MARATHON - Tsepi - 2012

Marathon, Tsepi. M. Pantelidou Gofa (ASA) reports on the 2012 season, which investigated a new deposit outside tomb 39, and two tombs, 56 and 58.

Above the earliest and lowest surface in the cemetery, between tombs 14, 16, 62 and the stone pile 66, a large quantity of pottery was heaped in a wide conical mound 0.7m high. In its lowest layer were sherds of types from Deposit 39 (skyphoi, terracotta balls, amphoriskoi, pithoid vessels, etc.) (Fig. 1), as well as some new types. The uppermost level was mostly thoroughly crushed, and the whole had been covered with stones and pebbles. The provisional conclusion is that this new deposit, generally contemporary with Deposit 39, was formed from an accumulation of pottery probably broken on the spot, and not cast into a pyre as happened with Deposit 39.

Tomb 56 has all the known characteristics of the Tsepi tombs: rectangular with built chamber walls and threshold. The entrance was closed with an upright schist slab and covered with three slabs. Much bone and more than 10 crania were recovered, forming a thick layer from the entrance towards the west side of the chamber. Among the bones were a small prochous and a spherical pyxis, and on the top an undecorated plate, similar to other incised versions from Tsepi. The last burial was found partly moved in front of the entrance and with two crania placed above its pelvis. The three pots date tomb 56 to Early Helladic I.

Tomb 58 revealed new details of local funerary customs. The chamber was lined with large orthostats covered with a large slab. The small, deep threshold was also lined with stones and the chamber entrance was closed with an upright schist slab. The uppermost part of the fill of the pit contained three crania, and a little lower down was a layer full of at least 10 crania, the majority crushed. The successive layers down to the floor contained mainly long bones. The feet were placed to the right of the entrance, the hands and a few more crania to the left, while towards the middle of the chamber were scattered small bones, and between these two terracotta pots. No complete skeleton was recognised in situ, although some thigh and shin bones remained articulated. Towards the south, besides the bones of the upper limbs, a cranium was preserved, the hands and fingers resting on the mouth (fig. 2). Below this concentration were a stone palette with (cosmetic) pigment, four bone pigment grinders, and stone beads placed as if once threaded together (Figs 3-4). One is in form of a bird, one a phallus, one a stone seal with a suspension hole, and there is also an animal tooth, probably from a shark.

Preliminary results indicate that the pit belonged to an earlier repaired tomb, supplemented with a rudimentary threshold and used, after cleaning, only for the reburial of bones. The articulated bones indicate that some flesh was preserved, while the figural beads together with the seal must be from the personal ornament of an important figure in the community.