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On the Origin of the Wooden Coffin in Late Bronze Age Greece

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

Robin Hägg  and
Franciska Sieurin
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Extract

During the last three decades, wooden coffins have come to light in increasing numbers in graves of the earlier phases of the Late Minoan period, especially in the area of Knossos. When their form and dimensions can be discerned, they often belong to a type that is or imitates a chest for household use. Sinclair Hood, Ingo Pini, and Bogdan Rutkowski, who have dealt with these coffins, agree on their general similarity to the clay larnakes of the type called chest-larnakes that are so common in the LM III graves of central and western Crete, and for which wooden prototypes are generally assumed. Hood and Pini also stress that the wooden coffins belong to a different tradition from that of the earlier, Middle Minoan, clay larnakes, but that the origin of the type is unknown. Rutkowski thinks that the wooden coffin was ‘a subsequent development of the M.M. rectangular larnax made of clay’. Common to all three is that they see the use of the wooden coffin as a purely Minoan phenomenon, in line with the tradition of larnakes from Early Minoan onwards till the end of the Bronze Age. They note in passing that there are a few examples of sarcophagi of wood, stone, and terracotta on the Mycenaean mainland, but attribute their occurrence to Minoan influence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 77 , November 1982 , pp. 177 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1982

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References

Acknowledgements. We wish to thank most warmly Professor Ake Åkerström, Mr. Sinclair Hood, and Dr. Jon van Leuven for reading a draft of this article and for making valuable comments and suggestions. Dr. van Leuven also checked our English manuscript.

The origin of the article is a seminar paper on wooden coffins and biers written by F. Sieurin at the Swedish Institute in Athens under the guidance of R. Hägg. The text of the article was written by the latter.

The following abbreviations are employed in addition to those in standard use:

Åkerström Åkerström, Å, ‘Mycenaean problems’, OpAth xii (1978) 19–86Google Scholar

KS 2Hood, S. and Smyth, D., Archaeological Survey of the Knossos Area, 2nd edn. (BSA Suppl. Vol. 14, London 1981)Google Scholar

1 See below, nn. 44–53 and Table I, lower part.

2 Hood, M. S. F., ‘Another warrior-grave at Ayios Ioannis near Knossos’, BSA 51 (1956) 81–99Google Scholar, esp. 86–7: ‘Note on wooden coffins of the Late Minoan period in Crete’.

3 Pini, I., Beiträge zur minoischen Gräberkunde (Wiesbaden, 1968) 54 and 57.Google Scholar

4 Rutkowski, B., ‘The origin of the Minoan coffin’, BSA 63 (1968) 219–27Google Scholar, esp. 223. Other recent treatments of the wooden coffin: Vermeule, E. and Travlos, J., ‘Mycenaean Tomb beneath the Middle Stoa’, Hesperia 35 (1966) 55–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 69–72; Long, C. R., The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus. A Study of Late Minoan and Mycenaean Funerary Practices and Beliefs (SIMA 41; Göteborg 1974), esp. 16–20Google Scholar; and Åkerström (1978); all with references to previous discussions.

5 Hood, op. cit. 87; Pini, op. cit. 57.

6 Rutkowski, op. cit. 223.

7 Pini, op. cit. 54; Rutkowski, op. cit. 225; see further Rutkowski, B., Larnaksy egejskie (Warsaw–Wroclaw–Cracow 1966) 129–40Google Scholar, passim; Vermeule, E., ‘Painted Mycenaean larnakes’, JHS 85 (1965) 123–48CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 124 n. 3; Vermeule and Travlos, op. cit. 69–72.

8 Akerström, esp. section II: ‘Four bronze casings from Shaf Grave III at Mycenae’, pp. 38–68. Professor Akerström has informed us that his interpretation of the bronze casings goes back to 1951, when he was allowed to examine the objects carefully, take the pictures now published, and sample the decayed wood. He could not, however, prove his hypothesis that they had belonged to a wooden coffin until, in 1976, he got permission to study Schliemann's diary, which had then been acquired by the Gennadeion Library in Athens. In the mean time, Charlotte Long had also seen that the bronze casings must have belonged to a piece of wooden furniture, but interpreted this as a storage chest, see Long, C. R., ‘A wooden chest from the Third Shaft Grave’, AJA 78 (1974) 75–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

9 Åkerström 65–7; see also refs. in n. 7 above.

