Prinias: Studies and Research. The Siderospilia Necropolis: A Preliminary Report

The necropolis in the Contrada Siderospilia, associated with the settlement on the Patela of Prinias, from which it is about m 500 away, is one of the most important funerary contexts in Iron Age Crete. Discovered in 1969 and excavated from that year until 1978, the necropolis has remained essentially unpublished, except for a few articles and two extensive general reports by its discoverer, Giovanni Rizza. A few years ago, a project for the study and publication of the necropolis was launched, involving a group of scholars with different specializations. The aim of this article is to give a preliminary report on the results obtained during these years of work, a general overview of the different phases, and some in-depth studies related to those areas in which the work of documentation and study is now at an advanced stage. Among these, it seemed appropriate to devote ample space to some of the results of the archaeozoological analyses, in view of the fact that the necropolis of Siderospilia is the context that has so far yielded the greatest number of horse and dog burials. Finally, the ARCHIAS project for the creation and implementation of a digital archive for the preservation and management of all the paper, drawing and photographic material relating to the necropolis, which forms the basis of the study and publication project, is presented.