Phourni
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Phourni (, also Fourni) is the archaeological site of an ancient
Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...
cemetery in
Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
, established in 2400 BC and lasted until 1200 BC. ''Phourni'' is Greek for "furnace, oven" and the name of the hill on which the cemetery is located. Phourni is located at 70100 Epano Archanes,
Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...
, Greece—located on a hill in north-central Crete. Phourni can be seen from Mount Juktas. It is a small hill situated northwest of
Archanes Archanes (, Godart & Olivier abbreviation: ARKH) is a former municipality in the Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which ...
, between Archanes and Kato Archanes. Phourni is reachable from a signed scenic path that starts at Archanes. It was an important site for Minoan burials. The burials consistently and proactively engaged the community of the Minoans. The largest cemetery in the
Archanes Archanes (, Godart & Olivier abbreviation: ARKH) is a former municipality in the Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which ...
area was discovered in 1957 and excavated for 25 years by Yiannis Sakellarakis, beginning in 1965. The 6600 sq m cemetery includes 26 funerary buildings of varying shapes and sizes. The necropolis of Phourni is of primary importance, both for the duration of its use and for the variety of its funerary monuments. All the pottery and much of the skeletal material was collected, unlike many other pre-palatial tombs. The cemetery was founded in the Ancient Minoan IIA, and continued to be used until the end of the Bronze Age. The occupation reached its peak during the Middle Minoan AI, just before the palaces of Knossos and Malia appeared. The proximity of Archanes to the important religious centres of Mount Iuktas probably contributed to the prominence of the site.


Funerary practices

People were buried in either “House Tombs” which are rectangular long and narrow chambers or tholos tombs which are rounded structures that were built into a hillside. At Phourni, it was quite common to complete a primary burial: one that is complete and undisturbed, as no remains were moved after the fact. While rare, there were also secondary manipulations of the decayed human remains. A manipulation is an intentional rearrangement of human remains years after the primary burial. An example of a burial with the secondary manipulation of the body was found in Building 7, where there was an initial burial, and after the skull had decayed, it was detached from the jaw and placed near the feet of the human. This act was clearly intentional and meaningful towards the burial practices at Phourni. The organizational method of each burial was dependent on the identities (different cultures and religions believed in different ways how the dead should be treated), of the people performing the practice. There were also material goods buried with people in various cases. "The artifacts from the tombs (vessels of both pottery and stone, tools and weapons, jewelry, and seals) show that a dead person was buried with his or her personal belongings as well as with food and drink (for the next life?). Since the dead were supplied with food and drink, they were presumably primary burials (i.e. fully articulated bodies) and not secondary collections of bones. Most of the grave goods show signs of use in mortal life (i.e. they were ''not'' designed specifically for funerary purposes)."


