ARCHAEOLOGY,

ETHNOLOGY
& ANTHROPOLOGY
OF EURASIA
Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 40/2 (2012) 99103
E-mail: Eurasia@archaeology.nsc.ru

99

THE METAL AGES AND MEDIEVAL PERIOD

I.B. Gubanov
Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera), Russian Academy of Sciences,
Universitetskaya Nab. 3, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
E-mail: Ilya.Gubanov@kunstkamera.ru

GRAVE CIRCLE B AT MYCENAE

IN THE CONTEXT OF LINKS
BETWEEN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND SCANDINAVIA
IN THE BRONZE AGE

Artifacts from royal burial graves Gamma and Omicron of grave circle B at Mycenae attest to cultural ties between
the Eastern Mediterranean elite and that of the Scandinavian Early Bronze Age (mid- and late 2nd millennium BC).
The appearance of the running spiral motif and representations of ships with rams in Scandinavia coincide with the
beginning of the Mycenaean civilization. These facts, along with the nds of Baltic amber only in the royal burials at
Mycenae but not in Crete, suggest that a principal role in the introduction of these cultural elements in Scandinavia
during the Scandinavian Bronze Age (periods IIII according to Montelius) was played by the Mycenaean elite.
Keywords: Bronze Age, running spiral motif, Scandinavia, Mycenae, royal burials, grave circle B.

This study addresses intense cultural ties between Bronze

Age Jutland and Peloponnesus two peninsulas in the
extreme north and south of mainland Western Europe,
respectively. These ties were based on trade or contacts
between the elite. The system of relationships linking
these two regions in the mid-2nd millennium BC may
have been complex. Unexpected as they are at that time,
these cultural relationships were apparently based on
peaceful coexistence and were maintained over several
centuries. Possibly they were not exceptional in the
Eurasian context.
Published materials from Mycenaean burials (grave
circle B) and those from Scandinavia have been used.
The present conclusions are mostly based on the
contemporaneity of the running spiral motif in both
regions and on the presence of artifacts of Baltic amber
in Mycenaean royal burials at the same time.
Finds from the early royal grave circle B at Mycenae are
especially relevant to the connections between the Eastern

Mediterranean and Scandinavia in the Bronze Age. This

circle was accidentally discovered by A. Orlandos and
E. Stikas during the restoration works at the tholos Tomb
of Clytemnestra, sanctioned by the Ephor of Antiquities
I. Papademetriou. The grave circle was partly disturbed
by the tholos. The 19521954 excavations, carried out
by G. Mylonas, I. Papademetriou, A. Keramopoulos, and
S. Marinatos of the Greek Archaeological Society, yielded
unusually rich assemblages.
Grave circle B is situated 130 m west of the Lion
Gate, near the road to the citadel. Only its small segment
and a few isolated stones have survived to this day.
A description of all 24 burials was published by
G. Mylonas (1957, 1966); a Russian summary of these
findings was compiled by T.D. Blavatskaya (1966).
Especially important for us are the extremely rich
assemblages from two graves dating to the rst half of the
16th century BC Gamma and Omikron (Mylonas, 1957:
128176; 1966: 97110; Blavatskaya, 1966: 4756).

Copyright 2012, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian
Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.aeae.2012.08.011

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I.B. Gubanov / Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 40/2 (2012) 99103

Fig. 2. The running spiral design on a plaque of the

sword from grave V of circle A. Bronze, gold foil.
Mycenae, 16th century BC (Karo, 19301933:
Taf. LXXXII, 726).

Fig. 1. Stele decorated with running spirals from grave

Gamma of circle B at Mycenae (Mylonas, 1957: 228,
g. 45).

Grave Gamma is one of the largest and best preserved.

