Key to Abbreviations:

All told, there are only 13 graves, five of which are multiple burials, which could be considered rich in goods. Only one of the 13 does not have some sort of pottery, the Middle Helladic I, slab cist grave (G6), multiple burial with an adult male, adult female, and a newborn. By map area the burials are: one in D7; two in E6; one in E7; two in F6; four in G6; and three in H5. The two Shaft Graves are located in F6. Therefore, each main area is represented by at least one "rich" burial, but there is not a "rich" burial in each map area in each era.

Map area E has four "richest" burials and six "richer" burials for a total of ten; while map area H has 3 "richest" burials and 8 "richer" burials for a total of 11. Map area G, although the area with the most amount of burials with and without goods, only has four "richest" burials and one "richer" burial for a total of five. The "rich" burials in map area E are mainly pottery burials, and most of the pottery is characteristic of the area, while a few vessels are considered imported: one Kamares, one Cycladic, and one Keftiu. Map areas G and H appear to have most of the bead, silver and bronze burials, materials (except possibly certain beads) which are not local to Lerna or the surrounding area. And although these materials could have been imported in trade (and some surely were), the fact that the burials were concentrated in an area opposite to the pottery burials seems to indicate that there were now people who were new to Lerna possessing these goods. And the fact that these people possessed many items considered at that time valuable items which were not obtainable locally would seem to indicate that these people were "richer" than the inhabitants who possessed the pottery on the other side.

There was one "rich" burial in the Late Neolithic era:

Female, 26, pit grave, E6--Bowl red clay; Bowl gray-brown burnished; Bowl red-brown bisquit

Of all three burials with grave goods in the Neolithic (6000-3000 BC), the above in the Late Neolithic had the most goods which consisted of three bowls in the coarse, burnished ware typical of that period in that area of Greece. The other two burials in the Neolithic had one piece of pottery each: one a black burnished bowl (EN), and the other a jug of unusual form with a high-swinging handle (LN). In that the Neolithic spanned a period of 3000 years and only eight graves were uncovered, very little can be determined from such a small amount of material.

The fact that there were no burials found in Early Helladic II, apparently a time of great prosperity for the Lernaeans, may have a possible explanation in a theory discussed by Morris (1987:93). He writes of some societies who exclude people on the basis of rank from formal, archeologically visible burials. Morris defines "rank" as the "hierarchical ordering of individuals into positions of superordination and subordination"; and in his opinion this "rank" position can be based on age or sex. Morris warns, however, that the fact that burials are not archeologically recoverable may not indicate a lower status. He recounts two incidents where the higher status is purposefully hidden at death.

[O]n Bali until recently the highest-ranked individuals were exposed without any subterranean disposal facilities, while the rest of the population were inhumed in simple pit graves. The wealthier members of this group would later be exhumed, cremated, and their ashes would be scattered on the sea. Consequently, only the poorest members of society would be visible to the archaeologist [Huntington and Metcalf 1979:86, 130 cited in Morris 1987:93].

He continues:

Wait has recently argued that the few deposits of human remains known from Iron Age south central England represent unclean deviants, while the rest of the population vanished completely without trace [Wait 1985:120 cited in Morris 1987:94].

During most of the Lerna periods, there appear to be four levels of burials--richest goods, richer goods, non-rich goods, and no goods at all--but there do not appear to be any burials that are not archeologically recoverable. However, during Early Helladic II there were no burials found at all. Following Morris's theory this would imply that all inhabitants of Lerna were either of lower status or all were of higher status. Since this is not practical, it would be logical to conclude that in this period the inhabitants of Lerna had a cemetery outside of the settlement.

The next era, Early Helladic III (2200 BC), has only one burial with any amount of goods, that listed below of a newborn female in a pit burial in map area E6:

Female?, newborn, pit grave, E6--Cup red-brown paint, 2-handled; Cups 2, handleless, cylindrical; Pots; Jar, small patterned; Vessel, diminutive askoid

Interestingly, although there is a span of at least 800 years from the end of the Neolithic until EHIII, there are many similarities between the two burials. They are both female, although one is a female child and one a female adult. They are both pit graves in map area E6, and both have only pottery, although the latter has a greater variety and amount. It seems unusual, considering the lack of goods which most female child burials have, to have such a rich burial for this EHIII one.

Although the time period is later than the Bronze Age, Ian Morris (1987:182) writes of child status in ancient Greece:

There are many comparative cases of the children of an elite not being considered as part of the elite for the purpose of burial ritual....The social structure created in the funerals is rather similar to that in Homer: to be an agathos you must be born into the class, but it is as a grown man, through your heroic deeds, that you establish your status.