10 Discussion related by Åkerstrom 38–42 and 60–1; see also Persson, A. W., New Tombs at Dendra near Midea (Skrifter utg. av Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskapssamfundet i Lund 34, Lund 1942) 111–19.Google Scholar

11 Stais, B., in Congrès international d'archéologie (Athens 1905) 213Google Scholar; id., AE (1907) 31–60.

12 Evans, A., Shaft Graves and Bee–hive Tombs at Mycenae (London 1929) 4.Google Scholar

13 Karo, G., AM 40 (1915, publ. 1927) 113–230, esp. 230 n.Google Scholar

14 Karo, G., Die Schachtgräber von Mykenai (Munich 1930–3) 38–9.Google Scholar

15 Persson, op. cit. 112–19.

16 Matz, F., ‘Die Agais’, in Handbuch der Archäologie (Munich 1950) 265.Google Scholar

17 Mylonas, G. K., Ὁ ταφικὸς κύκλος Β′ τῶν Μυκηνῶν (Βιβλιοθήκη της ἐν Ἀθήναις ἈρχαιολογικῆςἙταιρείας 73; Athens 1972) 406.Google Scholar

18 Pini, op. cit. 54; Rutkowski, Larnaksy egejskie 131; Dickinson, O. T. P. K., The Origins of Mycenaean Civilisation (SIMA 49; Göteborg 1977) 72.Google Scholar

19 Akerström 38–68; see further above, n. 8.

20 Long, , AJA, 78 (1974) 75–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar; id.The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus 17.

21 The dimensions are given by Long, The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus 19 n. 22. Feet of such dimensions were obviously appropriate for a chest of the size of the Ayia Triadha sarcophagus; consequently the chest in Shaft Grave III is likely to have been big enough to serve as a coffin.

22 Åkerström 54, 61 and 64–5.

23 Åkerström 40 n. 8 and 58 with n. 72. It is here suggested that ‘more luxurious objects of wood, e.g. small boxes … were made of a more precious, more durable kind of wood’ than, for instance, coffins, which would explain why the latter are never found in so good a state of preservation as the smaller objects.

24 Åkerström 42 54 and 60–7.

25 Åkerström, 38–68, passim.

26 Åkerström, 40, with refs.

27 Evans, op. cit. 4.

28 Åkerström 40, 52–4 and 66.

29 See above, nn. 17 and 18.

30 Åkerström, 45–54, esp. figs. 6–7 (fig. 7 here reproduced as FIG. 1).

31 Dickinson, op. cit. 50–1.

32 Tsountas, Ch., AE (1888) 119–80.Google Scholar

33 Åkerström 54–7.

34 Tsountas, , AE (1888) 132–3Google Scholar, quoted by Åkerström 55. This similarity in the position of the skeletal remains in Tsountas's chamber tombs and Schliemann's shaft graves might be taken to indicate that coffins and not biers could have been used also in the ‘royal’ shaft graves, where Åkerström (cf. above, n. 24) cautiously assumes the existence only of biers.

35 Åkerström 54–7 and 65, esp. fig. 19.

36 Åkerström 54 n. 54, with reference to information from Dr. J. Sakellarakis, who is preparing the full publication of these tombs.

37 Persson, op. cit. 37–51 and 111–19.

38 Alexiou, S., KrChr 6 (1952) 13Google Scholar; Vermeule and Travlos, op. cit. 71, with refs.; Åkerström, 58 n. 71.

39 Persson, op. cit. 50–1.

40 Vermeule and Travlos, op. cit.

41 Åkerström 69–86 (‘The so–called Cenotaph of Dendra’).

42 Aström, P., AM 82 (1967) 66Google Scholar; The Cuirass Tomb and Other Finds at Dendra, I (SIMA 4, 1;Göteborg 1977) 18; Åkerström 58 n. 71.

43 Biers in tombs X, XXIX, and XLII; Blegen, C. W., Prosymna. The Helladic settlement preceding the Argive Heraeum (Cambridge 1937) 75–80, 147–52, and 197–200.Google Scholar Professor Åkerström has kindly drawn our attention to grave XVI, where one of the burials is described in words that are reminiscent of Tsountas's descriptions of the Mycenae chamber tombs, Blegen, op. cit. 52. The assumed ‘half–seated’ position of the dead makes it probable that we have here another case of a wooden coffin. Åkerström dates this burial to IIIA2 (letter of 9 Nov. 1981).

44 Hood, op. cit. 81–99; Pini, op. cit. 83, iv; KS 2 no. 8.

45 Hood, op. cit. 81–2.

46 We wish to thank Mr. Hood for discussion and information given both orally and in correspondence.

47 See below, esp. nn. 76 and 77.

48 Chamber tomb I contained two coffins and chamber tomb V had traces of a further specimen; in addition, shaft grave II had probably contained a coffin or a bier; see Hood, M. S. F. and de Jong, P., ‘Late Minoan warrior-graves from Ayios Ioannis and the New Hospital Site at Knossos’, BSA 47 (1952) 243–77Google Scholar, esp. 248–9 (I and II) and 252–3 (V); Pini, op. cit. 83, xii; Åkerström 58; KS 2 no. 71.