It is 3.8 m long, 2.8 m wide, and 3.5 m deep, and is
oriented along the NE to SW axis. The stone facing of
the walls was preserved to the height of 0.8 m. Judging
by the reconstruction, the roof of the burial chamber was
supported by 25 cm thick wooden beams resting on a
stone ledge (Mylonas, 1957: 133).
Crushed clay vessels and animal bones found on
the roof of the burial chamber Gamma, according to
S. Marinatos, were remains of a funeral repast. Painted
vessels were rather few only nine vases, possibly
because vacant space for the next corpse was needed
(Ibid.: 134).
One of the most interesting artifacts found in grave
Gamma is a stele, which was later used as a plinth (a
rectangular notch was cut in its center). It is about 1.05 m
long, 0.62 m wide and 0.6 m high. In its lower part, there
is a partly symmetric bas-relief composition showing
rampant lions facing each other and possibly attacking a
bull (according to S. Marinatos, this is a typically Cretan
theme). In the right part, beside the lion, there is a man
with an upraised sword or mace, and in the left part, a
prostrated human gure.
G. Mylonas suggested a realistic interpretation of this
scene: the lions are hunting cattle. One on the right, lying
in ambush, is attacked by a man with a sword, whereas
one on the left has killed a man and, judging by its stiff
posture, is attacking the bull. Possibly, however, this
composition should be compared with that on the Lion
Gate at Mycenae, which is heraldic and thus simplied.
Can the composition on the stele from grave circle B be
likewise heraldic and symbolic? Near the hind legs of the
left lion, there is a sign resembling the stylized Egyptian
symbol Was. On the upper, larger eld of the stele, there
is a -shaped composition consisting of seven spirals tied
together (Fig. 1). It resembles the design on the upper part
of the famous stele 1428 (class II) from the later grave
circle A discovered by H. Schliemann. The composition
on that stele shows a charioteer and a foot soldier. The
stele was erected over grave V, in which a sword with
a plaque decorated with a spiral design (Fig. 2), and the
famous golden mask of Agamemnon were found (Ibid.:
135136).
Four persons were buried in grave Gamma. Two
skeletons (No. 2 and 3, possibly male and female),
found in the eastern part, were moved to the wall to free
space for another person (skeleton No. 1). The crania
of individuals No. 13 were oriented to the north. In
the southern part of the grave, a gracile skeleton of a
young person aged about 28, according to J. Lawrence
Angel, was found in an extended supine position. His
head was oriented to the east, his face to the north, and
his arms were folded below the chest and placed on the
right side. Beside the face, three vessels were found:
two typically Minyan goblets with high handles and a

I.B. Gubanov / Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 40/2 (2012) 99103

hydria with a mat painting consisting of four concentric

circles (those near the handles are smaller) (Ibid.: 137
138, g. 46; Blavatskaya, 1966: 52). A complete absence
of bronze items, distinguishing this burial from other
inhumations in grave Gamma, suggests that the status
and the circumstances of death of this individual might
have been unusual.
Skeleton No. 1, occupying nearly half the space of
the grave, is the latest. It clearly demonstrates that the
individual, whose body length was about 180 cm, was a
top-ranking warrior: on his right side, there were a long
bronze sword and a dagger with an ivory handle. The
position of the deceased was supine, and his legs were
wide apart and exed. S. Marinatos suggested that a huge
tower-like shield of Creto-Mycenaean type was placed
between the mans arms and legs; however, no remains
of such a shield were detected. The mans posture is
somewhat threatening, as if he were ready for a lunge. In
addition, a rich burial of a girl, lying in the same posture,
was found in grave Xi in 1953; Mylonas (1957: 137, 146
148) described her as a princess. It is possible that the
postures of those individuals indeed signaled readiness for
a ght, so no shields were needed.
In the northern part of the burial
chamber, near the crania of skeletons
No. 13, there were many valuable
funerary items: vessels of various
types, some made of metal (a golden
cup), some made of clay and painted
(for instance, a large polychromous
hydria); a precious (electrum) mask of a
bearded man of a typically Mycenaean
appearance (possibly it had initially been
placed in a wooden box), resembling the
famous later masks from grave circle A
such as the mask of Agamemnon, but
with fewer details. Among other items
were swords, a large amethyst seal with
a masterfully depicted face of a male
with long hair, prominent cheekbones,
a skippers beard and no moustache
(Ibid.: 137140, g. 49).
Especially notable is a large jug
decorated with a design consisting of
four bands of running spirals on the
body and one such band below the rim
(Mylonas, 1957: 139, g. 47). It stood
near the northern wall of the grave,
almost in the center, near the large

Fig. 3. Paalstab decorated with running

spirals. Early Scandinavian Bronze Age,
Period I. Bronze. Denmark, around
1500 BC (Broholm, 1952: g. 32).

