Introduction
Funerary evidence is one of the traditional fields of Greek archaeology, but only in relatively recent times has it developed as a major source in its own right for the study of Greek culture and society, the focus being traditionally on great public architecture and figurative art.
Historical Background
Among the many changes that took place in Greece between the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age are those in burial customs. Multiple burials disappear and individual pit or cist tombs become the new standard. Cremation also establishes itself, even though not across the whole Greek world and not all at the same time. In important regions such as Argolis, Boeotia, and some of the islands (Sporades, northern Cyclades, Kos), inhumation was still in use until the end of the eighth century BCE. In the Peloponnesus, cremation remains a minority practice. On Crete cremation is prevalent, but there the traditional collective graves remained in use. In many...
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Further Reading
D'Agostino, B. 1996. Le necropoli e i rituali della morte. in S. Settis (ed.) I Greci. Storia, cultura, arte e società, Volume 2.1: 435–70. Torino: Einaudi.
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Pontrandolfo, A. 1999. Le necropoli e i riti funerari, in E. Greco (ed.) La città greca antica. Istituzioni, società e forme urbane: 55–81. Roma: Donzelli.
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Colivicchi, F. (2014). Tombs, Greek (Iron Age). In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_930
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