RESULTADOS DE LA PRUEBA DE HIPOTESIS

spearheads/javelins, have also produced bronze arrowheads, staples from what was probably a body shield, boar's tusk plates from a helmet and a spear-butt. These weapons come from warrior-graves located in the burial areas of Aghios loannis/New Hospital Site, Sellopoulo, Zapher Papoura, one of the Mavrospelio graves and 3 other scattered tombs. The earliest of these tombs (Aghios loannis/NHS) are extremely rich in weapons but have little pottery, and what there is dates from LMII. The occupants of these tombs were warriors and their most common weapon was the heavy thrusting spear. But the cemetery of Zapher Papoura offers a different picture. For by this time, LMII-IIIAl, there were 11 such warrior-graves out of a total of 100 graves. Indeed 26

Zapher Papoura tombs contained a weapon (i.e. spear, sword or dagger [major] or arrows, battle-knives or knives [minor]) but only 11 of these would be classified as warrior-graves. This cemetery contained pit, chamber and shaft graves, but it is noticeable that 6 out of 8 swords from Zapher Papoura came from shaft graves, as did 3 out of 5 spears. The weapons which define a warrior are more commonly found in shaft graves at Zapher Papoura than in any other type of grave. The sole warrior-grave from the Mavrospelio cemetery is tomb XVIII. This cemetery was in use prior to LMII and continued into LMIIIC, but the only two tombs which can be dated to this period i.e. LMII-IIIAl are VII and XVIII. The other recorded warrior-graves are scattered around the Knossos valley and are not concentrated in any particular area. This diffusion of warrior-graves into the burial areas of Knossian society is also paralleled by the appearance of warrior-graves out of the immediate area of Knossos i.e. Archanes Fourni and Phaistos "Tombe dei Nobili", and by burials with bronzes from Archanes Fourni and Khania.

The custom of warrior-graves, the burial with weapons and bronzes, is not previously seen on Crete (although there are few pre-LMII Minoan burials known from Knossos), whereas their Mycenaean predecessors, namely the Grave Circles A and B, are well known, as are the large quantity of weapons which they contained (Karo 1933 and Mylonas 1973). There are 25 mainland warrior-graves which date from LHIIB-LHIIIA, roughly contemporary with LMII-IIIAl on

Crete. As well as containing major weapons i.e. spears, swords and dirks, they also contained minor weapons and military objects such as b o a r ’s tusk plates for helmets and in rare cases at Dendra, even some body armour(7). Of the mainland warrior-graves, 60% are from the Argolid, which may be a continuation of the custom of warrior-graves first seen in the Grave Circles of Mycenae. The earlier appearance of warrior-graves in the Grave Circles of Mycenae indicates that the warrior-graves can justifiably be seen as a Mycenaean burial practice.

To return to Crete, but not to Knossos, it is necessary to consider the warrior-graves from the rest of the island i.e. those from Archanes Fourni and Phaistos, and Khania. The warrior-graves from outside the Knossos area, Archanes Fourni and Phaistos "Tombe dei Nobili" contained a sword and a spear, and a sword and a strip of metal armour respectively. Both swords are Ci type, found at Zapher Papoura, in the silver cup tomb, and as votive offerings at Kato S y m e, where they were over Im. in length but with no rivet holes, suggesting that they were never actually used in battle. This type Ci sword is also well known from the Argolid(8). Mention should also be made of the 7 tombs from Katsamba, the harbour of Knossos at the mouth of the Kairatos river (Alexiou 1967). None of these tombs has preserved a major weapon by which a warrior-grave could be recognised. But these tombs, dating from LMII- IIIAl, are contemporary with the warrior-graves in the Knossos area and have produced some interesting finds.

These include kylikes, an alabaster vase with a cartouche in Egyptian Hieroglyphics of Tuthmosis III c. 1479-1425 B.C., an amphoroid vase with depictions of boars tusk helmets, and a decorative ivory figure-of-eight shield (Alexiou 1967 plates 2, 10, 18-19 and 36). Although not one of these tombs can be identified as a warrior-grave, nonetheless these finds do suggest a Mycenaean presence at Katsamba in the LMII-IIIAl period.

The "burials with bronzes" (Catling and Popham 1974) will also be considered here as these tombs from Archanes Fourni and Khania share many characteristics with the aforementioned warrior-graves. Of the 8 "burials with bronzes" on Crete listed by Catling, 6 are also warrior- graves; while of the 10 "burials with bronzes" from the mainland, 8 are also warrior-graves. There is a general phenomenon of "warrior-graves/burials with bronzes" in the LMII/LHIIB-LMIIIA2/LHIIIA2 period on both Crete and the mainland. These burials share the common feature of interring as grave-goods the following objects: bronze weapons and/or bronze vessels, sealstones and jewellery(9). These "burials with bronzes" are also important in that they too are found out of the Knossos area. It is significant that the burials found out of Knossos i.e. Archanes Fourni, Phaistos and Khania date to the LMIIIAl/2 period i.e. to the period immediately prior to the final destruction of Knossos.

The warrior-graves at Knossos and elsewhere, which have been discussed above, are indicative of new influences

at LMII Knossos, The occupants of the tombs are buried in a manner previously unknown on Crete, but with some precedent in the Argolid. These warriors are buried in the period following the LMIB Cretan-wide destructions, which cover Crete from Khania to Zakros and from Mallia to Haghia Triada, but which left Knossos largely unaffected. It was Evans (1935 p . 785) who spoke of this period preceding the final destruction as one of a military character. "The last Palatial phase at Knossos presents a military and militaristic aspect", and his original observation is still valid, even though the LMII and LMlllAl periods can now be distinguished within this militaristic phase(lO).

The warriors buried at Knossos in LMII were buried apart from the non-warrior burials in a manner which has close similarities with both contemporary and earlier warrior-graves from the Argolid. But by the LMlllAl period i.e. Zapher Papoura, these warrior-graves are found alongside non-warrior burials. By this time they are more integrated into the Knossos community, as shown by their burial alongside non-warriors, than they were in LMII. This assimilation of the warriors buried in Mycenaean manner into Knossian society can also be paralleled by the appearance in LMlllAl of such burials outside the Knossos area i.e. at Archanes, Phaistos and Khania.

Having discussed the archaeological evidence for the LMII period from both destructions and warrior-graves, mention should be made of the events that occured at the end of this period and account for the destruction at

Knossos and elsewhere. By re-constructing the likely cause of the events in LMII, it can be tentatively shown what is likely to have occurred at the transition at Knossos from LMIB Linear A recording the Minoan language to LMIIIAl Linear B recording the Greek language(11).