The goddess and the skull: some observations on group identity in Prepalatial Crete

Author(s): Jan Driessen

Source: British School at Athens Studies, Vol. 18, CRETAN OFFERINGS: Studies in honour of
Peter Warren (2010), pp. 107-117
Published by: British School at Athens
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 11

The goddess and the skull: some observations on

group identity in Prepalatial Crete*

Jan Driessen

INTRODUCTION: THE SKULL AND THE some degree the excavator dehumanised the original
GODDESS contributing body. The implication is that a skull was
retained from a tomb and given a special place in the
Peter Warren's discovery, excavation and publication
community of the living. About 2 m away, in room 92,
of Myrtos Fournou Korifi1 remains to this day a heroic
on the other side of the wall, resting on a slab, was
feat in the annals of Minoan archaeology and it is
found the so-called Myrtos Goddess (frontispiece,
indeed the careful representation of the archaeological
FIG. 11.1), an object which has its only parallels in
evidence which allowed our discipline to advance.
tombs at Mochlos, Malia, Koumasa and elsewhere.8
Ironically, it is because of the detailed and exemplary it can no be ascertained whether the
Although longer
publication that the interpretation of the site remains two rooms 89 and 92 communicated via a window, it
at the core of discussions, with interpretations of the
is my contention that this combination, a skull and an
social system represented by the complex wavering
anthropomorphic ritual vase, two elements usually
between more community versus family organised
encountered in funerary contexts, is a meaningful one.
households.2 In this Cretan offering, following earlier
To some degree, making a figurine was recreating the
attempts to underline the importance of Minoan
human figure.9 This essay examines whether
residential structures as social actors,3 I propose to
circumstantial evidence exists to regard the skull as
examine whether, contrary to general assumptions that
'human', a body part indicative of or symbolising a
presume the prevalence of personal status in Prepalatial
specific individual rather than representing a more
Crete,4 the available evidence instead suggests group collective identity such as 'the ancestors'.10
related rank. I want to start with a, perhaps rather
Where skulls are concerned, Branigan and Soles
flippant, remark made by Peter Warren on the have both commented upon the interference of bones
excavation of room 89 of the EM II complex at Myrtos
and especially skulls within funerary contexts,11 with
Fournou Korifi:5
Maggidis illustrating this eloquently with cases of

just beside P[ot]574, to the south-west, lay the strangest

find from the site, fragments (about a quarter in all) of
a human skull. Like the pots the bone was burnt by the
* It is with a profound pleasure that I offer this small contribution
destruction fire, but the pieces were identifiable as
to somebody who means a lot to me personally: it was Peter
those of a young adult male.. .No other bones, human
Warren who invited me to join his excavations at Knossos in
or animal, were found. How is this skull to be
1981 ('that boy gave me a cold!'), flattening my way into
interpreted? It was certainly not the remains of a burial,
Minoan archaeology, a dream come true... The skull in the
nor could itbe a last inhabitant who had failed to escape
title of my paper was partly influenced by Damien Hirst's
at the moment of destruction; in both cases other bones
'For The Love of God'. I thank T. McGeorge for information,
would have survived. The skull can only have been an
M. Pomadere for a copy of her PhD, G. Cadogan for some un
object as such, deliberately situated near the tripartite
published papers, and our Sissi anthropologists, I. Crevecoeur
structure with central hearth. Thus the possibilities of
and A. Schmitt, as well as C. J. Knappett for a critical reading.
ancestor worship (cf. the plastered skulls of Neolithic
1 Warren 1972.
Jericho) or even human sacrifice cannot be ruled out.
2 Catapoti 2005, 168-88; Whitelaw 2007 for a recent review.

