This landmark discovery required one hapless farmer, a broken watering pipe, and an attempt to park a heavy machine in the shade of an olive tree. So, thanks to a chain of accidents, a "great day" came for the town of Ierapetra in the south of Crete: here, for the first time in the history of archaeological research on the island, untouched burials of the Bronze Age dating back to the late Minoan period III were found.
We talked about this event just ten days ago, in the article "The Great Day: in the south of Crete, they found an intact Minoan burial site."
“The significance of this discovery for our history and culture is simply enormous. At the same time, this is our answer to those who said, they say, there were no Minoans in Ierapetra. There were!”, - said then Argiris Pantatsis, the vice-mayor of the city. He also called the day of the discovery "great": in Ierapetra, nothing like this had ever been found before, so these burials, miraculously preserved and miraculously found, can change the existing ideas about the extinction of the great Minoan civilization 3300-3500 years ago - that is, after a catastrophic eruption the volcano on the island of Thira (Santorini) and the conquest of Crete by the Achaean Greeks.
The first messages and photographs from the place of discovery were quite unambiguous: two clay larnax (sarcophagus) were raised from the tomb to the surface, in which human remains were found.
First Minoan Larnax found at Kentry (Ierapetra). Photo: documentonews.gr
On 23 August, new photographs appeared in the Greek press, accompanied by reprints of an official press release from the Greek Ministry of Culture. The editorial staff of Vesti. Nauka was delighted with the promptness of the Greeks and the opportunity to inform our readers of the continuation of this wonderful story, because much hinted at the presence of the third Minoan burial.
However, after studying the "press release" we got confused. The new photographs (see the title photo) seem to depict the third larnax - in any case, it does not look like the first two, captured in amateur photographs from the first day of excavation. In the text of the press release, however, we are talking only about two larnaxes found in the tomb - the existence of the third is not confirmed. There are other oddities in the English text of the press release - however, as it turned out, the translation from Greek was made through Google without meaningful editing, and in this form the information settled on the English-language pages of Greek publications.
Promotional video:
In anticipation of new details and explanations, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the information from the official press release - this is so far the only thing we can offer.
So, the place of the primary sinkhole was professionally processed by archaeologists, and an ordinary pit turned into a pit with a diameter of 1.20 meters and a depth of more than 2.5 meters.
A hole in the ground that allowed archaeologists to enter the tomb. Photo: ERA.
“A chamber tomb has been discovered, carved into soft limestone. The entrance to the tomb is sealed with stones, so access to the inner chamber was obtained through a vertical opening."
The inner space of the tomb was divided into three niches carved into limestone. An intact larnax with a lid was found in the "southern" niche; inside - perfectly preserved human remains lying in the "embryo position". Near the larnax were found 14 ceramic ritual vessels, a crater for mixing wine with water and one flat dish.
Larnax and ritual vessels found in the “southern” niche. Photo: ERA.
Human remains found in clay larnax. Photo: ERA.
In the "northern" niche was the second larnax containing the remains of an adult. The preservation of the bones is average, but the funerary ceramics are perfectly preserved. Archaeologists noted the high quality of the ritual vessels, they were created by a good master.
“According to the first estimates of researchers and according to the typology of ceramics, the tomb dates back to the late Minoan period IIIA-B, which corresponds to 1400-1200 BC,” the press release said.
And here is the passage from the press release that confused us: "Near the excavation site, signs of another burial were revealed, but the studies did not find one." Three niches in the tomb, the third larnax in the photographs (different from the first two) - however, representatives of the ministry declare only two burials.
Vesti. Nauka will follow the development of events and the emergence of new, more meaningful details from the excavations in the olive grove on the outskirts of Ierapetra.
