THE ART OF DEATH Minoan Crete

Two styles of tomb were prevalent in Crete in the Early and Middle Bronze Age; they might be characterized as square and round. The square variety was more prevalent, appearing in different manifestations from Palaikastro to Gournes to Arkhanes to Mochlos. These were either square or oblong rooms, or a series of narrow rectangular chambers, arranged parallel to each other. Some scholars suggest that these square tombs should be regarded as house tombs, and that they served as houses for the dead.

Located only in southern Crete, in an area called the Mesara, were the round tholos tombs. These were slightly more elaborate in construction, combining a rubble core with a rock facing. The entrance was always to the east, probably in association with the rising sun. Whether or not these structures were roofed is still under debate. Inside, the structures had a slight corbel vault, meaning that the rocks came closer together as they rose above the ground. For large structures, the only way to secure such vaulting was with a capstone at the very top, meaning that the corbelling had to go all the way up. Such a roof has never been preserved among the tholoi of the Mesara, so it is impossible to tell if all their roofs have simply fallen in, if the corbelling went up only a short distance before being covered over by a reed roof, or if the tombs were simply left open to the sky. These structures were large enough for several burials, and they were used repeatedly over several generations, occasionally having the insides burned as a form of "housecleaning." The ultimate form of the tholos appeared much later and much farther to the north, when the Mycenaeans adapted the Minoan practice for their own nobility.