Housing the Dead: Production and Distribution of Burial Pithoi in the Mirabello Bay, East Crete
The end of the 3rd millennium BC marks a turning point in mortuary behaviour on Crete: the dead began to be encased in large clay jars (pithoi). Pithos cemeteries appeared in many regions of the island, with the most significant, in terms of wealth of excavated records, in the Mirabello Bay, East Cr...
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| Publicat a: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/bch, |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Idioma: | Anglais |
| Publicat: |
Bulletin de correspondance hellénique
2026
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| Accés en línia: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Sumari: | The end of the 3rd millennium BC marks a turning point in mortuary behaviour on Crete: the dead began to be encased in large clay jars (pithoi). Pithos cemeteries appeared in many regions of the island, with the most significant, in terms of wealth of excavated records, in the Mirabello Bay, East Crete. The present contribution studies the formal and technological attributes of pithoi used in cemeteries and domestic units of the region, aiming to provide a comprehensive look into patterns of production and consumption of funerary receptacles. The emerging patterns reveal a specialized production of pithoi exclusively for mortuary purposes, the use of which had strong social and ideological connotations for the local communities. |
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