The Geometric cemetery at the site of Eltyna, is located in the Peza Valley of Heraklion, Crete, south of Knossos. The cemetery was excavated by the 23rd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classic Antiquities in 1993 and 1998 under the direction of G. Rethemiotakis and N. Demopoulou-Rethemiotaki. The settlement with which the cemetery is associated has not been identified. Based on the findings, the cemetery dates between the Sub-Minoan-Protogeometric and Middle-Late Geometric period (1050/970-790/710 BC) and includes various categories of chamber tombs, shaft graves, and built-vaulted tholos tombs.
Concerning the manipulation of the deceased, inhumations and cremations coexisted in the Sub-Minoan-Protogeometric tombs, while cremation predominated in the Geometric period. In the cemetery, 15 burials were discovered, containing 40 secondary cremations. The burnt human remains were placed inside urns (pithoi, amphorae, open bowls), while pottery and precious offerings, including jewelry and weaponry, accompanied the deceased inside the urn or in the area around it. Animal bones and traces of small-scale pyres were found in various parts of the tombs, indicating the performance of funerary feasts at various stages of the burial ritual.
References
Rethemiotakis, G., Egglezou, M & Ch. Kritzas (2010). Το Γεωμετρικό Νεκροταφείο της Έλτυνας, (Heraklion: Archaeological Institute of Cretological Studies
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki