IERAPETRA. – Almyros - 2007

Almyros, Dialektakis plot. V. Apostolakou (ΚΔ'ΕΠΚΑ) reports on continued excavations at the Dialektakis plot near the Almyros river, which began in 2002. Rain initially revealed cist and shaft graves. A layer of stones, tiles, ceramics and non-articulated skeletal material was removed to facilitate the excavation of the graves. M. Kyriakaki supervised the excavation.

• Tomb 33: 0.86m in depth, oriented East-West, revealed and damaged by water. Articulated skeletal material was found. The grave contained a lamp containing a bronze pin and the base of a glass vessel.
• Tomb 44: in the northern part of section Δ, oriented E-W, depth 0.75m. Skeletal material was found but no grave goods.
• Tomb 35: a cist tomb, in the northern part of section Δ, oriented N-S. Part of a neck-handled amphora, head of an iron nail, and a piece of a stone column were found during cleaning. Articulated skeletal material was found in the grave and a loom weight and bronze pin were found with the bones. Two bone pins, two iron nails, a lamp and the lid of a stone vessel were also found.
• Tomb 36 (Fig. 1): in the northern part of the plot. The limits of the grave could not be determined. Craniums from five individuals were found, apparently of different ages and sexes, oriented E-W, interred alongside one another. Offerings included two lamps, an astralagus, a lead sheet, bronze pins and nails, bronze sheets, a bone pin and three bronze coins. After removal of the bones, the lower level of a tile tomb (Tomb 42) was revealed.
• Tomb 37: this was identified but not investigated due to time constraints. Shells were collected from the area of the tomb and are possibly associated with it.
• Tomb 38: in the northern part of section Δ, oriented N-S, looted. Three successive burials were identified in the tomb. Offerings included a loom weight, many bone pins, a lamp, two bronze coins, an amphora fragment and another vessel in which was found a broken glass vessel.
• Tomb 39: in the northern part of section Δ, oriented E-W. Decayed bones of two individuals. Grave goods included bone pins, a piece of a lamp, a bronze pin and a bronze coin.
• Tomb 40 (Fig. 2): a tile tomb, oriented N-S, in the northern part of section Δ. The northern narrow side had been closed with a lekanis, while the tiles of the long side were supported with field stones. The tomb was undisturbed with sufficient grave offerings to accompany the inhumations: four glass vessels (two of which were in a poor state of preservation), a silver finger-ring with jewel, a bronze mirror, bone pins, bronze and iron nails, a piece of bronze tweezers, clay lamps, a terracotta head of Silenus, a small terracotta mask, a piece of lead, pieces of glass birds and a bronze pin.
• Tomb 41: cist tomb, 50% preserved, at the eastern end of section Δ, oriented E-W. Stones supported the tiles. Articulated but incomplete skeletal material and a bone needle were found.
• Tomb 42: cist tomb, oriented E-W, containing three successive burials and 36 skeletons (articulated but friable and decayed). A bronze coin was found in a skull in the first burial. A second burial was found beneath the first, the skull of which also contained a bronze coin. A third burial below the second contained a clay vessel and lamp. The cranium was absent from the individual in this burial.
• Tomb 43: located in the northwestern extension to the area north of area Δ, oriented E-W. A piece of a large vessel protected the skull of the inhumation. Bones accumulated from an unknown number of burials were also found. Grave goods included two broken vessels, a piece of a stone stele, a piece of a glass vessel, and two bronze coins.
• Tomb 44: Adjacent to tomb 40, oriented E-W, looted. A few fragments of tile and some structural stones. Articulated but incomplete skeletal remains were found.
• Tomb 45: between tombs 40 and 44, oriented E-W, limits not identified. Only the leg bones of an individual were recovered; the remaining skeletal material appears to have been destroyed during construction of the tomb. A small jar accompanied the burial.
• Tomb 46: northwest of tomb 40. Articulated skeletal remains with skull, accompanied by a jar, a bowl, a lamp, and two glass vessels.
• Tomb 47: abutting tomb 40. Leg bones were recovered, probably associated with earlier burials destroyed by the construction of tile-tombs.
• Tomb 48: work began to the west of probable tomb 48, where bones from a knee and pelvis were discovered, perhaps representing a random scatter. No tomb was identified, so the number 48 was assigned to the most important bones (skull, parts of upper limbs). A bronze coin was found beneath the skull.