Fig. 4. Paalstab decorated with running

spirals. Early Scandinavian Bronze Age,
Period II. Bronze. Denmark, second half
of the 2nd millennium BC (Broholm,
1952: g. 109).

polychromous hydria. The decoration

of this vessel is very relevant to the
issue of cultural ties between the
Eastern Mediterranean and northern
Europe. Similarly important is a jug,
decorated with a double black running
spiral. It stood in the southwestern
corner of grave Beta near the feet
of an approximately forty-year old
male, buried with comparatively few
artifacts (Ibid.: 132133, g. 43b).
Artifacts decorated with a running
spiral found in grave Gamma are
about a century later than the
representation of a Mediterraneantype ship with a ram on a ritual sword
from Rrby in western Zealand. They
date to the beginning of Period I
of the Scandinavian Bronze Age
according to O. Montelius, that
is, approximately to 1700 BC. At
that time, artifacts decorated with
the running spiral motif appear in
Denmark, such as elegantly decorated
paalstabs of periods I and II of the
Nordic Bronze Age (Broholm, 1952:
46, 50, ill. 32, 109) (Fig. 3). Artifacts from grave circle
B at Mycenae are approximately one and a half centuries
earlier than numerous bronze weapons and ornaments of
the Scandinavian Period II (14001250 BC), when this
motif became quite common (Ibid.: 42, 4757, ill. 63,
66, 77, 78, 83, 109, 110, 111, 114, 142, 144, 168, 170,
177, 178, 195197, 199) (Fig. 4). Therefore royal grave
circles B and A at Mycenae, dating to the 17th and 16th
centuries BC, respectively, were constructed at the time
when contacts (cultural and possibly religious) between
the two regions became widescale.
Whereas finds from grave Gamma display the
characteristically Eastern Mediterranean running spiral
motif, numerous artifacts found in grave Omicron, which
contained a rich burial of a woman, are noteworthy
primarily because of the early appearance of ornaments
made of Baltic amber, which is so typical of the shaft
graves at Mycenae. Grave Omicron was about 3 m deep,
its oor was paved with pebbles, as in most other burials,
and its roof, resting on wooden beams, was made of
interwoven twigs coated with clay. On the roof, there
were fragments of a triangular stele without relief and

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I.B. Gubanov / Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 40/2 (2012) 99103

some potsherds from vessels that had been used during

the funeral repast.
Under one of the fragments of the stele, there were
animal bones and a fragment of a cup made in the
Vaphio style and decorated with spirals. The fragment,
which dates to the Late Helladic Period I, is especially
important for the dating of this burial and of other late
burials of circle B (Mylonas, 1957: 144). Egyptian
frescoes in tombs of Useramon and Rechmire, built
during the reign of Thutmose III, depict people of
Keftia (Crete) presenting gifts to the Pharaoh. They
are carrying vessels which date to the beginning of the
Late Minoan and of the Late Helladic periods and do
not occur later. The Late Helladic Period I, then, began
around 1580 BC (see (Mylonas, 1966: 147) for samples
of pottery of that period).
Consequently, given the date of the entire circle B
(16501550 BC), grave Omicron dates to the rst half of
the 16th century BC. It is one of the rich late graves of that
circle (Mylonas, 1957: 236), which are very different from
the earlier, Middle Helladic (17th century BC) graves in
terms of construction and artifacts. The early graves of
circle B are typical Middle Helladic stone cists, where the
bodies were placed in the position of a praying embryo
(exed with folded arms). The accompanying vessels are
monochrome (for instance, in one of the male burials,
there were three cups with handles, a small jug, and a large
duck-shaped vessel (Ibid.: 143144, g. 55). The presence
of the Middle Helladic vessels in modest early graves of
circle B demonstrates that the ancestors of Mynoan kings
were not associated with the late 17th early 16th-century
tradition. Instead, they were people of the Middle Helladic
age, possibly Indo-European speakers who, according

100 km

Fig. 5. Distribution of nds of ornaments from Baltic amber

in Greece in the Late Helladic Periods I and II. The size of the
circles is proportional to the number of specimens (Harding,
1984: 69, g. 13).

