Tombs of the Mycenaeans

            
             Imagine an ancient city over 3500 years in age. Would a place like this still be capable of holding a story of the past? Does it tell of some kind of legend, perhaps? When researching such a place, death and the past people of that civilization seem to be the researchers first and greatest wonder.
             What have people in today's day in age found out about these astonishing people of the past? Are we able to tell what the people of this kind were like, just because we found a few bones and a couple of carvings? The death of the Mycanae civilization and how this death was dealt with, tells a great deal to our society of modern day.
             "The material evidence of death, in the form of graves, tombs, and funeral goods, .
             has long been the focal point of the various teams of archaeologists who have .
             excavated at the site from the third quarter of the nineteenth century up until the .
             present." (Harper 52).
             Had it not been for these material evidences of death, the Mycenaen civilization would not be as well of a known past as it is today. In research, archaelogists have found shaft and tholos tombs of the Mycenae. Tholos tombs (see figures 1, 2) were used only for those of high authority, whereas shaft tombs were for the modern man of their day. These requirements toward the deceased were very common during this time. There were no exceptions. A common man was givin a shaft that had been dug into the ground. This area would soon contain his body and several gifts (placed there due to rituals). Once full, it was to be filled back over with dirt. A man of higher powers was honored with the tholos tomb, a tomb much greater in size and more so like that of a monument. These contained a vault (usually 50 feet in diameter), consisting of huge rooms (possibly for rituals of some sort), large doors, and a smaller side room (where burials could take place).