1991/07/01 by Giampaolo Graziadio · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Ancient Near East History #Law, logistics, and international trade #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
paper · doi:10.2307/505489
openalex publication_date 1991/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
This paper discusses the evolution of grave form and the richness of the burials in the two Grave Circles at Mycenae, where a crucial phase of the process of social stratification in the Aegean Bronze Age is represented. In order to quantify the degree of wealth of each burial in Circle B, a multivariate analysis is used that takes into account the composition of grave assemblages in terms of total number and range of artifacts as well as the "value" of individual offerings, determined by comparing them with functionally equivalent objects. For Circle A, such criteria can only be applied to the one single burial, Grave II, but the more general grave wealth provides useful terms of comparison with Circle B burials. The progressive separation of the elite members from the lower sectors of the community took place during the Circle B Early Phase and Late Phase I (late and final Middle Helladic period). On the other hand, Late Phase II (i.e., Late Helladic I) Circle B graves show markedly regressive features, and burials are characterized by a lower degree of wealth than those of the preceding phase. This is clearly to be related to the fact that during this period, the highest sector of the ruling class chose another burial area, Circle A, for their more elaborate and far richer graves.