MARATHON Tsepi - 2007

M. Pantelidou-Gofas (ASA) reports on continued excavation of the EH cemetery (Fig. 1).

In tomb 41 it was confirmed that the grave was covered by a large slab which had broken prior to any burials: the tomb had, therefore, remained unused, allowing study of the initial construction, something not possible in other tombs which had suffered interference from subsequent burials. Tomb 42 (Fig. 2) was found to be similar in form to other cist graves of Tsepi, with threshold, cairn in front of the entrance, lined cist grave and covered by 2 large slabs. The grave contained a large number of bones, pushed to the W end opposite the entrance. There were also many skulls, nearly all broken, the majority in pieces gathered together to the sides of the grave. This differs from the orderly deposition of remains from the other tombs in the S sector of the cemetery. In the E section of the grave, at a low level of the fill in front of the entrance, the skeleton of the last person buried was found and, above it, a scattering of pebbles and a few sherds. A stone 0.1m l. had been placed in the mouth and, over the chest, 3 skulls were found, together with bones, from a secondary deposit. One skull had been beaten, perhaps with a stone found next to it, the 2nd had a circular hole and only the 3rd was intact. The only grave offering was a tiny amphora with incised decoration. Consistent with findings from tombs 45 and 68, the excavator suggests that in some cases stones were thrown at the bones of the dead, sometimes damaging the cranium.

In tomb 39 a trench was opened in order to establish its relationship with an area of black soil and ashes, likely a funeral pyre. Investigation was hampered by the overlying visitors’ walkway, which here is only 1.2−1.4m from the cemetery surface. Ceramic analysis continued to refine important key typologies dating the finds to the oldest phase of the site, i.e., the Chal period, a little before 3,200 BC.