the encyclopedia of ancient history || perati in attica
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Perati in AtticaYANNIS GALANAKIS
An extensive Late Bronze Age necropolis on the
southern slopes of the Perati hill to the northeast
of the Bay of Porto Raphti in east Attica. Two
tombs were excavated in 1893 by the Greek
archaeologist Staıs. Iakovidis’s systematic exca-
vations (1953–63), on behalf of the Archaeolog-
ical Society at Athens, brought to light 192
chamber tombs and twenty-seven pit graves,
all densely arranged in an area of about 1.3 ha.
Of these, fifty-eight tombs were found looted.
From the intact tombs, forty-five roughly cor-
respond to 1200/1190–1160 BCE and ninety-two
to 1160–1100, while twenty-six date to
1100–1075, after which the cemetery was aban-
doned. The tombs are generally small (only nine
have a chamber area over 6 m2), lacking fea-
tures of elaboration. In the vast majority of
cases the bodies (about six hundred) were
inhumed, with earlier burials placed in charnel
pits or swept to one side. A notable discovery
was the practice of primary cremation (eigh-
teen burials in total), infrequently practiced in
the Aegean even during the very late Late
Bronze Age. Cremation is thought to have
originated in the Levant. Males, females, and
children were cremated at Perati. Occasionally,
offerings may have been burnt along with the
dead. The cremated remains were placed in
urns or pits, or were left loose on the chamber
floor. The analysis of the cremations has shown
that the fire was of irregular intensity that
calcined the bones but did not reduce them
to ash. When the fire was over, only a fraction
of the bones was collected. The tombs yielded
about 1,200 pots, mostly of local manufacture
with a few imports from the CYCLADES ISLANDS,
CRETE, and the Dodecanese. Numerous small
finds (around 1,500) include jewelry, seals,
tools (among which are fishing hooks and net
weights), weapons, figurines, precious and
semi-precious metal, glass, FAIENCE and IVORY
objects, and exotica (imports from Egypt and
the Levant). Four objects weremade of IRON, the
use of which was still limited during this
period. The material from the tombs hints at
the existence of a thriving and extensive
community around and just after the collapse
of centralized administration in the Aegean.
The settlement, not yet found, may have been
located to the west of the cemetery, in an area
now densely built over. Objects from Perati are
on display in the National Museum in Athens
and the Archaeological Museum at Brauron.
SEE ALSO: Mycenaean society and culture.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Iakovidis, S. E. (1969–70) Peratή. ΤοΝekrοta’eίοn (Βibliοyήk� t�B en ΑyήnaiBΑrwaiοlοgikήB ΕtaireίaB 67), 3 vols. Athens.
Iakovidis, S. E. (1980) Excavations of the
nekropolis at Perati. Los Angeles.
Paidoussis, M. and Sbarounis, C. (1975) “A study
of the cremated bones from the cemetery of
Perati.” Opuscula Atheniensia 11: 129–60.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 5146–5147.
© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah02144
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