It does not appear from the above that female adults or children were ascribed any status at all, and male children according to Morris had to earn theirs when they became adults. Therefore, if there was any similarity at all between Bronze Age society and Ancient Greek society, to have such a rich burial for a newborn female in the area of the House of the Tiles might indicate some sort of ritual or sacrifice rather than the burial of an elite child. The next E6 burial (see below) does not come until Middle Helladic II and it is that of a child of unknown sex, about three years of age:

Unknown sex, 3, slab cist grave, E6--Bronze ring Beads, 2 carnelian; 1 paste; 1 terracotta

The E6 burial with the possible female has only pottery associated with it. But the MHII burial of a child of unknown sex has no pottery, only beads and a bronze ring; this is the only burial in E6 that has beads. Beads appear to be an item associated primarily with females (see section on Beads below). It is possible that the 3-year-old burial is that of a female.

The next two "rich" burials (listed below) during Middle Helladic I (2000 BC) are located in map area G6. Up to now there have been no burials in this area; but suddenly the burials in area G6 total 23, nine with grave goods and 14 without.

Male, 44, slab cist grave, G6--Terracotta axe head
F19-20--Terracotta pierced disc
Unknown sex, Newborn--Terracotta spindle whorl; Earrings 2, silver; Beads Carnelian; Purple Stone; Faience

Male, 6-9months, pit grave, G6--Terracotta spindle whorl
Female, 18--Jar coarse, red-brown, one-handle
Female, 28--Jar buff, S&P, 2 lug handles
Female, 28--Bowl red ware, 1 handle
Male, 27--Jar fairly fine, buff, MP; Bone awl; Pestle; Bone pin; Terracotta pierced disc

We must keep in mind that multiple burials were not necessarily made at the same time. The same graves were often used over a long span of time for members of the same family. Therefore, it is difficult to theorize anything about the multiple burials, except possibly to hazard a guess as to which grave good may belong to whom. However, dividing the number of grave goods into the number of people, then the multiple burials would not be considered as "rich," because the result would amount to only two to three items per person, if each earring and bead are counted.

The next era, Middle Helladic II (ca. 1800 BC) is the one with more adult (59%) than child (38%) burials, and slightly more adult males (45%) than females (40%). The two "rich" burials found in this era are listed below:

Female, 18, pit grave, D7--Beads; Bone 2; Stone; Paste; Seashells 12; Pebbles; Bone pins; Tusk shell; Oyster shell, pierced hole; Crystal polyhedrons, dark brownish gray; Jug MP; Spiralform piece, glass paste; Bone implements 2; Obsidian chips

Male, 24, semi-cist grave, E7--Jug MP, 1 handle; Cup AM, high-swinging 2 handles; Cup MP, high-swinging 2 handles; Jar Kamares, 2 upright handles; Bronze blade (razor?); Shells, many

The burials are now adult burials. The burial in map area D7, a female of 18 years, is an anomaly in many ways. It is the only burial found in area D7 and it has the most variety of items of any of the burials through the eras (excepting the Shaft Grave burials), although the items it contains do not appear very valuable. There are no exotic beads such as carnelian or "purple stone," and there are no silver or bronze items. It is possible that everything in the grave could have been obtained locally. Ian Morris writes of mortuary ritual in fifth century BC Sparta which could shed some light on this burial:

In Sparta, ordinary citizens were not allowed any very elaborate funerary treatment...only those who died in battle or in childbirth were so honoured...although the kings, with their ascribed status, also had elaborate funerals. [1987: 50]

If Morris is correct then it is possible that this female died in childbirth. Religion and ritual are two of the most conservative systems to change. A religion can go on for thousands of years, as is shown by the Roman Catholic religion, with little of its rite and ritual changing. It may not be that unusual to have a funerary custom such as the one Morris discusses to continue from the Middle Bronze Age to fifth-century Sparta.

But surely she was not the only female in four hundred years who died in childbirth. Therefore, the sheer number of items would still indicate some amount of wealth. If she were a member of an elite MHII society then she was part of a very small population. The only other possibility, because she was buried in such an isolated place in relation to the other graves, would be that she held a special position similar to a priestess or a princess.

Dr. Angel does not say whether this individual had any children or not. I believe, though, that as it appeared he had a full skeleton to work with, he would have mentioned it had he seen any indication of pitting. He does say that the skull appears to be Iranian (D4). In relation to this and other similar burials he further states:

These people may be direct descendants of Anatolians since there is virtual identity with the linear elements at Troy, Karatas, early Tarsus, and regions farther east...this may well be one of the first Hellenic clans, part of the group which might have brought intramural burial, proto-Hellenic speech, and Minyan pottery to the Argolid [Angel 1971:106].

The second "rich" MHII burial is that of an adult male in map area E7 with a mainly pottery burial. This burial definitely expresses some type of status, although it may not necessarily express wealth. It is possible that this man was a brave warrior who lost his life in battle. Up to now that there was only one burial found with a weapon of any kind (Middlel Helladic I, terracotta axe head). Yet men must have died in battles through the ages; so it is possible weapons would not be found in the burials because of custom, even though the individual may have been an heroic warrior. On the other hand, Angel (1971:42) does not indicate that this man died of any unusual wounds. Therefore, he could have been of high status, or a religious leader of some kind.

Of the "rich" burials in Middle Helladic III (listed below), one is found in the original Neolithic area E.

Male?, 2, slab cist grave, G6--Jug, red slipped, plain; Jar, MP, two handles; Beads: stone 2, dk bl/pste 9+/brnz; Bronze wire; Silver leaf ornament, fragments of; Terracotta disc; Charred grain; Turkeywing ark shells

Unknown sex, adult, slab cist grave, E6--Cup Keftiu MP, high-swngng hndl Jug green buff MP, small plain; Jugs 2; Vessel small gray; Pitcher red buff fine; Pin bronze; Snail shells; Large lead clamps 2; Obsidian

The burial in map area G6, that of a possible male age two, is incongruous in that it has beads. There are only two possible male burials with beads, and the other one in LHI, has only one bronze bead associated with it. If Morris (1987:182) is correct in his statement (see above), then it is highly unusual for children to be accorded such rank as the grave goods indicate. But possibly during this time period (ca. 1700-1600 BC), somewhat before the era of which Morris is writing (late 10th century BC), and on the eve of the Mycenaean Age, ranking was not so established, and children were accorded more status than during the later period.

The silver leaf fragments were found under the skull which would indicate some sort of ornament for the hair (Blackburn 1970:164) or head area. Also found near the skull were the beads of paste or bronze with bits of bronze wire, many fused together (Blackburn 1970:164). This may have been connected with the silver leaf ornament, and combined been a tiara or headdress of some sort. It is possible that this is a female child; on the other hand, the charred grain could indicate a male burial. Although few in number (3) all of the burials with charred grain were male burials. Silver was a most precious metal at that time (see above), and this is one of the only two burials found with any silver at Lerna. It is possible that the graves were robbed of all the silver. But if that were the case, then all of the graves with silver must have been robbed close to the time of the initial burial for only two graves to have escaped being robbed. Otherwise, more graves with silver should have escaped later detection. This logic could also be applied to gold, as there were no burials found with any gold goods at Lerna. Toward the end of Dynastic Egypt many of the tombs of the Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings were robbed of their goods in the same generations as the burials (Romer 1984:146ff). And although that could be one explanation for the paucity of silver and gold and bronze, a more likely conclusion would be that they were never there in the first place.

The "rich" adult burial in map area E6 has mainly pottery, and although it has a quantity of items, they do not seem as valuable as the goods in the the child burial.

The next burials are in Late Helladic I. It is during this time, the very beginning of the Mycenaean Age, that the first Shaft Graves appear at Lerna (see Shaft Grave list in previous chapter). There are several interesting points about the Shaft Graves. There were no skeletal remains in either. There was no gold, silver, or precious stone, and no weapons; and only small bits of bronze were found in one of the graves. Most of the pottery was pieced together by the excavators from sherds: 13 baskets of sherds dated stylistically to the late Middle Helladic and early Late Helladic (Blackburn 1970:169) were recovered from the shaft and grave area of one, and 30 baskets from the other. That many of the sherds were found in the shaft could indicate that the original pottery was left as an offering above the grave. It is also interesting to note that the items in the two Shaft Graves reflect most of the items found in many of the other graves at Lerna: the different types of pottery, saddle quern, stone axe, obsidian, bone pins, bone awls, boar's tusk, horn tools, terracotta spindle whorls, terracotta pierced discs, miscellaneous pieces of bronze, bronze tool, bronze pin, flint, quartz, chert saw, deer horn, bone implements, loomweight. Although probably just a coincidence it is interesting to note that the Shaft grave with the bronze items has no stone items and vice versa. This seems to hold true for all the other graves with bronze objects but one (see discussion on bronze below).

Caskey (1955:32-34) and Blackburn (1970:168) entertain the idea that robbers entered both graves at some point in time and took not only the precious possessions but also the skeletons. There seems to be no practical reason why robbers would take the skeletons. But that the descendants or others interested in these particularly revered persons took them for reburial in another place would seem a more logical conclusion. It is possible that they also took with them the weapons and other precious goods at that time for reburial.

