Mycenaean cementary in Macedonia

[Flipper]

English text:

West of Agios Dimitrios at a 1.100 meters height and a place called Xirolakas a Mycenaean cementary from 1200 BC was discovered. This finding in the northwestern part of Olympus is of significant importance for the history of Macedonia, since it is the first time the presence of a Mycenaean civilization is discovered in the area of Macedonia.

This finding gives life to the theories that the Macedonian dynasty has it roots in the Mycenaean tradition, says the archeologist Efi Poulaki. It is a proof of the close relations the Macedonians had with the southern tribes of Greece in the early years. The tombs have always been the the most important archeological evidence for the Ancient Macedonians. Before these excavations, some scientists believed that the Myceneaen civilization did not reach above Olympus. With those findings this theory is now rejected and give new dimentions to the history of the Macedonians.
The tombs that are over 24 , are box-formed with rectangular plates and have according to the Myceneaen habits more than two bodies. The ceilings are stamped for waterproof with a thick layer of clay. A sword of type Σ (Sigma) with an ivory handhold was rescued as well as the remains of its wooden sheath, a cupreous peak of wooden spear, necklaces of women made by glassmass and stone seals.
The vessels are mainly chrismals. The necklaces made from tree glue in their number and quality are very important. The findings of 23 stone seals are very important according to archeologists. The character of seals of Olympus is always abstract with stereotyped forms or linear subjects. They belong in the group of magic seals and were worn in the breast as amulets. The sought aim of magic depended from the type of stone, but also from its form, as well as from the symbolic seal that it portrayed. The seals are connected with the Orpheus, a magic musician and a mythical character that imported the deamons and marked the antiquity.
The cemetery of late bronse age proves that the current passages of Olympus existed as traditional paths for the residents of region 3000 years ago.



Greek Text:

Δυτικά του Αγίου Δημητρίου κα σε υψόμετρο 1.100 μέτρων στη θέση "Ξηρόλακας" αποκαλύφθηκε το μυκηναϊκό νεκροταφείο στην Μακεδονία που χρονολογείτε γύρω στα 1.200 π.Χ. Το σημαντικό αυτό εύρημα στη βορειοδυτική πλευρά του Ολύμπου έχει ιδιαίτερη σημασία για την ιστορία της Μακεδονίας, αφού για πρώτη φορά διαπιστώνεται η πολιτιστική παρουσία του μηκυναϊκού κύκλου στο μακεδονικό χωριό.
Με το εύρημα αυτό, τόνισε η αρχαιολόγος κ. Έφη Πουλάκη Παντερμανλή που εποπτεύει τις ανασκαφές, ζωντανεύει και η πίστη της Μακεδονικής Δυναστείας (των βασιλιάδων Φιλίππου Β΄, Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου κ.λ.π.), που ανάγουν την καταγωγή τους σε κοινή μυκηναϊκή παράδοση. Μ΄ ένα λόγο επαληθεύονται οι παραδόσεις για τις στενές σχέσεις Μακεδόνων και των ελληνικών φυλών που ζούσαν στη Νότια Ελλάδα στα πρώιμα ακόμα χρόνια. Οι τάφοι και τα κτερίσματά τους είναι ένα από τα πιο σημαντικά αρχαιολογικά στοιχεία που ανακαλύφθηκαν για το Μακεδονικό χώρο, για τους αρχαίους Μακεδόνες. Πολλοί επιστήμονες υποστήριζαν μέχρι σήμερα ότι ο μυκηναϊκός κύκλος έφθανε μέχρι τη Θεσσαλία και ότι πάνω από τον Όλυμπο δεν υπάρχουν μυκηναϊκά ευρήματα. Το νεκροταφείο αυτό, τόνισε η κ. Παντερμανλή, καταρρίπτει τους ισχυρισμούς αυτούς και δείχνει την έντονη μυκηναϊκή παρουσία και τις στενές πολιτιστικές σχέσεις των Μυκηναίων με τους πρώιμους Μακεδόνες και δίνουν νέα διάσταση στη μελέτη της Μακεδονικής ιστορίας.
Οι τάφοι, περισσότεροι από 24, είναι κιβωτιόσχημοι, με ορθογώνιες σχιστολιθικές πλάκες και περιέχουν κατά τη μυκηναϊκοί συνήθεια περισσότερους από δυο νεκρούς. Οι καλυπτήρες σφραγίζονται για στεγανοποίηση με παχύ στρώμα πηλού. Διασώθηκαν ξίφος τύπου Σ, με οστέινη επένδυση της λαβής και υπολείμματα της ξύλινης θήκης του, χάλκινη αιχμή ξύλινου δόρατος, περιδέραια γυναικών κεχριμπαρένια ή φτιαγμένα από υαλόμαζα και λίθινες σφραγίδες. Τα κτερίσματα μεταφέρθηκαν στο Μουσείο Δίου και Θεσσαλονίκης.
Τα αγγεία είναι κυρίως μυροδοχεία. Τα περιδέραια από κεχριμπάρι, χάρη στο μεγάλο αριθμό των ψήφων και της ποιότητάς τους είναι σημαντικά. Πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα θεωρούν οι αρχαιολόγοι την ομάδα ευρημάτων από 23 λίθινες σφραγίδες. Ο χαρακτήρας των σφραγίδων του Ολύμπου είναι πάντα αφηρημένος με στερεότυπες μορφές ή γραμμικά θέματα. Ανήκουν στην ομάδα των μαγικών σφραγίδων και φοριόταν στο στήθος ως φυλακτά. Ο επιδιωκόμενος σκοπός της μαγείας εξαρτιόταν μόνο από το είδος του λίθου, αλλά και από το σχήμα του, καθώς επίσης και από το συμβολικό σφράγισμα που απεικόνιζε. Οι σφραγίδες είναι συνδεδεμένες με τον Ορφέα, μάγο μουσικό, μύστη και ιέρεια, τη θρυλική μορφή που εισήγαγε δαιμόνια και σημάδεψε την αρχαιότητα.
Το νεκροταφείο της ύστερης εποχής του Χαλκού αποδεικνύει ότι τα σημερινά περάσματα του Ολύμπου υπήρξαν παραδοσιακά μονοπάτια για τους κατοίκους της περιοχής πριν από 3000 περίπου χρόνια.

[akritas]

Flipper please translate your quote in English.Thank you

[admin]

Too bad the online translators dont work so well... I can read it but maybe some cant

[Flipper]

Just give me some time...I'm on vacation so i'm just checking in for some minutes each time. I'll make a translation asap.

[Flipper]

Update...I've added the english text. Let me know if you see any errors.

[akritas]

Flipper I will use your translation in the future debate.Hammond in "History of Macedonia" Volume 1, used a lot these Mycenean cementaries. Actually had a lot.I think that the diasporas Greeks must buy this book and bring here all the evidence that show, expose and give the connection between Macedonians and Spartans via those cemeteries.

[Flipper]

Originally Posted by akritas

Flipper I will use your translation in the future debate.Hammond in "History of Macedonia" Volume 1, used a lot these Mycenean cementaries. Actually had a lot.I think that the diasporas Greeks must buy this book and bring here all the evidence that show, expose and give the connection between Macedonians and Spartans via those cemeteries.

Exactly!

[pankration]

Proof again from legitimate scholars. FYROM read and learn.

[akritas]

Imported Mycenaean pottery was introduced to many coastal settlements from 1350 B.C. onwards during the Late Helladic III A and Β periods, and a limited number of vases reached inland sites, particularly along the Axios. Soon after, local imitations came into use, which were wheel-made unlike the local burnished wares. SpecTrographic comparison of these imitations with local fabrics has confirmed their Macedonian origin. The ex­istence of two very different fabrics at the same time suggests that different workshops were engaged in produc­ing each type. The decoration of the Mycenaean imitations follows that of the imported pieces but is generally restricted to simple bands and wavy lines.

Metal objects are still rare, but include curved bronze knives, nearer to Danubian than Mycenaean types, pins and simple beads. The regular use of metal, however, is demonstrated by the marks of butchers' knives on animal bones and by the presence of small whetstones, often designed to be worn as pendants or perhaps at the belt. At Assiros the latest Bronze Age levels included fragments of stone moulds for casting chisels, awls and perhaps a spear­head. Stone axes and chert sickle-inserts remained the commonest tools for agricultural purposes. Bone was widely used for awls and needles, but pins with elaborate heads and ornamental objects were also made from this material. Mycenaean imports other than pottery are rare in the settlements, though a marble sword pommel of southern type was found at Assiros.

Subsistence was still based on a mixed farming economy though millet was now an important element in the diet at Kastanas and at Assiros, the two sites where detailed in­formation is becoming available. Grape pips are common suggesting widespread viticulture and possibly the knowledge of wine. Even though Assiros is some twenty-five km. from the sea, marine molluscs were also a popular food.

At Maliq occupation seems to have continued throughout the Bronze Age, while the rest of Macedonia provides a little information fromburials. In the south­west, tombs near Kozani contained late Mycenaean pot­tery, while Mycenaean swords and a spearhead have been found near Grevena.Late in the Mycenaean period, tumulus burial, extensively practised in Albania since the end of the Middle Bronze Age, reached the Korytsa basin where early examples of matt-painted decoration on pot­tery were found at Bare in association with a Mycenaean stirrup-jar.


These are isolated examples, however, and in the ab­sence of better evidence for burial practices in the Bronze Age it is difficult to explain the changes which resulted in the Early Iron Age, best represented in such cemeteries as Hagios Panteleimon (Pateli), or Vergina in western Macedonia, or in such central Macedonian settlements as Assiros, Kastanas, Saratse or Vardaroftsa where occupa­tion continued. Although destruction levels have been noted at Vardaroftsa and Assiros, these can not be placed in a single horizon at the end of the Bronze Age, and similar destructions, probably as a result of domestic acci­dents, occur in earlier levels at the same sites.

Kenneth Wardle in the book: Macedonia 4000 years of Greek History and civilization ,Ekdotike Athenon, page 40

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Flipper

Exactly!

Hammond in Volume I of history of Macedonia correlates the "kome" design of the Macedonian city Alalkomenae with Sparta (each city was composed by 5 villages (κόμες)). So again Sparta and Macedonia have NORTH WESTERN SIMILARITIES !!!

And since we are talking about Macedonian-Dorian similarities I would like to add the name of the (Dorian) Korinthian general Pellikhas (Πελλίχας) that Thoukydides mentions in the first battle between Korinthians and Corkerians.
Does Πελλίχας relate etymologicaly with the macedonian capital Πέλλα ??