Chrysolakkos
Chrysolakkos ( Greek Χρυσόλακκος = gold mine ) is the name of a Minoan grave building that is about 500 m north of the palace of Malia . The necropolis of Les Pierres Meulières stretches to the west of the tomb building .
description
Chrysolakkos is a rectangular ossuary or house grave with a north-south extension of about 39 m and in a west-east direction of about 30 m. It covers an area of about 1150 m² and dates from the Middle Minoan Period (MM IB). The approximately 2 m thick outer wall was built from hewn stones in the north and west. In the south and east it was built from upright stone slabs. The area around the necropolis was paved. Seven rectangular column bases were found on the eastern side, suggesting that there was a portico here. According to archaeologist Joseph Winterbotham Shaw, Chrysolakkos is the oldest Cretan building and the oldest burial building in Greece made from hewn stone blocks.
About 40 rooms were found inside the building, some of which were used for burials. There were presumably a total of about 80 such rooms, which are no longer visible today, however, as the southern inner part of the building has been badly damaged. Most of the rooms had no doors and were only accessible from above. The famous bees of Malia were found within one room . About in the middle on the eastern side was a fluted altar made of stucco . It had a cylindrical cavity for libations . A stone kernos was found on the northwest corner outside the grave .
history
Three construction phases can be verified. During the Early Minoan Phase (FM III) the first building known as Chrysolakkos I was erected here. Remnants of this building have been found to the west and east of the rectangular tomb building. It apparently served to accommodate guests and had, among other things, a room with a round stove and an inner courtyard.
The Chrysolakkos II grave building was erected during the Old Palace period (MM IB). The foundation was formed by upright stone slabs, as they are still preserved in the east and south. On top of these there were presumably wooden beams on which a masonry made of adobe bricks was built. At that time, Chrysolakkos was believed to be the burial place for the Malian elite. The building was used for burials for a long time until it was converted into MM III. However, this conversion, known as Chrysolakkos III, was never completed and the building was abandoned. Presumably there were no further burials here from this point on. For this third phase, the stones, which were initially installed vertically, were installed horizontally with the outside upwards, as found in the west and north walls.
exploration
Presumably, treasure hunters had made rich finds here before the first systematic excavations, as the name Chrysolakkos, which means gold mine, existed before that. The tomb complex was first examined by Louis Renaudin in 1921 . From 1930 to 1933 it was excavated by the École française d'Athènes under the direction of Fernand Chapouthier and Pierre Demargne .
literature
- Antonis S. Vassilakis: Malia, Amnissos, Nirou Chani, Skotino, Chersonissos . Athens 1990, p. 72-75 .
- Jeffrey S. Soles: The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete . American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Athens 1992, ISBN 978-0-87661-524-9 , pp. 160-172 .
- John C. McEnroe: Architecture of Minoan Crete. Constructing Identity in the Aegean Bronze Age . University of Texas Press, Austin 2010, ISBN 978-0-292-72193-7 , pp. 39-40 .
- Borja Legarra Herrero: Mortuary Behavior and Social Trajectories in Pre- and Protopalatial Crete . Instap Academic Press, Athens 2014, ISBN 978-1-931534-74-1 .
Web links
Coordinates: 35 ° 17 ′ 53.5 ″ N , 25 ° 29 ′ 36.5 ″ E