Capturing the Dynamics of the Minoan Mortuary Space in South Central Crete

Some of the Minoan funerary choices have been materialized on the land through the establishment of burial places and can thus be recovered by a careful examination of the spatial patterning of cemeteries. In this sense, the implementation of Geographical Information Systems gives a unique opportunity to examine the location of tombs within the wider environmental context of Bronze Age societies, forasmuch as it makes it possible to take into consideration a large amount of topographical, geological, hydrographical and archaeological data. In this paper, a GIS approach is applied to the funerary landscape of South Central Crete from the beginning of the Early Minoan period to the end of the Neopalatial phase. This particular area makes a suitable case-study since it has been the subject of several archaeological surveys that provide a detailed record of the evolution of human occupation all through Minoan history. After introducing some methodological issues related to the incorporation of published maps into GIS and to the relocation of burials sites on the terrain, the paper presents the results of GIS-based spatial analyses carried out in order to 1. model the appearance, evolution and decline of tombs within the landscape, 2. highlight some preferences related to the settings of mortuary sites, and 3. define the spatial relations between the tombs, the settlements and the natural environment. The choices made by a society regarding the location of its cemeteries are indicative of the living’s attitude towards death and the dead, and of the roles and functions the deceased were assigned. Hence, such a detailed analysis of the arrangement of burials in space is expected to provide a better understanding of Minoan funerary behaviors and meanings