49 Hood, , AR (1960–1901), 27Google Scholar; ADelt 16 (1960) Chron. 266, with Pl. 229a–b; Pini op. cit. 85, xxviii; KS 2 no. 278.

50 S. Hood in correspondence (27 Aug. 1981).

51 Alexiou, S., Ὑστερομινωικοὶ τάφοι λιμένος Κνωσοῠ (Κατσαμπᾰ) (= Βιβλιοθηκη τῆς ἐν Ἀρχαιολογικῆς Ἑταιρείας 56; Athens 1967) 6–9 and 57–60Google Scholar; Pini, op. cit. 80, with refs. to previous literature; Åkerström 57–60 with fig. 14.

52 Alexiou, Ὑστερομινωικοὶ τάφοι 12 (tomb Γ, probably one coffin), 18 (tomb E, two coffins), 22 and 24 (tomb Z, three coffins), 36 (tomb H, probably one coffin). In addition there were two biers in tomb A, op. cit. 16. See also refs. to previous lit. in Pini, op. cit. 80. All belong to LM II except tomb H, which is dated to LM IIIA.

53 Coffins and biers in the Knossos area dated to LM IIIA: Sellopoulo, shaft grave excavated in 1958: one coffin; see Hood, S., AR (1958) 21Google Scholar; Pini, op. cit. 85; xxvi 2; KS 2 no. 30.

Sellopoulo, chamber tomb 4: one or probably two biers; see Popham, M. R. and Catling, E. A. and Catling, H. W., ‘Sellopoulo tombs 3 and 4, two Late Minoan graves near Knossos’, BSA 69 (1974) 195–257Google Scholar, esp. 199–203; Åkerström, 58; KS 2 no. 29.

Upper Gypsades, tombs I, II, and XV: one coffin in chamber tomb XV and possibly two in chamber tomb I, whereas either coffin or bier is possible in shaft grave II; see Hood, S., Huxley, G., and Sandars, N., ‘A Minoan cemetery on Upper Gypsades’, BSA 56–4 (1958–1959) 194–269Google Scholar, esp. 198–200 (tombs I and II) and 217–18 (tomb XV); Pini, op. cit. 84, xx; Åkerström, 58; KS 2 no. 331.

Katsamba, tomb H: probably a coffin; see above, n. 52; further Long, The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus 19 n. 23.

54 The carbonized wood was here originally interpreted as the remains of a table, but since it was observed to lie under the bones, it may indicate either a bier or a coffin; see Paribeni, R., MonAnt 14 (1904) 522 with n. 1Google Scholar; Hood and de Jong, BSA 47 (1952) 248 n. 18; Vermeule and Travlos, op. cit. 71; Pini, op. cit. 90; Long, loc. cit.

55 Hood, , AR (1957) 16Google Scholar; Pini, op. cit. 77; Long, loc. cit.

56 Tombs 17–21, in van Effenterre, H., Néropoles du Mirabello (ÉtCrét 8, Paris 1948) 8–9Google Scholar; Pini, op. cit. 78; Long, loc. cit.

Wooden coffins (and biers) may well have been much more common in Crete than one would think in view of these few extant examples. Evans, , PM iv 1011Google Scholar suggests that some burials in the Temple Tomb at Knossos may have been contained in wooden coffins, although no traces of wood were observed. Similarly, Mavriyannaki, C., Recherches sur les larnakes minoennes de la Crète occidentale (Incunabula Graeca 54, Rome 1972) 32–3 and 106Google Scholar postulates that wooden coffins must have occurred also in western Crete, perhaps fairly often. It has further been observed by other scholars that especially richly equipped burials in LM IIIA have often been placed directly on the floor of the grave, apparently without any larnax as a container, whereas contemporary burials with poorer grave-goods were contained in terracotta larnakes; see, for instance, Pini, op. cit. 55: ‘Für das Fehlen von Larnakes in Gräbern mit reich ausgestatteten Beisetzungen läΒt sich schwerlich eine plausible Erklarung finden.’ Could it be that all these rich burials had in fact been contained in wooden coffins?

57 Long, The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus 17.

58 Cf. above, nn. 2–4, and see esp. Rutkowski, , BSA 63 (1968)Google Scholar figs. 1–2, our FIG. 2a–b.

59 Long, The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus.

60 Persson, op. cit. 117– 19; cf. Alexiou, Ὑστερομινωικοὶ τάφοι 9 and 83 n. 1.

61 Persson, op. cit. 118. See now, e.g., Vermeule, E. T., The Art of the Shaft Graves of Mycenae (Cincinnati 1975)Google Scholarpassim; Hooker, J. T., Mycenaean Greece (London 1976) 50 4 and 67–9Google Scholar; Dickinson, op. cit. 54 and 61.

