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INTENTIONAL DESTRUCTION OF GRAVE GOODS

As early as the preceramic Neolithic period in Cyprus grave fumiture was intentionallydestroyed. Sorne stone bowls at Khirokitia were "ceremonially broken" -to use Dikaios' wordsand placed under and on top of the deceased, more frequently on women than on men 1.This phenomenon -the de1iherate destruction of objects in tombs- is a subject which isworth sorne consideration. 1shall discuss the Cypriote Bronze Age evidence first and will thenmention parallels from elsewhere.ln tombs of the Early and Middle Cypriote Bronze Ages bronze weapons such asknives, swords and daggers and occasionally a needle were sometimes hem or "killed" 2. Adagger was in one instance driven into the floor of the tomb and then hem (Pl. LIlI). This wasthe case in a tomb excavated by an expediton under the auspices of the University ofPennsylvania Museum at Lapithos and published by Virginia Grace 3. It was placed near theentrance to the tomb. Miss Grace pointed out that no "proper weapon was found with the manin the east niche, and his may have been saved for this use". It is as if the living by driving thedagger into the tomb took a last farewell of the deceased.

Unfortunately the skeletons at Lapithos associated with these finds were badlypreserved, so little can be said about the position of the bronzes in relation to the skeletons.(1) P. DIKAIOS, Khirokitia (1953), p. 339. 1 believe that the stone bowls may have been placOOon the

graves to prevent the dead from reappearing. Sorne time after death has occurrOO, the body swells andthis could cause the earth above the body to rise slightly above the ground. The fear of the dead, terrarmortis, may have causOO the living to place a stone on the dead. Cf. S. BERG, R. ROLLE, H.SEEMANN, Der Archiiologe und der Tod (1981), p. 74. According to Karin Niklasson the deliberatesmashing of the stone bowls making them useless may be due to a wish to give the stone bowl thesame status as the dead.

(2) The examples are mentionOO in P. SIROM, The Middle Cypriote Bronze Age (1957), p. 275, n. 1.Examples from Lapithos, Pennsylvania Tombs 832A and 835A are recordOO by E. HERSCHER TheBronze Age Cemetery at Lapithos (Dissertation, University of Philadelphia, 1978). A bent needle wasfound in Ayios lakovos Tomb 8, n 22, SCE l, pl. LXIII:1. See also SCE IV lA, index s.v. Lapithos,Pennsylvania Tomb 6A and p. 387.

(3) AJA 44 (1940), p. 22 and p. 47, fig. 15-31; SCE IV IB, p. 293-294; Acts of the InternationalArchaeological Symposium "The Relations between Cyprus and Crete. ca 2000-500 B.C.", Nicosia16th-22nd April 1978 (1979), p. 21-23, 42, 56-58; J.E. COLEMAN in V. KARAGEORGHIS (00.),Archaeology in Cyprus 1960-1985 (1985), p. 139.

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214 Paul ASTROMThe practice is known in tombs at Lapithos, Vounous and Ayios lakovos.

ln a shaft grave at Hala Sultan Tekke dating from c. 1175 Re. fragments of a plain jugwere found near the head of the skeleton, to the right and to the left of the skull and above it 4.As the jug was found in pieces, it was probably deliberately smashed before it was placed inthe grave. The jug was discovered turned upside down, a fact which may be of significance. Itis possible that we here have an example of deliberate destruction of grave furniture. KarinNiklasson has observed that the jug has traces of purple colour on the sides found facingdownwards, on top of a cloth which possibly covered the skeleton. The vessel was apparentlysmashed after the body was covered. An alternative explanation is that the corpse wassprinkled with sorne purplish matter. A murex shell was placed on the middle of the chest ofthe deceased.

Another example of deliberate breaking may be found in a broken figurine which wasfound frre-blackened in a Middle Cypriote tomb at Lapithos. Dr Ellen Herscher suggests thatthis was perhaps a result of ceremonial use 5.

Several jugs found in Cypriote chamber tombs have a break, a hole, on the side of thebody. Dan Barag once suggested to me that these breaks might have been a deliberate action.On the other hand, these breaks in the vases may be the result of stones falling from the ceilingof the tomb.

A silver gilt-pin was found broken into two pieces on the breast of a skeleton in Enkomitomb 17, third burial group; it dates from Late Cypriote IIB2 in the latter part of the 13thcentury 6. This was a rich burial which contained the famous Zeus krater. The deceased alsohad a gold bowl in his right hand, a gold diadem and a gold mouthpiece in place. The pin wascorroded and 1 am not certain if it was intentionally or accidentally broken. The skull hasrecently been examined by Dr Fischer who regards it as that of a man in old age, apparently awealthy man.