Ten years later, the discovery at Knossos of a LM IB 3 Driessen 2010 and forthcoming.
4 Soles 1988; 1992; most recently Colburn 2008.
context with cut childrens' bones added ritual
5 Warren 1972,83,342, my italics; Panagiotopoulos 2002,123.
consumption as another possibility to explain disjecta 6 and Warren 1986.
Wall, Musgrave
membra in Minoan archaeological contexts.6 Although
7 Hurlbut 2000; Arnott 2003, 162.
this interpretation has been attacked, it remains one of 8 Warren most recently Jones 2008.
1972,266; Branigan 1969;
a series of possible explanations in view of practices note: see also this volume, 5.]
[Ed. Cadogan, Chapter
elsewhere.7 Where the Myrtos Fournou Korifi skull is 9 Bailey 2005.

concerned, Warren's observation that the 'skull can only 10 Talalay 2004, 155.
have been an object as such' I find interesting, since to 11 Branigan 1987; Soles 1992, 42.

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 JAN DRIESSEN

Fig. 11.1. Myrtos Fournou Korifi: excavation plan of rooms 89 and 92 with 'goddess' and 'skull' indicated

(after Warren 1972).

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 THE GODDESS AND THE SKULL

certain skulls in Archanes Burial Building 19.12 Apart existing buildings.20 Usually a few smaller bones of the
from the Fournou Korifi example, it is, however, also earlier interments remain within the funerary structure
not uncommon to encounter complete or fragmentary together with the latest more or less articulated
skulls or other human bones in domestic contexts on depositions but the mingling of bones at one and the
the island as in a MM IIIA level at Ayios Giorgos same spot is common. This makes it very difficult to
Tourtouloi, in the LM IA Mansion I at Petras, in the associate the few objects found in the tombs with
LM IB villa at Epano Zakros, and in mansion B2 at specific depositions. What seems to be the case at Sissi,
Mochlos, as well as in Room 12 of the Zakros Palace.13 however, is that what we have been calling tombs are
Moreover, in Palaikastro, Malia Quartier Nu and only temporary repositories, places of transition,
Kommos, to name just a few examples, fragmentary structures that served the decomposition of the bodies,
human material occasionally shows up in settlement before specific parts were selected to be stored
contexts and, although we cannot be sure, it is not elsewhere. At Sissi, we have excavated two such
impossible that these represented specially curated osteophulakia (FIG. 11.2) presumed final resting places,
skeletal remains.14 Talalay has surveyed the examples again with very few associated objects, a few metres
elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, suggesting that away from the preliminary burial structures.21 Similarly,
bodily fragmentation may not have been linked to acts the careful analysis of several of the Archanes burial
of violence but rather functioned within enchainment structures and some other cases have made it clear that
practices as reconstructed by Chapman.15 the normal Minoan mortuary practice consisted of the
If we assume that all body fragments encountered in consecutive interment of articulated primary burials
settlement context originate in funerary contexts and are that were later interfered with.22 Maggidis, following
not accidental (destruction victims only partly removed, Soles, gives a short list of the then known undisturbed
for example), we may ask whether they, and especially primary articulated burials in Prepalatial tombs:23 an
the skulls, represent specific individuals selected to be incredibly small number in comparison to the thousands
re-introduced into domestic contexts or whether they of secondary burials already known. There can be no
refer to a more general category of ancestors.161 will try doubt that most of these articulated skeletons are an
to argue that funerary evidence for the Prepalatial period aberration, only preserved because of coincidence. They
suggests surprisingly little attention to specific too would eventually have been interfered with were it
individuals and that, despite a recent claim by Colburn not for a decision to seal the funerary context by a layer
that funerary objects were mainly personal 'emblems of sand and to start anew, or because final collapse
or identity markers',17 having been used as adornments prevented continuation of mortuary use. Some, such
for the body during their life, it can be shown that they as Maggidis,24 see a growing individualism in the
were more likely to have been gifts to a collective of
group ancestors. My argument is that, once decomposed,
the body lost its individuality, became indistinguishable
from other bodies in the tomb and returned to the 12 Maggidis 1994, 31.

collectivity, which should be understood as a fractal 13 Driessen 2010, 47 for other examples.

personhood representing a person at a different scale in 14 Reese 1995, 194 mentions fragments of an adult mandible

which the single person was a fractal equivalent of the from a LM I context; human remains at Malia Nu were
identified by Tina McGeorge, at Palaikastro Wall
'house', a locus bound intergenerational extended social by Shelagh

unit.18As observed by Fowler:19 'People in past societies (pers. comm.).

