MARATHON - 2009

Marathon, Tsepi. The 2009 season of excavation in the Early Helladic cemetery concentrated on Tomb 43, a large construction with an elongated entrance, which shows evidence of successive repairs and remodelling (Figs 1-2). The bones in the grave were mostly separated into groups. The first consisted of bones without skulls; the second had bones, plus two adult and one infant skulls; and in the third group skulls were found with a pyxis which contained the bones of an infant and a stone bowl (Fig. 3). Injuries observed on the skulls are consistent with damage from stones; the excavator notes that several have holes apparently made with a sharp tool. All (with the exception of the final burial) lack the lower jaw, and the children also had apparently experienced treatment of this kind. The last burial in the pit was in a contracted position, with the lower jaw shattered; above this skeleton were three skulls without mandibles and below it the remains of an older burial. At a deeper level were the bones of at least three other individuals placed in the same position, with Late Neolithic pottery. Tomb 43 confirmed that the cemetery has an older and a more recent phase of use, and that the later inhabitants of the area respected the earlier dead. Special care was taken with the remains of infants. It further confirms that the removal of the lower jaw was in accordance with custom; it was also customary to place pebbles above the lower skeletons. Finally, after the final burial in the tomb, the entrance was filled with large stones, to prevent re-use, and a second peribolos was built.