What have people in today’s day in age found out about these astonishing people of the past? Are we able to tell what the people of this kind were like, just because we found a few bones and a couple of carvings? The death of the Mycanae civilization and how this death was dealt with, tells a great deal to our society of modern day.

"The material evidence of death, in the form of graves, tombs, and funeral goods,

has long been the focal point of the various teams of archaeologists who have

excavated at the site from the third quarter of the nineteenth century up until the

Had it not been for these material evidences of death, the Mycenaen civilization would not be as well of a known past as it is today. In research, archaelogists have found shaft and tholos tombs of the Mycenae. Tholos tombs (see figures 1, 2) were us

plaques bearing motifs of lions, griffins, cuttlefish, deer, eagles, and swans; gold

German Archaeologist (see figure 4), Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890), began to excavate Mycenae in 1876. His first discovery was that of uncovering the great city of Troy. Here he stuck gold. Soon after his finding, he began to dig inside the walls of the citadel, during August of 1876. Once again, Schliemann’s assumption that Mycanae was "rich in gold" (Harper 55) came true. Five shaft graves from the grave of Agamemnon (lying just inside the city gates) were found filled with gold. Amongst the five graves were sixteen decayed bodies,

"gold goblets and plates; gold crowns, diadems, and necklaces; gold disks and

ed only for those of high authority, whereas shaft tombs were for the modern man of their day. These requirements toward the deceased were very common during this time. There were no exceptions. A common man was givin a shaft that had been dug into the ground. This area would soon contain his body and several gifts (placed there due to rituals). Once full, it was to be filled back over with dirt. A man of higher powers was honored with the tholos tomb, a tomb much greater in size and more so like that of a monument. These contained a vault (usually 50 feet in diameter), consisting of huge rooms (possibly for rituals of some sort), large doors, and a smaller side room (where burials could take place). Of all monuments in Europe at this time, tholos were most remarkable. (Monkeyshines 6) The largest tholos tomb, also known as a beehive tomb, found at Mycenae is Treasury of Atreus. It is carved out of a hillside and has a 120 foot-long passage (also known as a dromos). The Triangular space seen above the doorway of the Treasury of Atreus was, at one time, plugged by a stone (see figures 1

Some topics in this essay:
Bronze Age, Heinrich Schliemann, Grave Circle, Mycenaeans Imagine, Mycenae Tholos, Treasury Atreus, Middle Helladic, Arthur Evans, Due Cretan, grave circle, German Archaeologist, ritual vases, found tombs, tholos tombs, found mycenae, bronze 2, rhytas ritual vases, tholos tomb, past people, 1200 bc, rhytas ritual, gold harper 55, figures 1 2,