Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, Christiani - 2012

Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, Christiani. Michalis Kappas and Sofia Sakkari (26η EBA) report on excavations conducted during the restoration of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour (Fig. 1). 
Excavation began in the ruined propylon (rooms 28 and 29), to the N side of the building. It appears that this space was a courtyard until the final phase when it became enclosed. In the final phase, a new paved floor was also laid. Glazed ceramics were found here (Fig. 2,3).
The excavation proceeded to the S, where large paving slabs were revealed. In the narthex, burial trenches were found (Fig. 4), many of which were covered with roof tiles (Fig. 5). Grave 22 contained four consecutive burials, two of which were children. Graves 4 and 18 contained five burials each. A total of 58 separate burials were identified. Most graves contained bones, some also contained tiles, pieces of small bronze, and grave 16 contained a ring (Fig. 6). Most of the deceased were placed in supine position. The deceased in grave 2 had on its chest a stone with an engraved cross on it, engraved with the acronym ‘IC XC NIKA’ (Fig. 7).
The deceased of grave 22 seems to have been struck twice in the head, and a few of the individuals in the cemetery were beheaded. A few ceramic utensils were placednear the hands or feet (Fig. 8,9), or at the pelvis. Different types of vessels (Fig. 10,11), glazed or unglazed were found, including also some bronze pieces (Fig. 14) and bronze earrings (Fig. 15). Some of the graves appear to date from much later than the destruction of the church, since parts of the marble architectural pieces and wall paintings were found in the graves.