Meso-minoika taphika ethima: i necropoli tou Mavrou Spileou stin Knosso (Usi funerari medio-minoici: la necropoli di Mavro Spileo a Cnosso)

The Mavro Spileo cemetery was found in the 1920s to the east of the palace of Knossos, at a distance of about 600 m. from it, by Arthur Evans who discovered the first 6 tombs. He later entrusted this material and the conclusion of the work to E.J. Forsdyke, who published essentially a summary of what had been found, with little technical information or explanation of the procedures used in the excavations and furthermore only with a few photographs of very poor quality (E.J. Forsdyke, The Mavro Spileo Cemetery, at Knossos, BSA 28, 1926-27, 243-296). The long period of use of the cemetery (MMII-LMIIIC) makes it a unique archaeological resource for the study of changes in Minoan burial practices, particularly with regard to the possible "Mycenaean" period at Knossos and the previous period, that willbe considered in this paper. The 21 tombs produced about 500 objects: pottery, stone vases, weapons, seals, and jewellery. At least one of the tombs can be considered as a Warrior Grave. Six tombs out of the total can be dated to the MM period. After the discovery in the Stratigraphical Museum at Knossos of 11 boxes with unpublished material from Mavro Spileo, and a period of research in the Ashmolean archives, it is feasible to try to reconstruct the single funerary assemblages and their chronology. the aim of this study is to discuss briefly the architectural differences which distinguish the MM tombs from those which followed them. The Mavro Spileo necropolis serves as a good illustration of this contrast since it was one of the few cut before the Late Minoan period. Analysis of the material, which is still in progress, indicates that all the multi-chamber tombs discovered here belong to the Middle Minoan period, and were often reused subsequently. On the contrary the single-chamber tomb start to appear only after, probably by the end of LMIB. Secondly, we will concentrate on the Middle Minoan burial assemblages, usually characterized by a high number of depositions - a habit which seems to go back to the earlier Minoan tradition of tombs with multiple depositions of the Messara tholoi. The Middle Minoan burial assemblages found at Mavro Spileo will be analyzed in comparison with contemporary and earlier ones excavated in the Knossian area and generally in Crete, in order to elucidate the Minoan funerary customs in the Proto- and Neopalatial periods.