Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, Greece
Reuse in Mycenaean tholoi (bee-hive shaped tombs) has been studied for centuries. Initially, bodies are interred on tomb floors, but moved after decomposition to make space for later burials. Extensive reuse can produce burial levels that are poorly understood often due to a lack of absolute dating....
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doaj-67ef37dff7e5440fb4453652221683372020-11-24T23:58:02ZengTaylor & Francis GroupScience and Technology of Archaeological Research2054-89232017-12-013245646510.1080/20548923.2018.14284081428408Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, GreeceOlivia A. Jones0Johannes van der Plicht1Lena Papazoglou-Manioudaki2Michalis Petropoulos3University of GroningenFaculty of Mathematics and Natural SciencesNational Archaeological MuseumEphorate of Antiquities of AchaiaReuse in Mycenaean tholoi (bee-hive shaped tombs) has been studied for centuries. Initially, bodies are interred on tomb floors, but moved after decomposition to make space for later burials. Extensive reuse can produce burial levels that are poorly understood often due to a lack of absolute dating. The Petroto tholos is a prime case study for dating multiple burial levels because all eight levels were sequential as later burials did not disturb previous depositions. The initial burial phase has been dated by ceramic chronology to the Late Helladic IIB-IIIA (ca. 1440–1400 BC). Radiocarbon dating of human bone samples yield for Level 7 (middle burial level) 3105 +/− 35 BP (1420–1305 cal BC) and for Level 3 (final burial) 2965 +/− 35 BP (1255–1120 cal BC). The ceramic and radiocarbon dates show that the tomb was used over for approximately 300 years during the Mycenaean period and never used again.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20548923.2018.1428408BioarchaeologyMycenaean burialMycenaean AchaiaTholoi reuseRadiocarbon datingMortuary Archaeology |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Olivia A. Jones Johannes van der Plicht Lena Papazoglou-Manioudaki Michalis Petropoulos |
spellingShingle |
Olivia A. Jones Johannes van der Plicht Lena Papazoglou-Manioudaki Michalis Petropoulos Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, Greece Science and Technology of Archaeological Research Bioarchaeology Mycenaean burial Mycenaean Achaia Tholoi reuse Radiocarbon dating Mortuary Archaeology |
author_facet |
Olivia A. Jones Johannes van der Plicht Lena Papazoglou-Manioudaki Michalis Petropoulos |
author_sort |
Olivia A. Jones |
title |
Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, Greece |
title_short |
Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, Greece |
title_full |
Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, Greece |
title_fullStr |
Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, Greece |
title_full_unstemmed |
Timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Petroto, Achaia, Greece |
title_sort |
timing is everything: radiocarbon dating multiple levels in the mycenaean tholos tomb of petroto, achaia, greece |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
series |
Science and Technology of Archaeological Research |
issn |
2054-8923 |
publishDate |
2017-12-01 |
description |
Reuse in Mycenaean tholoi (bee-hive shaped tombs) has been studied for centuries. Initially, bodies are interred on tomb floors, but moved after decomposition to make space for later burials. Extensive reuse can produce burial levels that are poorly understood often due to a lack of absolute dating. The Petroto tholos is a prime case study for dating multiple burial levels because all eight levels were sequential as later burials did not disturb previous depositions. The initial burial phase has been dated by ceramic chronology to the Late Helladic IIB-IIIA (ca. 1440–1400 BC). Radiocarbon dating of human bone samples yield for Level 7 (middle burial level) 3105 +/− 35 BP (1420–1305 cal BC) and for Level 3 (final burial) 2965 +/− 35 BP (1255–1120 cal BC). The ceramic and radiocarbon dates show that the tomb was used over for approximately 300 years during the Mycenaean period and never used again. |
topic |
Bioarchaeology Mycenaean burial Mycenaean Achaia Tholoi reuse Radiocarbon dating Mortuary Archaeology |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20548923.2018.1428408 |
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