single use —> start of Mycenaean Age they began to be grouped together with a mound of earth raised on top
• the mound was opened up when a new body needed to be buried

Question 4

Structure + use of shaft graves

Answer 4

• start of Mycenaean age
• Grave circle B contained fourteen shaft graves
• natural development of a cist grave —> but larger and deeper
• narrow shaft dug up to 2.5m deep
• at the bottom a chamber with low rubble walls and a roof support, which rested on a rock ledge
• finally the shaft was filled

Question 5

Grave Zeta

Answer 5

• largest shaft grave
• 3.4m x 3.9m
• a chamber with low rubble walls and roof support

Question 6

Dromos

Answer 6

a passageway leading to the tholos tomb

Question 7

Gold death mask of Agamemnom

Answer 7

• 16th century BC
• Grave V, Grave Circle A, Mycenae
• made of gold sheets
• 17cm tall and 25cm wide but only weighed 168g - indicates thinness of gold
• hammering, repoussé
• shows technique in metal working and burial customs

Question 8

Items found in Grave V, Circle A

Answer 8

• two gold death masks
• gold cup with repoussé spirals
• gold necklace
• bronze dagger with blade inlaid with gold spirals
• amber bead necklace
• gold octopus brooch