Reconstructing the Landscape of the Dead. Some Observations on the Minoan Funerary Space in the Agiopharango Valley.

The Cretan Bronze Age civilization produced interesting, diversified funerary remains. But in spite of its abundance, the archaeological record related to Minoan mortuary practices is badly affected and lots of questions persist. In the absence of undisturbed contents, and given the limited evidence from the tombs themselves, the advancement of our knowledge can only be derived from the examination of the available funerary data in their broader cultural context. Accordingly, this paper attempts to define the spatial patterning of burial sites within their wider landscape. Through the implementation of Geographical Information Systems, the research focuses on the spatial relationships among cemeteries, settlements, and the natural environment of the lower catchment of the Agiopharango valley (South Central Crete). This particular region offers a suitable case-study, as it has been the subject of a comprehensive survey that brought to light a large number of archaeological sites and provided a detailed record of the environmental settings (topography, geology, hydrology, pedology, land use). The location of cemeteries is not random. It is the result of funerary choices dictated by the socio-political, cultural and ideological characteristics of a given human group. A careful examination of the spatial pattern of Minoan cemeteries has thus the potential to bring to light some of these choices and, from there, to provide some insight into the mortuary behaviors of the Bronze Age Cretan society