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The cemeteries of the ancient settlement of Archontiko, Pella

• Χρυσοστόμου, Αναστασία
• Χρυσοστόμου, Παύλος

At Archontiko, Pella, four cemeteries have been discovered (Fig. 1) around the important ancient settlement:A. Southern Cemetery: jewelry and weapons of the Iron Age.B. Southwestern Cemetery: uncovered in 2004-2005 through trial trenches along the road leading to the famous circular funerary heroon of Archoniko. Its tile-covered and cist graves are dated to the 4th and early 3rd c. B.C.C. Eastern Cemetery: located to the north of the village of Mesiano, in the area of farmstead 254 and about 1.5 hectares in size, according to the trial excavations. In 2005, 27 graves were explored, of which 14 were dated to the archaic period, while the others had their origins as late as the early Hellenistic Age.D. Western Cemetery: the most important one, it lies about 1 km. from the ancient settlement, in the wider area of hill 69. By 2006, 720 graves had been excavated, in light of repeated grave robberies. The predominance of archaic graves indicates a corresponding peak in the settlements demographics.Iron Age graves: In the pit and cist graves, there are repeated full-length burials with only a few grave goods, such as pottery (chiefly in the shape of phialai and kan- tharoi, and a few other types), limited iron weapons in the male burials, and jewelry (a few gold mouthpieces and earrings, bronze and iron fibulas, pins, hairpins, beads, rings, bracelets) in the female burials.Classical and early Hellenistic graves: Pit graves, tile-covered and cist graves are the main types of graves, frequently with corner-holes, which in concert with iron nails and their rivets make it clear that the deceased were often placed on funerary litters. Usual grave goods include “Charon’s obols” and small boisai skyphoi, but there are also instances of burials accompanied by a large number of vases, among which one Phylax and one relief oinochoe may be singled out. A large number of finds, chiefly figurines, distinguish the graves of the young; jewelry points to female burials, and weapons and strigils to male burials, in a few cases together with symposium vessels, exceptional toreutic works. Near Pella, the graves of the ancient settlement of Archontiko (among which should be included the Macedonian tomb of Messiano, the circular heroon, and the tumulus at the site of Akritsa) retain some of the splendor of the graves of the archaic period, to which we shall refer below.Archaic graves (2nd half of the 6th c. - 1st half of the 5th c. B.C.): These are distinguished for the size of their dug-out areas, which often carry sloping ramps or are protected by stone barriers. Wooden sarcophagi were set within them, together with a large number of finds: a variety of figurines and plastic vases and figurines. The clay pottery includes types of local Macedonian manufacture, as well as Ionian, Chalcidi- cian, Corinthian, and Attic. There are also metal vases, and models of carts, furniture, and spits.A great deal of information has emerged concerning female attire, decorative elements on head coverings, and gold masks, which are rarer than the normal gold mouthpieces. All types of female jewelry are found in gold, silver, bronze and iron for all parts of the body. There are four categories of male burials, based on the armor deposited. The first includes spearheads and knives together with clay pottery. In the second category, where the sword also appears, the amount of clay pottery increases, and there are a few metal vases as well as a small amount of jewelry. In the third category, the armor is enhanced with helmets, and grave goods of every type increase both in quantity and quality (Fig. 6, 7, 8).The Argive shield is the most important find in the rare burials of the fourth category, which are presented indicatively in the following illustrations: the warrior of T131 (Fig. 9), which held the helmet with its gold bands (Fig. 10), is dated by the Attic kylix of 530/520 B.C. with its depiction of Theseus and the Minotaur. Three others were found in the neighboring graves T279, 280, and 283. The oldest (T 280), dated to about the mid-6th century, contained inter alia the valuable mask (Fig. 11). From among the finds of the more recent 279, a silver phi- ale (Fig. 12) stands out, while an inscribed kantharos of the early 5th century dates the latter. Finally, in graves 145 and 443 (Fig. 13), circular shields of small diameter were found.From the graves in the western cemetery containing weapons, it becomes possible to provide an initial “reading” of the distinctions in archaic male society in the ancient settlement of Archontiko, as well as recognition of a high standard of living from the second quarter of the 6th century B.C. onward.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

νεκροταφεία, Πέλλα

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