Tombs guide – 51-60

Ivory conical vessel (around 1340 BC-1050 BC). Catalogue number 51.1

Tomb 51

Contents: two registered objects
Materials/objects: ivory vessel, Late Helladic krater fragment
Chronological range of objects LCII, possibly into IIIA
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, presumably disturbed as encroached upon by well
Additional information: contained ‘many fragments’ of pottery

Tomb 52

Contents: held in the Cyprus Museum
Materials/objects: lentoid bead or pebble, Late Helladic and Cypriot pottery
Chronological range of objects: LCIA-IIB(?)
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, intact but roof collapsed
Additional information: White Slip, Black Slip, Reserve Slip, uncertain wares (possibly Black Lustrous Wheelmade and Red Polished). CVA CM: LH IIIA2/IIIB, SCE IV1C: White Painted VI. There is no Late Helladic pottery mentioned in either the notebook or Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum and the attribution may be incorrect.

Tomb 53

Notebook showing list and sketches of objects from Tombs 51-53

Contents: 14 registered objects
Materials/objects: goldwork, faience bead and zoomorphic vessels, Egyptian alabaster vessel, Late Helladic and Cypriot pottery, Late Helladic zoomorphic figurine
Chronological range of objects: LCIB-III, probably main use later LCII
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, two chambers off dromos(?), presumably disturbed
Additional information: described as having ‘two doorways and round shaft through roof’. Additional goldwork, ‘many fragments’ of  Cypriot and Late Helladic pottery, clay lid, faience object, bronze knife.

Tomb 54

Contents: held in the Cyprus Museum
Materials/objects: goldwork, silver, Late Helladic and Cypriot pottery
Chronological range of objects: LCIB-IIC, probably mainly LCII, possibly into IIIA
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, status unkown
Additional information: Base Ring II, Plain White, White Slip CVA CM: LH IIIA2, IIIB, Late Minoan and Pastoral Style, SCE IV1C: Red Lustrous Wheelmade.

Tomb 55

Contents: held in the Cyprus Museum
Materials/objects: upper burial layer: goldwork, Late Helladic and Cypriot pottery, bull rhyton; lower burial layer: Cypriot pottery
Chronological range of objects: LCIA-III
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, intact with two sealed chambers off a deep dromos
Additional information: two burial layers were distinguished but the objects were not separated in detail beyond the statement that the top layer contained ‘the vases and a thin layer of bones in which the gold was found’. Beneath this was ‘at least a foot’ of roof collapse. The lower layer is described as a mix of mud and bone forming a ‘black clayey mass’ and that it had been ‘robbed’ prior to the roof collapse and second desposition layer. There was concern about further roof collapse whilst working and it is unlikely that the lower layer was investigated thoroughly. In Catalogue of the Cyprus Museum (1899:184-5) certain of the objects are divided into upper and lower burial groups. No mention is made of investigation into the second chamber. The statement ‘the top burials were evidently much later than the lower ones’ may imply that the material of both chambers was in two layers and was mixed together. Otherwise it is strange that the other chamber is not referred to at all. The lower burial layer contained Base Ring and White Slip and the upper layer Late Helladic, Red-on-Black ware, Bucchero, White Slip, Base Ring. It is obvious that there is no chronological separation with the objects as they are catalogued and either the layers were mixed or the earlier pottery in the tomb was re-deposited when the later burials were interred. CVA CM: LH IIIA1, IIIA2, SCE IV1C: Base Ring II.

Tomb 56

Contents: three registered objects
Materials/objects: goldwork and faience bead
Chronological range of objects: LCIB-II(?)
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, status unknown, roof collapsed
Additional information: goldwork, ivory fragment, faience vessel, bronze vessels and weapons, Late Helladic and Cypriot pottery, including Base Ring

Red Lustrous pottery hand vessel (around 1450 BC-1200 BC). Catalogue number 57.22

Tomb 57

Contents: 23 registered objects. 8 are from the 1969 series, found labelled ‘57’. They are consistent with the notebook descriptions and certainly from this tomb.
Materials/objects: goldwork, cylinder seal, Cypriot pottery vessel
Chronological range of objects: LCIB-IIC
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, status unknown, roof collapsed and flooded
Additional information: all the goldwork in the notebook is accounted for. Hematite weight noted. Pottery includes White Slip, Base Ring I, Base Ring II and the Red Lustrous Wheelmade registered vessel.

Tomb 58

Contents: 12 registered objects
Materials/objects: goldwork, bronze tripod stand, iron knife, ivories
Chronological range of objects: LCIB-III but no real evidence for use prior to LCII
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, intact(?)
Additional information: all the goldwork in the notebook is accounted for. Alabaster vessel fragments, bronze knives, vessels and mirror, Bucchero ware. SCE IV1C: Late Helladic piriform jar or fragments from this tomb in the Cyprus Museum.

Tomb 59

Contents: held in the Cyprus Museum
Materials/objects: goldwork, silver, faience beads, alabaster cup, Late Helladic and Cypriot pottery
Chronological range of objects: LCIB-IIC
Tomb type and status: chamber tomb, presumably looted as door missing and full of earth
Additional information: SCE IV1C: Base Ring I, Base Ring II, Plain White ware, Late Helladic

Tomb 60

Contents: eight registered objects
Materials/objects: goldwork, faience bead and ring, bronze spear-head, Late Helladic pottery vessel
Chronological range of objects: LCIB-III, no real evidence for LCI use
Tomb type and status: goldwork, stone mortar and pestle, ivory fragments, bronze knives and vessels, alabaster fragments, Bucchero ware