15 Talalay 2004, 140; Chapman 2000.
were not necessarily individualized in the same way as
16 Cf. Soles 2000; 2001.
those of modern people, and past identities may have
17 Colburn 2008, 212.
been temporary, contextual, and relational to specific 18 Fowler Driessen 2010 and
2004, 50; Knappett 2009;
events and interactions'.
forthcoming.
19 Fowler 2004, 3.
20 Crevecoeur and Schmitt (2009). They remark that not all
THE TOMB AS A TEMPORARY REPOSITORY
bodies were displaced after decomposition and some
— A THREE-STAGE RITUAL?
reductions took place in situ. Moreover, certain displacements
took place before was completed.
Despite regional variation, funerary practices on decomposition
21 The question is, of course, whether the ossuaries represent a
Prepalatial Crete show a great similarity. Recent
ritual and sacralising action or simply a management of place
excavations in the EM II-MMII House Tomb cemetery
with the emptying of the tombs necessitated by the
at Sissi-Bouffo have shown that primary articulated
overcrowdings of the original spaces (Crevecoeur and Schmitt
burials represent only the first stage of a complex
2009).
mortuary ritual during which each burial structure 22 Branigan 1970; 1984; 1992; 1998; Sakellarakis and Sapouna
served continuously to deposit new bodies. Once Sakellaraki 1997; Maggidis 1994; 1998; Panagiotopoulos
earlier — and
decomposed, depositions especially 2002; Papadatos 2005.

skulls and long bones — seem to have been removed to 23 Maggidis 1994, 66-7; Soles 1992.

other structures to make room for new interments in 24 Maggidis 1994, 45.

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 JAN DRIESSEN

50cm.

Fig. 11.2. Sissi Buffo, Zone I. Ossuary (photo L. Manoussogiannaki. © Sarpedon).

deposition of skeletons within larnakes and pithoi since interment of the first occupant may have been a
these helped to minimise confusion of skeletal remains significant event, most of the Prepalatial burial
and facilitated the attribution of grave goods to specific structures were constructed for a group by a group
individuals. But since many of these vessels were also and not for an individual. Alexiou and Warren have
used for consecutive depositions, they too should tried in the case of the Lebena tholoi to identify the
primarily be identified as temporary containers, a place 'founder' of the tomb,26 and note how in several tombs
of transition and decomposition. It cannot be assumed prestigious objects such as Cycladic figurines or very
that the final occupant was the original 'owner' of the fine vases were associated with one or two skulls
coffin. From EM III onwards, however, primary burials and long bones which possibly belonged to the very
within pithoi gradually become more common but first interment, but again these cases represent post
secondary deposits remain the rule till the end of the mortem interference and not primary burial ritual.
Neopalatial period. Panagiotopoulos has shown how this two-stage
Partly because of the date of excavation and of process was recognised already early on in Minoan
pillaging, the situation is not always clear, but it seems archaeology.27 Indeed even Evans, when digging the
that in several cases the tomb itself served as final or so-called Royal Tomb of Isopata, although pillaged
intermittent location for the skulls and long bones, counted more than 40 skulls, which made him remark
whereas in other cases, the final resting place may have that 'the tomb as used during the latest Minoan Age,
been elsewhere. In several cemeteries, skeletal material would have been an ossuary'.28 What I want to suggest
seems simply to have been dumped in the here is, in fact, a three-stage process. Commenting on
neighbourhood of the tombs, together with some of the pillaged tholos of Ayia Kyriaki, Blackman and
the grave offerings. Accepting Prepalatial tombs as Branigan hypothesise an original burial population of
temporary repositories for decomposition and not as up to 500 individuals.29 Only a mere 100 tiny skeletal
final resting places also implies that they are initially
not communal tombs in the strict sense of the word;
they did not serve the simultaneous deposition of
25 See also et al. 2003, 309-10; also Keswani 2004,
Crubezy
several individuals. What we encounter are consecutive
51-4.
individual depositions, followed, at some stage, by the 26 Alexiou and Warren 2004, 192.
sometimes collective selection and re-deposition of 27 Panagiotopoulos 2002, 121-2.
certain skeletal elements either in the tomb, or in a 28 Evans 1906, 140.

nearby structure.25 This may imply that even if the 29 Blackman and Branigan 1982.