62 Åkerström 65.

63 Pini, op. cit. 39 n. 472 and lists, pp. 97–107.

64 Pini, op. cit. 10–11 and 53 n. 610 (‘Die MM Kistenlarnakes imitieren keine Holzvorbilder’); Rutkowski, , BSA 63 (1968) 220Google Scholar, with n. 13 (‘We do not observe any sign of wood-working influence in them’).

65 Alexiou, S., AAA 1 (1968) 250–5Google Scholar, esp. 252 with fig. 5; Lembessi, A., PAE (1967, pr. 1969) 195–209Google Scholar, esp. 204 with pls. 184 and 185. The use of biers seems to be attested for the two main periods of use of the grave, MM IIIA and MM IIIB/LM IA respectively. Bronze details give important information about the construction of the biers.

66 Rutkowski, , BSA 63 (1968) 220–2Google Scholar, esp. fig. 1 (our FIG. 2a).

67 Sakellarakis, J., AAA 5 (1972) 399–419.Google Scholar

68 Kaiser, B., Untersuchungen turn minoischen Relief (Bonn 1976) 313Google Scholar (‘Die Stelen sind sicher eine selbständige helladische Erfindung’); Hooker, op. cit. 53.

69 Åkerström 45 and 61, with figs. 6 and 7. See also above and our FIG. I.

70 Åkerström 45, with refs.; see also the papers in Temple University Aegean Symposium 6 (Philadelphia, 1981), esp. S. Iakovidis, ‘Royal shaft graves outside Mycenae’, pp. 17–28.

71 Åkerström 38, with refs.; Karo, Die Schachtgräber von Mykenai 38–9, with pls. xvi–xix, nos. 15, 17, 19, 25, 62, 86–90, esp. no. 89 on pl. xvii.

72 Åkerström 51–2; for actual remains of roof beams from Grave Circle B, see Mylonas, op. cit. pls. 29–30.

73 Karo, Schachtgräber 364 Index s.v. ‘Holz’.

74 Blegen, op. cit. 249; Rutkowski, Larnaksy egejskie 126–7; Pini, op. cit. 54 n. 626; Åkerström 67. A painted terracotta larnax was found in a chamber tomb of LH IIIA date at Prosymna in 1981, according to oral information kindly given by the excavator, Dr. K. Demakopoulou.

75 Demakopoulou, K. and Konsola, D., Archaeological Museum of Thebes. Guide (Athens 1981) 82Google Scholar; see also bibliography of the Tanagra larnakes, ibid. 93.

76 For the commonly accepted view of a Mycenaean presence at Knossos in LM II–IIIA, see, for instance, Furumark, A., ‘Aegean society’, OpAth 12 (1978) 11–17Google Scholar, esp. 15; Hood, S., The Arts in Prehistoric Greece (Harmondsworth 1978) 24Google Scholar; Schachermeyr, F., Die ägäische Frïhzeit iii. Kreta zur Zeit der Wanderungen (SB Wien 355; Vienna 1979) 31–42.Google Scholar Schachermeyr has here, pp. 41 and 80, anticipated our conclusion on the Mycenaean origin of the wooden coffins in the Knossos area, although without any discussion.

77 Op. cit. esp. 253 and 255–7.

78 Popham, op. cit. 255; Schachermeyr, op. cit. 33, with refs.; against: Pini, op. cit. 39 and 57. On the other hand, Pini (op. cit. 45 and 57) derives the Cretan shaft grave from the Mycenaean mainland. This is important, since some instances of wooden coffins, mentioned above, were found in shaft graves, although the majority came to light in chamber tombs.

79 ‘Burial with bronzes’ is not a Minoan habit, as was stated by the Catlings, , BSA 69 (1974) 253–4Google Scholar, where a list of such burials in Crete and on the Greek mainland is appended. H. Matthäus in his paper, ‘Minoische Kriegergräber’, has concentrated on the combinations of weapons, tools and vessels in these tombs, illustrated in tables; it is to be published in Minoan Society, ed. by Krzyszkowska, O. and Nixon, L. (Bristol Classical Press, gen. ed. Betts, J. H., Bristol 1982).Google Scholar

80 E. A. and H. W. Catling, op. cit. 253–4.

81 Ibid. 253 (‘Are we to suppose, rather, that the Mycenaean families of consequence at Knossos in this period were drawn from that part of the Argolid?’).

82 Pini, op. cit. 53 and 87 (Cat. no. 41, 8, with refs.).

83 Pini, op. cit. 53 and 57; Rutkowski, , BSA 63 (1968) 223Google Scholar; Long, The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus 17; Schachermeyr, op. cit. 4.1 and 80–1.