Landscape, Feasting, and Ancestors in the Burial Tradition of Mycenaean Rhodes

Abstract

The number and character of the Mycenaean cemeteries found on Rhodes have allowed a thorough analysis of its burial tradition. The chamber tombs and their contents seem to have been canonical Mycenaean according to the Greek mainland examples, but recent research has highlighted significant regional idiosyncrasies. There is a symbolic interrelation between the tombs’ orientation and the surrounding landscape, which was a regional phenomenon. Furthermore, within the cemeteries the secondary burials appear to be very common and often the dominant practice. In this context the offerings in the tombs are of particular interest since they diverge from others in mainland Greece. The preference for drinking and eating vessels reveals a symbolic role attributed to feasting in relation to the afterlife beliefs. This can be combined with the role of the landscape and the secondary burial tradition within the Rhodian funerary framework. Feasting seems to be symbolically linked through ritual acts in the process of turning the deceased to an anonymous ancestor. The current analysis will trace the messages transmitted through this practice for the afterlife beliefs as much as for the sociopolitical conditions of this period on the island. Hence, a better understanding of the idiosyncratic funerary tradition and the development of the regional character of Mycenaean Rhodes will be demonstrated.