to J. Mellaart (1958: 2833) came to Troy III having

destroyed Troy II around 2300 BC and, around 1900 BC,
in the beginning of the Middle Helladic Period, migrated
to Greece from Asia Minor.
The costume of the woman buried in grave Omicron
was magnificent. It included several bronze pins
with round rock-crystal heads similar to those which
Schliemann found in the female burial III of grave circle
A. Near the northern wall of the chamber, near the jug
with four handles and three bands of zigzag patterns, there
was a precious duck-shaped cosmetic vessel (kymbe)
made of rock-crystal (Mylonas, 1957: 146; 1966, pl. 99).
The abundance of artifacts made of that material is the
reason why the womans burial in grave Omicron is called
the Crystal Burial. The womans diadem consisted
of golden plaques with repouss circles and rosettes.
A broader ribbon passed from one temple to another, and
a smaller one was placed on it crosswise. A ower shaped
head of a bronze pin consisted of ten plain golden petals.
The ornament was apparently worn on the right shoulder
and was attached with a silver pin with a golden owershaped head (Mylonas, 1957: 144145; 1966, pl. 101).
Pins with heads made of rock crystal were used to fasten
a cloak or a mantle on the womans left shoulder. Other
ornaments included gold bracelets made of spiraled wire,
and necklaces, one composed of bird-shaped beads with a
gure-of-eight shield in the center, another made of wire
shaped in the running spiral fashion (Mylonas, 1957: 145;
1966, pl. 138), and earrings made of faceted gold wire
(Mylonas, 1957: 145, g. 58). Especially interesting is
an unusual triple-strand necklace with amber beads and
plaques (Mylonas, 1957: 145; 1966, pl. 102). The infrared
analysis carried out by C.W. Beck (1965: 109) revealed
that this necklace was made of Baltic amber.
Artifacts of Baltic amber were also found in
Mycenaean shaft graves of circles B and A and in early
royal tholoi at Pylos. Notably, they were found only in
Peloponnesus but not in Crete (Fig. 5), although both the
running spiral motif and representations of ships with
rams were introduced to Mycenaean Greece precisely
from Crete, where these highly characteristic elements
of the Eastern Mediterranean culture appeared around
2500 BC, at the end of the Early Minoan Period (the time
when the pyramids of the Egyptian Old Kingdom were
built) and existed until the Late Minoan Period, which is
contemporaneous with the Late Helladic Period the time
of the Mycenaean civilization.
Baltic amber from grave Omicron at Mycenae dates to
the beginning of the Late Helladic Period I (i.e. Mycenaean
civilization) and to Period I of the Scandinavian Bronze
Age, when artifacts with the running spiral motif appeared
in Denmark. At the present, earlier dates for Helladic
periods are widely used, but in any event the Scandinavian
Early Bronze Age is exactly contemporaneous with the
Late Helladic (Mycenaean) Period.

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103

Fig. 6. Representation of a ship on a sword from Rrby. Bronze. Denmark, around 1700 BC
(Gubanov, 2006: 54).

Apparently, the rst cultural contact between Mycenae

and what is now Denmark occurred around 1700 BC.
This is evidenced by curved ritual one-bladed swords
from Rrby in Zealand. One of them has an engraved
representation of what may be a ship with a ram a
Mediterranean-type warship (Fig. 6). The popularity of
the running spiral motif in Early Bronze Age Scandinavia
(Periods IIII according to Montelius, especially Period II),
therefore, may be due to culturally meaningful contacts
between the first Mycenaean rulers and those of
Scandinavia. The spiral ornament might have had a
sacral meaning and was a marker of high social status.
The ties between the two regions are also attested to by
the presence of Baltic amber in the royal tombs of the Late
Helladic Period I at Mycenae.
References
Beck C.W. 1965
Infrared spectra of amber and the chemical identication
of Baltic amber. In Achaeometry: The Bulletin of the Research
Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, vol. 8.
Oxford: Abbey Press, pp. 96109.

Blavatskaya T.V. 1966

Akheiskaya Gretsiya. Moscow: Nauka.
Broholm H.C. 1952
ldre bronzealder. Kbenhavn: Nordisk forlag.
Gubanov I.B. 2006
Bronzovyi vek Severa i Yuga Evropy: Problemy mezhetnicheskikh kontaktov i rekonstruktsiya sotsialnoi struktury
drevnego obschestva. St. Petersburg: Nauka.
Harding A.F. 1984
The Mycenaeans and Europe. London; Orlando: Acad.
Press.
Karo G. 19301933
Die Schachtgrber von Mykenai. Mnchen: Verlag
D. Bruckmann.
Mellaart J. 1958
The end of the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia and the Aegean.
American Journal of Archaeology, vol. LXII, No. 1: 933.
Mylonas G.E. 1957
Ancient Mycenae: The Capital City of Agamemnon.
London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Mylonas G.E. 1966
Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age. Princeton: Princeton
Univ. Press.
Received March 30, 2011.