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 THE GODDESS AND THE SKULL

fragments were recovered from the tomb, however. (1965), apart from giving a summary of the possible
Since it is highly unlikely that the pillagers would have origin of the Minoans based on craniometric evidence,
removed the skeletal material, we can only assume that also presents a detailed discussion of determinations,
these remains had already been cleared away and re modifying and correcting earlier work by Duckworth,
located elsewhereduring the Bronze Age. One Hawes, and von Luschan;34 see table 11.1.
possibility would
be removal to a special ossuary, The sample used for table 11.1 is so limited as to
perhaps similar to that recently excavated in the Ayios be useless! For those skeletons of which both sex and
Charalambos Cave, where long bones were carefully age couldbe determined, he gave further results,
stacked together forming a platform on which skulls presented here in TABLE 11.2.
were placed within a burial context which may have Since Charles' work more LM III funerary contexts
contained up to 1000 individuals.30 The cave may have been examined, especially by Tina McGeorge.35
represent such an ultimate resting place where the In her study of the LM III Chania Palama Street burials,
remains collected from tombs were deposited. Again she was able to identify the sex of 29 people, 16 adults
this underlines that many of the burial structures were — nine females and seven males — and 13 children,

temporary repositories rather than final resting places.31 many of the latter younger than five years. The high
Still, it may also imply that the final resting place of number (45%) of children at Chania was compared to
some skeletal material has not yet been discovered and the 31% in the LM III Armenoi sample;36 and in both
that certain body parts were selected to be re-introduced cases dietary conditions seem to have been worse for
in settlements, as is the case for the Fournou Korifi women than for men. McGeorge's limited sample can
skull and the other above mentioned cases. Goldstein be used with some care to suggest that by LM III, all
and Schroeder have both argued that secondary, in members of society received formal burial. This may
contrast to primary, burial rites have in fact little to do also have been the case before. Indeed, despite the
with death and that secondary — and in our case scarcity of anthropological data, partly caused by the
tertiary—burial often asserts group associations rather redeposition of skeletal material, partly by taphonomic
than individualties and is manipulated to characterise processes, and the limitations of the sample, it is
and maintain the group.32 Kuijt adds:33 interesting to note that Charles' data imply that during
all main ceramic periods, there is at least some evidence
rituals are often of high
'secondary mortuary part for the burial of most if not all age groups and both
profile public ceremonies and can therefore be viewed sexes which, in general, would seem to suggest that
as spiritual and symbolic acts thathave social, political,
Minoans did not practice selection based on sex or age.
and personal meanings. Finally, multistage secondary
are in advance, are Unfortunately, it is not possible to be more precise but
mortuary practices planned
recent work such as that by Maggidis at Archanes
intergenerational, involve multiple households, and
involvement'. presents a similar picture,37 since Burial Building 19
require extraordinary community
comprised at least 22 child and infant burials against a
total of 171 individuals; and at Sissi too, perinatals and
STATUS AND SELECTION children have been identified.38 Still, we cannot exclude
that the preserved burials only represent a segment of
Seeing Prepalatial tombs primarily as temporary
society. Moreover, regional variation seems to be the
repositories also implies that our main evidence for rule rather than the exception.
the reconstruction of individual status may have been
There is some scant evidence, however, that women
removed: the skulls
of important individuals, for
received a more preferential treatment in the Prepalatial
example, may have been selected and retained
period. Triantaphyllou remarks:39
elsewhere whereas it is the lesser important human and
material evidence that remains. Assigning status to Although both sexes are represented in the burial

preserved skeletal remains becomes a difficult exercise assemblage [of Archanes Gamma], females remarkably
under such conditions. I will argue that since the outnumber the males (13:8), but the sex could not be