A bent pin occurred in Ayios lakovos Tomb 121 of Middle Cypriote ID 7.The custom of smashing vases after the offering of libations survived in classical

Hellenistic times in Attica and in Cyprus and it still persists in modern Greece and Cyprus 8.This expos of Cypriote examples may not be exhaustive. 1 have mentioned instances

known to me. 1shall now pass on to comparative material from other areas.We encounter the phenomenon at Ras Shamra. ln the lower layer of tomb LN

(4) K. NIKLASSON in ASTROM, HST , p. 169-213. It should also be mentionOO that a broken,incomplete, faience bowl was found inside another faience bowl, which was placOO upside down in thegrave (op. cit., fig. 534-538). For inverted cups see my paper in Journal of Prehistoric Religion 1(1987).

(5) HERSCHER, op. cit.(6) SCE l, p. 545, fig. 204:9 (nO78), fig. 206.(7) SCE J, p. 343, pl. LXill:5 (nO28).(8) V. TATION-BROWN in V. KARAGEORGIllS (00.), Archaeology in Cyprus 1960-1985 (1985), p.

67. K.K. KESHISHIAN, Chypre romantique 3rd 00. (1981), p. 261 : "La tombe referme, ils se laventles mains avec de l'eau spcialement apporte cet effet dans une jarre qui sera brise et les morceauxlaisss sur la tombe".

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INTENTIONAL DES1RUCTION OF GRAVE GOODS 215Schaeffer found a Cypriote dagger on a skeleton which was no longer in situ, but on the rightarrn: "Autour du cubitus et du radius un poignard en bronze pli formait comme un bracelet"9.Schaeffer does not comment on this strange bent form of the dagger. He proceeds to state thatit is undoubtedly a Cypriote dagger, dating from the 17th or beginning of the 16th centuryB.e.

There are also other ex amples of bent metal weapons and pins at Ras Shamra, but thefind circumstances are not given 10.

It is well known that broken kylikes are found in the dromoi and chambers ofMycenaean chamber tombs Il. It is supposed that a toast was drunk in honour of the deceasedand the goblets used for the purpose were smashed against the doorway of the cham ber.Fragments of the shattered cups are found in quantities in the stomia and chambers ofMycenaean chamber tombs. ln tomb 13 at Dendra excavated by Verdelis and myselfwe found200 fragments representing about 40 stemmed cups in the stomion 12.Broken stone idols have been found in an Early Helladic tomb at Ayios Kosmas inAttica 13and at Amorgos 14; in the latter case broken to fit into the small grave. ln the frrst casethe figurine was found in a disturbed area outside a tomb.ln the earliest cemeteries at Palaikastro in Crete and in a Middle Helladic cist tomb atZerelia in Thessaly the handles of vases were broken before they were placed in the tomb 15.At Palaikastro the excavator said that this might easily happen if the banes and accompanyingvessels were transferred from the grave to bone-pits.

Joseph Wiesner gives several examples in the Middle and Late Bronze Age of thepractice of making grave objects useless 16. At Orchomenos a goblet was intentionallydestroyed and silver vases were smashed at other places. Broken swords and rapiers etc. werealso found at Miletos 17, at Pylos 18and Nichoria in Messenia 19and at Ialysos on Rhodes 20.(9) Syria 19 (1938), p. 219, fig. 18:23A, pl. XXII:!'(10) C.F.A. SCHAEFFER, Ugarilica II (1949), p. 50, fig. 18. For other examples see G. CONTENAU, L.COUVE, Fouilles du Tpe-Giyan ... , (1935), pl. 15; Archiv fT Religionswissenschajl 24 (1926), p.310; H. ARBMAN, Svear i oSlerviking (1955), p. 87. Weapons -mostly spears- and gold omamentswere deliberately destroyed in a 1:>ogt Skedemosseon the island of land. Similar finds have beenmadein bogs in Denmark. See U.E. Hagberg's paper in the Symposium "Votives to the Goos" in Uppsala1985 (forthcoming in the Boreas series) .(11) MYLONAS, Mycenaean Age , p. 112-113; K. NIKLASSON, in PpulCttlCt 'tO B' tESVO

OUVEPlOUtEo1tovV11OlUlCClV7touClv,B (1981-1982),p. 209 with further references.(12) P. S1RM, The Cuirass Tomb and Olher Finds al Dendra (SIMA IV [1977]),p. 72.(13) J. WIESNER, Grab und Jenseils (1938), p. 133; G. E. MYLONAS, Aghios Kosmas (1959), p. 75, 77-78.(14) WIESNER, op. cil., p. 133.(15) WIESNER, op. cil., p. 131,141; BSA 8 (1901-1902), p. 293.(16) WIESNER, op. cil., p. 141 and 152.(17) WIESNER, op. cil., p. 152, n. 9.(18) Palace of Neslor III , p. 157, fig 229.(19) See Nancy Wilkie's paper in the acts of this colloquium.(20) AnnScAlene 6-7 (1923-1924),p. 230, fig. 147.

