The Argos “Tumuli”: a Re-examination

Résumé En

The main aim of the Argos “Tumuli” Project is to publish the assemblage of the Argos “tumuli” cemeteries, excavated during rescue excavations in the late 1970s. The “Tumuli”, i.e. groupings of ca. 110 tombs found in the important settlement of Argos, were interpreted as burial mounds by the excavator, the late Dr E. Deilaki. These tombs are very important for our understanding of social organization during a crucial phase of Greek prehistory: the Middle Bronze Age and the transition to the Late Bronze Age, a period marked by rapid and pervasive social change, which eventually led to the formation of the Mycenaean palatial polities. The ultimate aim of our study is to understand the position of Argos in the changing political landscape of the Middle Bronze Age Argolid. The project involves an up-to-date study of the burial assemblage and funerary practices, and the reexamination of archival information pertaining to the Argos “tumuli”. The project includes a full osteological examination of the (extant) skeletons, while various scientific methods of analysis (radiocarbon analysis, stable isotopes analysis, in order to establish dietary variation, and ancient DNA analysis, in order to establish kinship relations) are planned for the immediate future. In this paper we will focus on the following questions: – When were individual graves, or the “tumuli” as a whole, in use? – Can we reconstruct the history of use of grave groupings or “tumuli”? – Are we dealing with real and typical tumuli? – Do these graves belong to an elite? Do they reflect social differentiation in the community?