Minoans seem not to have attempted to show status

distinctions within the funerary domain, neither should
we and that once decomposed, skulls regained a
collective 30 Betancourt etal. 2008, 161, 163.
aspect.
A first question that needs to be asked is whether 31 Blackman and Branigan 1982, 53, 55.
32 Goldstein 2000; Schroeder 2001.
all Prepalatial Minoans had the right to be buried
33 Kuijt 2008, 175.
formally and whether they passed through the same 34 Charles 1965. Cf. Duckworth Hawes
1903; 1912; 1908; 1909;
mortuary rite of passage of deposition, selection and 1910; von Luschan 1913. See also Pomadere 2007.
relocation. Again, the absent evidence renders any 35 2003.
McGeorge 1987;
conclusion fragile, but we may examine to what degree 36 and McGeorge 1992, 45, 46.
Hallager
age groups and sexes are represented in the few cases 37 Maggidis 1994, 144.
in which anthropological studies have been performed. 38 Crevecoeur and Schmitt 2009.
In his Anthropologic archeologique de la Crete, Charles 39 Triantaphyllou 2005, 69.

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 JAN DRIES SEN

Table 11.1: Sex identifications of Minoan skeletal material (after Charles 1965).

Period Male Female

(Final) Neolithic (48) 31 12

EM (46) 25 13
MM (117) 75 36
LM I (Knossos, Sphoungaras) (16) 4 12
LM III (27) 14 11

Table 11.2: Sex and age identifications = female = male

(Charles 1965, 208-09). 9 S

Date No. Individuals Children 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 >60

EM 21 1 (6 yrs) 1? 1<?,3$ 86 5c? lc?

MM 89 2 2? 8c?, 79 20c?, 10$ 24c?, 7$ 8c?,1?
LM 36 1 3? 2c?,7? 5c?,2? 5c?,7? 2c?, 19

assigned to 5 adults. This picture of the female occasion).44 The long-term investment and reuse of the
predominance does not agree with the overall buildings implies some stability which would rather
distribution of sexes obtained from the few published
point to kinship ties. The same may also be concluded
Minoan skeletal assemblages. With the only exception from the fact that sometimes more than one burial
of MM I Kato Zakros (Becker 1975), men usually structure is constructed and used simultaneously in a
outnumber women (Hallager and McGeorge 1992).
single site and that differences exist between the
She is right in stressing the fact that recent study of practices and material encountered. This seems to
suggest that group-related distinctions were important.
LM III skeletal material shows that men outnumber
Elsewhere I have suggested the possibility of matrifocal
women and had better dietary conditions, but our two
social groupings as essential units of Minoan society;45
published studies
of Prepalatial skeletal material,
Archanes and Zakros, suggest the opposite: women
and the present evidence goes some way in this
direction.46 It needs, however, to be substantiated in
outnumber men and had better conditions. Where
the field. It may be important, however, that the Myrtos
Zakros is concerned, Becker (1975), on the basis of
cranial material of 74 individuals, identified 26 possible Pyrgos House Tomb comprised a mixture of all age
and sex groups during the Prepalatial and Protopalatial
males, 40 possible females (including two adolescents)
and eight unidentifiable specimens (including a single period but that the Neopalatial depositions were all
men.47 This seems to suggest that a different set of
child and one adolescent).40 As far as can be judged
selection criteria may have become operational at this
for the moment, women are also better represented at
Sissi than men.41 One could argue for a higher mortality stage and perhaps an evolution away from earlier
rate among women but this does not agree with the practices which may have advantaged women. It may
also be telling that, during the Prepalatial period the
observation that some preferential treatment of women
most valuable grave offering consisted of gold diadems,
is also identifiable. Triantaphyllou, for example,
a means of adornment for women.48 Maggidis has also
observed a higher rate of ante mortem teeth loss as
well as a higher incidence of wear and chipped teeth in
men than in women, probably indicating a harder,
coarser diet in the Archanes Tholos Gamma material.42
40 Becker 1975.
And, on the basis of her analysis of the Ayia Photia
41 Crevecoeur and Schmitt 2009.
material, McGeorge has also noted a higher life
42 Triantaphyllou 2005, 71.
expectancy for women in Prepalatial cemeteries than 43 McGeorge (pers. com.).
later,43 suggestive of better living conditions and higher 44 Cf. Keswani 2004, 54.
status. An associated question is whether the individuals 45 Driessen, forthcoming.
buried within the same structure were related, either 46 See also 2009.
Cadogan
by common descent, by a combination of descent or 47 Cadogan, forthcoming.
marital ties, or by other parameters (status, function, 48 Davaras 1975, 114; but see Soles 1988, 61, n. 3.