The next time period, Late Helladic I, also had two "rich" burials:

Male?, 3, cist grave, H5--Clay cup fine buff, stemmed; Jugs (2) fne bff/brn plshd, 2 hndls; Goblet heavy red slipped, 2 hndls; Cup fine; Bead Bronze; Obsidian piece

Unknown sex, child, slab cist grave, H5--Feeding bottle brown-black paint; Base MP pot; BeadsCrystal7; Carnelian5; Steatite1; Paste4; Bronze1; Obsidian scraps

These two LHI child burials are located in map area H5. One contained almost entirely pottery which is of a much finer quality than that of previous eras. The other contained beads and a small quantity of pottery. It is difficult to assess which was considered more precious during that time, beads or pottery. It should logically follow that local goods would not be deemed as valuable as goods which were imported, and the more distance an item had to travel the more valuable it would be. Pottery could be manufactured at home and so could some beads; but certain materials such as amber and carnelian, silver and tin (for making bronze), and even obsidian, were not of local origin. That there were stones found in some of the earlier burials indicates that certain stones must have had a value or a significance. Whether they were costly in the material sense we cannot know. Of these elements, James Muhly (1980:31) writes:

Tin is a fairly rare element in the earth's crust, and alluvial tin, or cassiterite, is known in only a few areas, from Cornwall to Thailand and Malaysia, all seemingly too remote to be posited as sources for the bronze metallurgy [in the Aegean]....The one exception is Egypt, where three separate sources of alluvial cassiterite have been identified in the Eastern Desert.[] An Egyptian rock-carved hieroglyphic inscription at one of the tin sites (El Mueilha) indicates Egyptian presence in the area at the end of the Old Kingdom but says nothing about the exploitation of cassiterite. Like the related inscriptions from the Wadi Hammamat to the north they refer to expeditions sent in search of stone. Perhaps, as Hestrin and Tadmor have suggested, the Egyptians did not consider the acquisition of copper (and, I would add, tin) something worth writing down. They recorded only the expeditions in search of costly materials such as gold, turquoise, and amythest.

It appears from the above passage that tin was not considered rare to the Egyptians but certain stone was. That they would send expeditions out in search of stone, along with those in search of gold, turquoise, and amythest, puts stone in a very high category indeed. But the stone referred to must have been for the building of their tombs which they did in great numbers and on a grand scale. Still, for certain stone to be put in with the burials means that it must have held some symbolic meaning if not any material value.

The last "rich" graves are placed in Late Helladic II-III. Most of the late levels were too close to the surface to have yielded much and only a very few burials came to light. These final "rich" graves contained the following items:

LHII-III

Male, l7months, cist grave, G6--Open cup fine quality
Unknown, 12months--Goblet fine quality; Jugs (2) miniature; Cup inferior fabric

There were four graves (one multiple) in all, and although all four contained goods, only two contained a significant number of items. A third (unknown sex and age), although it did not contain numerous items, did contain valuable items, a bronze ring and pin of the Geometric type. The two noted above are both infant burials (all under or just at one year). The items in the graves are now all of high quality. Many of the items left in the earlier eras are not seen. There seems to be more of a break between Late Helladic II-III and Late Helladic I than LHI and MHIII if the items are taken into consideration. In LHI the shaft graves possessed much of the same goods as the earlier eras, but in LHII-III there is no obsidian, stone, flint, bone, shell, or terracotta.

In his article on the ideology and change in Bronze Age Europe Stephen Shennan (1982:156) poses the suggestion that the appearance of rich burials in the archaeological record of many parts of Early Bronze Age Europe resulted from a growing ideology of a new dominant group which "sought to legitimate social differentiation...by representing it as natural and immutable through the use of material culture in the form of prestige items and ritual symbols which constantly reiterated the message." He further theorizes that the imbuement of symbolism and prestige in certain items later reached a point where the "maintenance of the hierarchies which had arisen was closely bound up with the consumption of prestige valuables" (Shennan 1982:160). These prestige items were obtained from other elite groups elsewhere thereby causing stronger bonds between them while further separating them from the rest of society. Shennan (1982:160) continues:

...although the elite group had become ideologically more secure, the fact that prestige and rank were now represented in terms of objects meant that those objects now acquired an intrinsic value. This meant that they could actually be used to create a position.

Shennan (1982:160) reasons that the fact that these objects were used in burials must be significant, and suggests:

that it relates in some way to the problem of the succession to power in such societies. This is the sphere in which competition and stress are at their greatest, either because the rules of succession are not themselves clear and leave open the possibility of competition, or because the jurally defined successor still has to prove himself in the field of elite activities...

• Lerna

• Frequency of Diverse Types of Grave Goods

• Bibliography