Site details

Kolikrepi Chamber Tombs

PK	C7395
TITLE	Kolikrepi Chamber Tombs
WGS84	37.955285° N, 23.937881° E
Accuracy	Exact

LAT/LON	37.955285, 23.937881
LON/LAT	23.937881, 37.955285

DMS

37° 57' 19.026" N

23° 56' 16.3716" E

W3W	faulty, glances, flumes
UTM	34 S, 758122.44, 4204926.03
EGSA87	494394, 4200568

Elevation m	77
Elevation feet	252.6
Region	Attica

GENERAL SITE TYPE Chamber Tomb

TYPE

1.    Artifacts.   Papakonstantinou et al. [2019], 738    'A significant number of findings, including pottery, jewellery, sealstones, bronze tools, weapons, clay figurines and spindle whorls as well as a large human skeletal assemblage were recovered from the tombs.'
2.    Cem.   Papakonstantinou et al. [2019], 738    ' ... the largest unlooted Mycenean cemetery excavated to date in Attica, ... '
3.    Chamber Tomb.   Galanakis [2017],     ' ... 53 chamber tombs, ... '

PERIOD (High Chronology)

1. Late Helladic I: (1700 BC - 1635 BC)
    a.    Galanakis [2017]: 89, 'The first chamber tombs were built in Latae Helladic I; ... '
    b.    Papakonstantinou et al. [2019]: 738, ' ..., and dates from the LH I/II until the early LH IIIC period.'

2. Late Helladic II: (1635 BC - 1410 BC)
    a.    Papakonstantinou et al. [2019]: 738, ' ..., and dates from the LH I/II until the early LH IIIC period.'

3. LH III: (1410 BC - 1060 BC)
    a.    Papakonstantinou et al. [2019]: 738, ' ..., and dates from the LH I/II until the early LH IIIC period.'

4. LH IIIB: (1320 BC - 1190 BC)
    a.    Papakonstantinou et al. [2019]: 738, ' ..., and dates from the LH I/II until the early LH IIIC period.'

5. LH IIIC: (1190 BC - 1060 BC)
    a.    Galanakis [2017]: 89, 'Use of the Kolikrepi cemetery continued to LH IIIC (Stathi and Psallida 2015).'
    b.    Papakonstantinou et al. [2019]: 738, ' ..., and dates from the LH I/II until the early LH IIIC period.'

NOTES

1. The Aristeia Project describes here a site called 'Kolioukrep' which may be this. It is described as 'Necropolis' but gives the earliest archaeology as 1921 by A. Philadelpheus of the Greek Archaeological Service. More at Ανασκαφή παρά το χωρίον Σπάτα, ArchDelt 6, Chr.: 131–138. Aristeia's placement (not usually reliable) is: 37.960631° N, 23.939793° E. This is just over 600 meters to the NNE of my suggested placement.

2. The position selected uses criteria from Papakonstantinou et al. [2019] p. 738. They say that the cemetery is 3 km west of the 'modern town of Spata and lies in the area between the partly excavated mortuary sites of Magouleza hill and Velanidia'. Magouleza is probably the hill Magkouliaza at 37.954254 N, 23.896114 E which is just a little to the SE of Spata. Velanideza is at C1526. Also, per Papakonstantinou et al., the site is 'on the southern slope of a hill and ... '. The hill of Kolikrepi runs N - S and crosses the highway at 37.960233 N, 23.940591 E. Surveying the S end of this hill ones attention is drawn to the position used here. Google Earth allows one to inspect a chronological series of aerial photographs of this site. Before 2008 there is only a grove of trees on this spot. Beginning in that year it is the site of digging which activity expands through 2013. A year later these works have been reburied and by 2015 it is again the site of an olive grove with few traces of digging remaining. I believe this to be the best candidate for the site. The interested reader will want, perhaps, more evidence than I have presented here.

rhc

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Borgna et al., eds. [2019]: Borgna, E. with I. Caloi, F.M. Carinci and R. Laffineur . MNHMH/MNEME: Past and Memory in the Aegean Bonze Age. Peeters; Leuven - Liege, '',

2. Galanakis [2017]: Galanakis, Yannis. ‘A survey of Late Bronze Age funerary archaeology over the last 25 years in the central and southern Aegean’, Archaeology in Greece (64), pp. 85-101, 'Chamber tombs ... ', pg. 89. Online here.

3. Papakonstantinou et al. [2019]: Papakonstantinou, Niki and Sevasti Triantaphyllou, Maria Stathi. ‘Acts Of Memorialization Of The Dead Body In The Mycenaean Cemetery At Kolikrepi-Spata, Attica’, In Borgna et al., eds. [2019] pp. 737-742., 'The Kolikrepi Cemetery', pg. 738. Online here.