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 THE GODDESS AND THE SKULL

noted how 'the evidence...indicates that almost all entirely rotten they were not found in their original
metal artefacts were associated with child or female positions, but had obviously been disturbed and mixed
adult burials'.49 up, perhaps moved and heaped together in various parts
of the chamber to give for later or else
Next, whereas there is no doubt that evidence for space burials,
thrown about when rifled of their valuables.
social ranking exists in Prepalatial cemeteries,50 we
have to ask whether there is convincing evidence that
While re-investigating the Pseira tombs, Betancourt
specific individuals within the collectivity received
likewise stressed:59
special attention and finds? Most recently, Colburn has
attempted to construct an argument on the basis of the No vase can be specifically associated with any
exotica concentrated in only a few Prepalatial tombs individual skeleton because no tomb was found with
(Tomb I—II—III at Mochlos, Burial Buildings 19, many pieces in situ, and those that were present could

Gamma and Epsilon at Archanes, Tholos B at not be associated with any specific individual because
the human bones were always found in disarray, with
Koumasa), interpreting imported objects as individual,
disarticulated bones in piles representing several
body adorning valuables, as symbols of power and elite
individuals.
identity.51 She argues that exotic objects were
effectively used before ending up in Prepalatial tombs In another recent excavation, Serpetsidaki remarks that
and should be considered as evidence of social the Kyparissi rock tomb was first used for the burial of
ranking.52 That certain burial structures belonged to three articulated individuals that were not given objects
wealthier groups seems clear, but can we actually and that later, during EM-MM IA, the cave received
assume that individual rather than group-related status with objects, including five
secondary depositions
was important in Prepalatial society? In Archanes Cycladic figurines and 19 seals.60 In this case, it seems
Burial Building 19 (MM I A), the very last burial of clear that primary depositions were not accompanied
layer 2 consisted of an individual laid in a contracted by objects whereas secondary depositions were. The
position, head oriented north, resting on its right side, same is obvious from Maggidis' careful analysis of
facing west; besides the skull were a steatite bead, an Archanes MM IA Burial Building 19.61 He underlines
obsidian blade and a goblet and two jugs, one of which how objects were intentionally placed near retained
was covered by a conical cup, were placed by the feet.53
skulls, i.e. that it was a decision by those who interfered
Were these finds left behind by the people who buried once the bodies had decomposed to attribute or relocate
the person or by those who sealed the burial layer with
specificobjects to specific skulls.
sand before adding a new series of burials? Similarly, much the same thing was noted for the MM III
Very
the very last primary burial in the same tomb was tomb excavated by the British School on Gypsades.
disturbed so the objects found in association may only Hood how the few vases found 'may have
underlines
have been deposited when the skeleton was already been placed there, not at the time of burial, but to
decomposed.54 Maggidis further notes how adults in placate the dead when the remains of the body were
Burial Building 19 were accompanied by one to five deranged on the occasion of a later burial in the tomb'.62
clay vases, one or more pieces of jewellery, one or more A similar phenomenon was noted in the case of Lebena
obsidian blades and sometimes a stone vase whereas Zervou III tholos, where a skull was given a juglet but
children or infants not always received objects.55 Traces also 'the strand of gold sheet...perhaps originally
of use on some of the objects show that the latter had attached to the skull or to a diadem (none preserved)
been used in daily life before their deposition.56 They for the skull', showing clearly how the adornment
are supposed to have been the personal objects of the
happened only afterwards.63 Without neglecting the
deceased, sometimes giving information on his status
or profession. Panagiotopoulos too argues for a
funerary set, an assemblage accompanying the death
at the moment of deposition.57 Whereas I do not want
49 Maggidis 1994, 81.
to argue that the latter never happened I think it was 50 Soles 1988.
not standard practice. From Xanthoudides' account in 51 Colburn 2008.
The Vaulted Tombs of Mesara, it is clear, for example, 52 Colburn 2008, 212, 219.
that the attention given to burials or depositions in 53 Maggidis 1994, 42.

