191-220

Early Hellenistic grave contexts from Akraiphia

• Ανδρειωμένου, Αγγελική

Forty-four graves, mainly of the early Hellenistic period, are examined which contained at least one lamp amongst their offerings. Thirty-five of them were tile-covered graves, seven of which belonged to children (Fig. 3). Five graves dating from about 280-270 BC (Figs. 5-9) perpetuate the type of the poros cist grave dating from the second half of the 4th c. BC. Three shallow pit graves contained cremation pyres in situ and, finally, ΨΥΧ/12 was a pit grave with an interment.In contrast with the rich Archaic graves in the cemetery, and also with many of the 5th-century graves, those of the Hellenistic period - particularly the tile-covered graves, which belong to the poorer classes - contained only a small number of offerings: two to six and more rarely ten vases, accompanied by one or two lamps, and sometimes one or two figurines or other small items. Μάρα/23 (1987) also contained a large Lakonian iron key (Fig. 11).Apart from the sizeable oinochoai and unp ainted amphoras (Figs. 16, 18, 64, etc.), the other vases found in the early tile-covered graves were small. A set consisting of an oinochoe and a black-glazed high- necked cup, accompanied by a few small vases and a lamp (Figs. 15,39,40,45,47,51, etc.), is regularly found from the middle of the 4th to the middle of the 3rd c. BC. Towards the end of the 3rd century, the unpainted lentoid askos also makes its appearance (Fig. 19).The poros cist graves often contain luxurious vases as offerings (Figs. 9,10), along with other interesting objects, such as bronze cosmetic instruments (Fig. 33), a strigli, a few figurines, etc. In the early Hellenistic period the body sometimes wears a bronze funeral wreath with clay calyx-shaped flowers and berries in the shape of small spheres.The basic criteria for dating the graves are the presence of lamps and comparison of the pottery with dated parallels from other areas. Moreover, the black-glaze high-necked cups and the unguentaria, both of which appear in graves of all periods from the end of the 4th to the middle of the 2nd c. BC, lend themselves to the study and the determination of their degree of development. They are presented here in chronological order. These four criteria form the basis for the analysis of the contexts of the 44 graves examined in the present article and their classification and chronological sequence.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Ανασκαφές (Αρχαιολογία)
• Archaeology and art

Η παρούσα εργασία αποτελεί διευρυμένη έκδοση της ανακοίνωσής μου κατά τις εργασίες της ΣΤ Επιστημονικής Συνάντησης για την Ελληνιστική Κεραμική (Βόλος 2000)., Περιέχει εικόνες, 2 παρένθετους πίνακες, συντομογραφίες και βιβλιογραφία, Το άρθρο περιέχεται στο τεύχος: Μέρος Α'-Μελέτες