Archaeology

Excavations began at Phourni in 1965 by Efi and Yannis Sakellarakis and have continued until at least 1995. The cemetery at Phourni was in use from Early Minoan II to Late Minoan IIIC - over one thousand years. A
tholos tomb A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi; from , ''tholotoi táphoi'', "domed tomb(s)"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by corbelling, the superposition of successively smaller rings of mudb ...
first discovered in 1965 dates to 14th century BCE and shares a ground plan with tholos tombs at
Mycenae Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...
and Orchomenus. Early Minoan tholos tombs and
ossuaries An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...
have been excavated in the south part of the cemetery. Finds include a dismembered corpse of a sacrificed horse, a bull's skull, a gold ring from a burial with a cultic scene engraved on it, knives, lead weights from a scale, 46
loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
weights, a wine press, a
libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...
table, bell-shaped figurines, approximately 250 cups, Early Minoan II seals, an
Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...
diorite Diorite ( ) is an intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is Intermediate composition, inter ...
vase,
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
seals and amulets and a pillar crypt. The bodies of two women found in a Late Minoan tholos tomb are of almost certain royal or religious importance due to the wealth of objects and the unusual sacrifices of a horse and a bull made to the chambers. Further, the Mycenaean Grave Enclosure is a part of the funerary complex located in the northern area of the cemetery. It had seven different rectangular house tombs. Apart from the Grave Enclosure, there are several different tombs in the cemetery. A short distance south of the Grave Enclosure is Tholos Tomb A. It had been found with various offerings like bronze and ivory vases, gold signet rings and necklaces, beads, and glass-paste. Further south into the cemetery is Tholos Tomb B. This was found to be the greatest in size and most complex structure in the cemetery that has a tholos in the middle of it along with twelve rooms. Built above ground level, Tholos Tomb C, the second tomb to be built in the cemetery, is a construction built above the ground in the south west area of the cemetery. There is evidence of burials put into
sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ ...
(stone coffins) with numerous offerings. The most south of the tombs is Tholos Tomb D. When excavated, it was found to have an undisturbed female burial inside. Tholos Tomb E is thought to be the initial funerary building created at the site, containing multiple burials and offerings. Along with the five tholoi, there are 26 buildings on the site. Some buildings were built in the Pre-Palatial period—the time they were most frequently used, but others were also built in the Proto-palatial period. Finds excavated from Phourni are at the
Heraklion Archaeological Museum The Heraklion Archaeological Museum is a museum located in Heraklion on Crete. It is one of the largest museums in Greece, and the best in the world for Minoan art, as it contains by far the most important and complete collection of artefacts of t ...
.


Excavation of seal stones

A seal stone is one of the various artifacts that archaeologists uncovered in the time of the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
in Greece, specifically in Phourni. The seal stones found at Phourni are particularly important because it is the largest collection found at a single site in northern Crete. There were 136 seals found at the site. They were made from stone, hippopotamus ivory, bone, metals, or boar's tusk. These seal stones were unique (no two seal stones are the same) personal items with an important meaning to each individual. They are important because they were buried with their owner's bones. They were used for many purposes including jewelry, a form of identification, and to show ownership of someone or something. Seal stones were personable, as they distinguished Minoans from one another through their status, identity, religion, or record-keeping modes. They were seen as a way to "express personal status that emerged from group identity. Perhaps the leaders of each group in a community possessed a seal that showed both group identity and personal position and status, being used in various activities (e.g. economic-administrative, religious)." The Minoans would place one’s seal stones in the grave with the person who had died, marking the particular significance of a seal stone regarding the life and death of a Minoan. Seal stones offer implications about technology, craft, religion, economy, and hierarchal society amongst the Minoan civilization. The iconography of the seal stones are helpful in understanding Minoan religious practices or personality of the owner, depending on the scene of the seal stone. The 136 seal stones are categorized into different phases based on
Minoan Chronology Minoan chronology is a framework of dates used to divide the history of the Minoan civilization. Two systems of relative chronology are used for the Minoans. One is based on sequences of pottery styles, while the other is based on the architect ...
(the suspected time when they were built): Phase I-Phase IV. The seal stones date back to EMI to MMIA. "Phase I covers the first part of the prepalatial period, phase II the later pre-palatial and Phase III starts at the end of the pre-palatial and lasts until the early phase of the first palaces." Using the seal stones from Archanes, excavators have been able to "clarify the periods of use of various materials used for sealstone manufacture", "provide some further resolution of the chronological succession and typology of shapes", "offer some possible insights into the social significance" of sealstones as only a small percentage of the population used them. Generic Minoan Sealstones can be viewed at as well.


References


Further reading

* Sakellarakis, J. and E. ''Crete, Archanes'' (Guidebook) * Myers, J.W., Myers, E.E. and Cadogan, G. "Archanes-Phourni" ''The Aerial Atlas of Ancient Crete''


External links

* http://www.minoancrete.com/phourni.htm Minoan sites in Crete Heraklion (regional unit) Ancient cemeteries in Greece {{Crete-geo-stub