general was considered as odd and interpreted as 54 Magiddis 1994, 62.

showing little respect. His account of the Koumasa 55 Magiddis 1994, 77.
burial is exemplary:58 56 Maggidis 1994, 75.
57 Panagiotopoulos 2002, 117-19.
The thickness of the burial stratum and the mass of 58 Xanthoudides 1924, 7.

bones point to many hundreds of interments, but it 59 In Betancourt and Davaras 2003, 129.

was not possible to ascertain the manner and position 60 Serpetsidaki 2006, 245-6.

of burial in any of the tholoi, for the state of the bones 61 Maggidis 1994, 31-2, 38.
was such that no single skeleton could be recognised 62 Hood, Huxley and Sandars 1959, 223.
as complete in situ: and where bones were found not 63 Alexiou and Warren 2004, 188.

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 JAN DRIESSEN

possibility that individuals were accompanied by some cohesion and periodically to reaffirm social identities,
personal objects when buried, the more common kin-owned territory, or ancestral ties'.72 Or as
practice seems to have been to place objects near the mentioned by Kuijt:73
skull once the body had decomposed and was relocated.
After two or perhaps three the memory
Outside Burial Building 19 at Archanes, a flat stone generations,
of individuals becomes depersonalized and abstract.
interpreted as an altar was found with next to it three
Rather than as known
MM IB/IIA vases — a fruitstand, a jug and a goblet.64 being conceptualized
individuals, the dead are merged in an ancestral
Also outside were found an inverted conical cup, a seal,
memory that is anonymous, homogenized, and
a clay figurine, the head of a marble Cycladic figurine, collective.. .The process of forgettingthe dead is linked
one stone and four ivory pendants as well as shells. to the decontextualization of the individual — the
These offerings seem to have been made intentionally creation of a collective identity that is shared and
to the tomb as such and not to specific individuals. In experienced by others. There are clear practical reasons

contrast to the finds at Mochlos, first Seager and later that the dead become depersonalized and forgottenin
Betancourt and Davaras deplored the absence of traditional societies. Among the living there is a deep
and direct of the a
wealthy objects in the Pseira cemetery.65 This scarcity personal memory dead creating

