Description
Book SynopsisThe Late Minoan III Necropolis of Armenoi, Crete (ca. 1390–1190 BC) is the only intact, complete Late Minoan necropolis presently known, of which 232 tombs have been excavated. The research project was the first large-scale genomic sampling of skeletal material from a single site in Bronze Age Greece, as well as being the first time a multi-disciplinary approach with ancient DNA as its focus has been conducted on a large, well-curated necropolis assemblage. As such it provides a unique opportunity to answer archaeological questions, the most important of which are kinship, an analysis of the origin and ancestry of those buried in the tombs, the homogeneity of the population or otherwise, and diet. The analysis programme was only possible because the tombs had not been seriously disturbed, and human skeletal remains had survived and been expertly conserved. The results of ancient DNA, stable isotope analysis, osteological analysis, and radiocarbon dating are presented, providing the first detailed record of ancestry and kinship in this iconic period of Eastern Mediterranean prehistory.
In addition, the long-debated problem of the location of the wealthy city of
da-*22-to, referred to many times in the Linear B tablets, is addressed and key evidence is presented. The rich finds in the Necropolis, the town excavation, and in the environs, support the interpretation that the ‘city’ that built the Necropolis is
da-*22-to.
Table of ContentsFigures and Tables Conventions and Abbreviations Chronology Acknowledgements Map of Site 1. Introduction 2. The Archaeology of the Late Minoan III Necropolis of Armenoi: an Introduction 3. The Bioarchaeological Analysis of Human and Faunal Skeletal Remains 4. Multi-isotopic Measurements of Human Remains at the Late Minoan III Necropolis of Armenoi 5. The Archaeological Significance of the DNA and Stable Isotope Results 6. The Identification of da-*22-to 7. The Archaeological Evidence which Supports the Identification of the Late Minoan III City of Armenoi as da-*22-to
