Necropolis of Armenoi

The cemetery of Armenoi is located about 10 km south of the modern city of Rethymnon and extends on the eastern slope of the hill of  Prinokefalo. Its location was discovered by chance in 1969, when students from the neighboring village of Somatas found some pottery on the surface, which had been removed from the tombs by small animals (badgers). It was systematically excavated in 1969 under the direction of the Honorary General Director of Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture, Dr. Yannis Tzedakis.

The tombs, the majority of which were unlooted, belonged to families and date to the LMII A -B period (c. 1425- 1210 BC). They are two hundred and thirty-one (231) chamber tombs with a passage carved in marly limestone. In front of each tomb, there was a road in the form of a ramp or staircase leading to the chamber. The entrance to the tomb was covered with a stone slab or stone barrier. Some of the tombs had stone tombstones. The dead were placed either directly on the floor or in clay chests. Before each new burial,  reburial of the bones was practiced.

The cemetery was organized in three (3) clusters to the east, west, and south. The Eastern cluster includes one hundred and seventeen (117) graves in a dense arrangement. The Western Grave Cluster contains forty-seven (47) graves in a sparse arrangement and is located at the highest point of the hill. The Southern Cluster is relatively isolated and contains sixty-seven (67) graves. Near the Southern Cluster and to the north of it, a section of a Minoan road was uncovered, which provided access to the cemetery.

Thirty-two (32) clay chests with painted decoration and eight hundred (800) vases were found inside the tombs. Among the grave goods, there were also many bronze tools and weapons, a few pieces of gold, faience and semi-precious stone jewelry, and at least one hundred and sixty (160) seal stones.

The finds from the Necropolis of Armenoi tombs reflect mixed Minoan and Mycenaean elements, which is characteristic after the fall of the Minoan palaces and the arrival of the Mycenaeans in Crete (1500-1450 BC).

Bibliography

Τζεδάκις, Γ. (1988) . Δρόμος ΥΜΙΙΙ νεκροταφείου. Κρητική Εστία, Περίοδος Δ΄, Τόμος 2, Χανιά, 295, πίν.2β.

Papathanassiou, M., Hoskin, M., & Papadopoulou, H. (1992). Orientations of tombs in the Late-Minoan cemetery at Armenoi, Crete. Journal for the History of Astronomy, 23 (17), 45.

Papadopoulou E. (1997). Une tombe à tholos ‘ intra muros’: le cas du cimetière MR d’Arménoi, in Driessen, Farnoux (eds) Actes de la table Ronde, Internationale organisee pal l’Ecole Francaise d’Athenes, (25-28 Mars 1991),  319-340.

Tzedakis, I., & Martlew, H. (1999). Minoan and Mycenaean flavours. Kapon, Athens.

Tzedakis, Y., & Martlew, H. (2007). A chorotaxia at the Late Minoan III cemetery of Armenoi. Krinoi kai limenes Studies in Honor of Joseph and Maria Shaw,22, 68-72, 68- fig.8.1, 70-71.

Tzedakis, Y., Martlew, H., & Arnott, R. (2018). The Late Minoan III Necropolis of Armenoi (Vol. 1). ISD LLC, 1-17.

Tzedakis, Y. & Kolivaki, V. (2018). Background and History of the excavation in Tzedakis et al (eds), The Late Minoan III Necropolis of Armenoi, Vol.1, 6, 8-9, 17

Eillen Chappell & Steve Allender (2018). Site investigations of the Necropolis and its environs: The search for the town. In Tzedakis, Y., Martlew., H. & Arnott, R. (eds), The Necropolis of Armenoi III, Vol. 1, 32, 46-49.