has been observed elsewhere but has been appreciated series of tangible links between personhood in life,
death, and memorialization. At least initially, then,
differently: some interpret it as suggestive for a poor
memory and commemoration are experiential—
community, others have blamed Minoan plunderers;66 and direct.
personal
others assume it is a result of cleaning and renewal
operations with the dead, once decomposed, no longer This gradual depersonalisation of the memory of
being interested in objects.67 specific individuals allows them to rise to the general
Following Chapman,68 it is also possible to interpret category of group ancestors. The similarity between
the removal as an enchainment practice in which body the houses of the living and those of the dead (at least
fragments and objects embody social relations. A re where House Tombs but also mitata-looking tholoi are
introduction of both skeletal and funerary paraphernalia
concerned) underlines that the human landscape was
after a while within the realm of the living, allows us one and that accessibility to ancestors was one of the
perhaps to understand the skull and the goddess found reasons for constructing funerary buildings that were
by Peter Warren at Myrtos Fournou Korifi: both were of intergenerational permanence.74 Moreover, the
selected to maintain a lasting bond between objects, close association between domestic and
relatively
persons and the group. Who dedicated and eventually funerary areas implies that the dead were never very
retrieved the bones and objects? In the present distant and remained integrated in the community life.
hypothesis, they are regarded as gifts left by members
of the group 'as a feature of social integration, tracing
THE SKULL AND THE GODDESS
many close
ties between people...rather than the
hoarding of wealth by powerful individuals'.69 The fact Although there is plenty of evidence in tombs for
that some objects show evident traces of use does not skulls being closely associated with
repositioned
matter. The objects should not, as argued by Thomas,70
specific objects, it is doubtful that specific individuals
be interpreted as, 'symbols of prestige sacrificed in were honoured rather than the ancestors in general.
order to the status of the deceased a
express [but as] More and more indications are forthcoming that skulls
complex combination of ritual paraphernalia discarded were, on the one hand, considered as pars pro toto for
at the conclusion of the funeral and gifts which mark the entire skeleton and, on the other hand, were not
out quite specific relationships between the dead person as identifiable with the original person.75
regarded
and those who survived'. Fowler continues: 'where Evidence from the Near East suggests that skulls were
people and gifts are interchangeable to some degree,
bodies and objects do not belong to an individual but
the community. Fragments of a body need not
commemorate individuals; the same is true for relic
remains of old objects, which may be inalienable from 64 Maggidis 1994, 20.
the community and offered to the death'.71 65 References in Betancourt and Davaras 2003, 130, 134.
66 Branigan 1970, 110.
67 Panagiotopoulos 2002, 119, 124.
These different practices seem to imply that not only
68 Chapman 2000; Chapman and Gaydarska 2007, 4.
the construction of a burial building, but also the
69 A. Jones cited in Fowler 2004, 73.
deposition of a corpse, the deposition of grave offerings 70 Thomas 2000, 656.
in and outside a tomb, and the eventual selection of
71 Fowler 2004, 75.
skeletal fragments for redeposition or removal are likely 72 2004, 153.
Talalay
to have been collective acts, in each case accompanied 73 Kuijt 2008, 174.
by certain rites and ceremonies that served as 'powerful 74 Cf. Thomas 2000, 656.
social regulators, intended to preserve community 75 Panagiotopoulos 2002, 123.

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 THE GODDESS AND THE SKULL

selected regardless of age or sex.76 Kuijt also notes that Bonogofsky, M., 2005. 'Anatolianplastered skulls in context:
'among the living there is no understanding of the acts, new discoveries and interpretations', in 20. Arkeometri
status and identity of people in the past and specific Sonuglari Toplantisi, 24-28 Mavis 2004 Konya. Ankara:
skeletal remains. Other than being viewed as respected 13-26.
ancestors.. .they have been transformed into a collective Branigan, K., 1969. 'The genesis ofthe household goddess',
SMEA 8: 22-38.
ancestry'.77
, 1970. The Tombs of Mesara. A Study of Funerary
It wouldbe through the selection and retaining of
Architecture and Ritual in Southern Crete, 2800-1700
skulls that the identity and memory from named B.C. London.
persons was transferred to a symbolic collective.78 , 1984. 'Early Minoan society: the evidence of the
Skulls represent at the same time a process of de Mesara tholoi revised', in Aux origines de I 'Hellenisme.
individualisation and an ascendance to a new status of La Crete et la Grece. Hommage a Henri van Effenterre
collective ancestor. The selection, removal and re presentepar le Centre G. Glotz. Paris: 29-37.

introduction of a skull and goddess figurine at EM IIB , 1987. 'Ritual interference with human bones in the
Mesara Tholoi', in R. Laffineur (ed.), THANATOS. Les
Myrtos Fournou Korifi should be interpreted in the
coutumes en a I Age du Bronze.
same vein, representing a type of fragmentation and funeraires Egee
Aegaeum 1. Liege: 43-50.
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To conclude, in this paper I have explored whether
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