Odigitria is the archaeological site of an ancient
Minoan
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450BC ...
religious complex including two
tholos tomb
A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi; from Greek θολωτός τάφος, θολωτοί τάφοι, "domed tombs"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by corbelling, the superposition of ...
s located near the modern Odigitria Monastery in the
Asterousia
Asterousia ( el, Αστερούσια) is a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which it is a municipal unit. The munici ...
mountains of southern
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...
.
The tombs are dated from
Early Minoan I
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...
to Middle Minoan IA and were excavated in 1979 by N. Dimopoulou and in 1980 by Antonis Vasilakis. They were in use for more than 1,000 years. Artifacts found include
seals
Seals may refer to:
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means ...
,
amulets
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protect ...
, necklaces, gold
diadems
The Diadems was one of the bands created by the 3rd French season of the popular reality show " Popstars", called "Popstars - the Duel" aired on RTL Group TV channel Métropole 6 (better known as M6) in fall 2003. This all-girls band "lost" the ...
,
stone blades, stone vases, pots and a gold bracelet.
References
* Swindale, Ian "Odigitri
Retrieved 21 May 2006
External links
* http://www.minoancrete.com/odiyitria.htm
Heraklion (regional unit)
Minoan sites in Crete
Ancient cemeteries in Greece
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