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216 Paul ASTROMWe also come across bent swords in Protogeometric and Geometrie Greece. The blades

of iron swords were coiled around the neck of vases in cremation burials. ln one grave theblade was not coiled, but folded. Examples of bent swords may be found in Athens and atLefkandi 21.

Let us now try to find out the meaning of the phenomena which 1have exemplified inthis paper. Virginia Grace said about the dagger which she published from Lapithos : "Thegesture which killed the dagger seems to have been intented to terminate intercourse betweenliving and dead in the tombs" 22.

Robert Merrillees suggested that "sorne swords and daggers were deliberately bent, asthough somehow or other the life had been broken out of them when they were interred inEarly Cypriot III and Middle Cypriot burials" 23.

Desborough asks the following questions: "How are we to interpret... the curious habitof "killing" the sword ? If it was thought to be of possible use to the dead in the other life, whybend and distort it to such an extent that it was obviously useless to him wherever he was? Orwas the sword thought to have a life of its own, to be extinguished when its owner died ?These questions, like so many others, seem unanswerable" 24.

ln Joseph Wiesner's opinion the dagger was the personal property of the dead and thesurvivors were not allowed to use it 25. For use in the other world its condition does notmatter. It is, however, Wiesner adds, possible that behind the custom the view persists thatthe dead could use the weapon against the living.

ln conclusions one can follow several lines in interpreting the custom. The repeatedoccurrences of the practice may suggest a final funerary rite. When objects were destroyed, theliving could not use them; they belonged to the dead. Were the weapons destroyed to acquirethe same status as the owner? But why were the weapons destroyed, while so many otherobjects were placed intact in the tombs ? An element of fear that the deceased might use the

(21) D.C. KURlZ, J. BOARDMAN, Greek Burial Customs (1971), p. 62-63; see aIso the German editiontranslated and edited by M. and H.-G. BUCHHOLZ, Thanatos (1985), p. 70, fig. 00; DESBOROUGH,Dark Ages, p. 142, n. Il, p. 312; Kerameikos IV:l, p. 26, n. 28; Hesperia 21 (1952), p. 279;ANDRONIKOS, Totenku1t, p. 100.

(22) AJA 44 (1940), p. 22.(23) R.S. MERRILLEES, Early Metallurgy ln Cyprus 4000-500 B.e.. Acta of the International

Archaeological Symposium. Larnaca 1981, (1982), p. 80; cf. S. SWINY, ibidem.(24) A.M. SNODGRASS, The Dark Age of Greece (1971), p. 312.(25) WIESNER, op. cit., p. 170 and 180.

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INTENfIONAL DESIRUCTION OF GRAVE GOODS 217weapons is not excluded. 1 end my paper with these questions, as 1 doubt that we shall everknow exactly what the ancient really thought in this matter 26.

Paul STROM

(26) After this paper was written 1became aware of the following articles: L.V. GRINSELL, "The Breakingof Objects as a Funerary Rite", Folklore 72 (1961), p. 475-491; ID., "The Breaking of Objects as aFunerary Rite: Supplementary Notes", Folklore 84 (1973), p. 111-114; J.M. FOSSEY, "The RitualBreaking of Objects in Greek Funerary Contexts : A Note", Folklore 96 (1985), p. 21-23. Grinsellquotes eleven different reasons for the breaking of funerary objects. It is suggested that the bending ofIron Age swords in Greece "was necessary in view of the small space into which Greek cremations werenormally placed". The pottery in Tomb 1717 at Tell el-'Ajjul "was badly (it would appear deliberately)broken" : see RE. BIRD, in F. PEIRIE, AnCent Gaza IV (1934), p. 16; looting or lack of space mayhave been the reason for breaking the pots in this case.

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218 Paul ASlROM

ILLUSTRAnON

Pl. LIII: Rent dagger (al arrow) in Lapithos, Pennsylvania Tomb 6A. AJA 44 (1940) p. 18, fig. 15.

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LIll