LIVARI SKIADI - 2009

Livari Skiadi. Y. Papadatos and Ch. Sofianou (University of Athens and ΚΔ’ ΕΠΚΑ) report the discovery of an undisturbed (but partially eroded) tholos tomb close to Goudouras. The tomb, 4.4m in diameter, was built from large blocks with smaller stone on the interior: the entrance is located in the southeast. It contained a large quantity of highly fragmentary skeletal material: no large bone was intact, and no primary burials or articulated bones were found. Although much of the funerary material showed traces of intense combustion, there were no signs of burning within the tomb itself. Apart from three intact vessels, the pottery consisted of large numbers of sherds several of which had been deformed by exposure to high temperatures. Other finds included obsidian blades, gold wire jewellery, bronze objects, and stone beads. Three items of silver jewellery (two wing-shaped pendants and one pot-shaped) have exact parallels from the tomb at Krasi Pediadas. The tomb was in use from Early Minoan IB to Early Minoan III. The excavation also brought to light a funerary rock shelter and a rectilinear burial building of the Neopalatial period.