Monuments of Earth and Stone: Social Significance of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Tumuli at Mitrou, Central Greece (20 min)

Presenters

Aleydis Van de Moortel, University of Tennessee; and Nicholas P. Herrmann, Texas State University at San Marcos

Abstract

Studies of Bronze Age and Early Iron Age tumuli in mainland Greece indicate that commemorative mounds are very much at home in the area of central Greece south of Thessaly, appearing already in the Early Helladic II phase and continuing into the Early Iron Age. Nearly all tumuli from central Greece are funerary, that is, mounds covering graves or burials. Whereas most sites in Greece have single tumuli, and the relationship to the contemporary settlement is seldom understood, at Mitrou in East Lokris we have excavated remains of no fewer than 10 tumuli, all located within or adjacent to the settlement, and ranging in date from the Late Helladic through Late Protogeometric periods. Nine of those tumuli are funerary, and one is ritual but most likely related to the funerary sphere.

This paper will provide an overview of Mitrou’s tumuli and investigate their social significance. We will discuss their size, the materials used in their construction, their spatial distribution and visibility in the townscape and the wider region, the elaboration and relative wealth of their graves, and the demography and health of their associated human remains. The characteristics of tumulus graves and their occupants will be compared to those of contemporary graves without tumuli at Mitrou in an effort to address the long-standing question of why some people were honored with tumuli and others were not.