Archaeology and Heinrich Schliemann 2012

360 Egert Pöhlmannare standing inside an enclosed court. As discussedpreviously, there are Mycenaean analogies for thesehouses. In Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos, the main megaronis surrounded by adjoining rooms, which -especially in Pylos - are made accessible by corridors.In Pylos, staircases lead to the upper floor in four places.The palace in Mycenae is single storeyed, but theHouse of the Sphinxes and the House of the Oil-merchanthave a basement, and the House of the Columnshas an upper floor and is partly provided with a cellar.31 This basically corresponds with the fictionalHomeric houses and their often documented twostoreys (Ithaca, Aiaia, Orchomenos, Ephyra), andtheir basements (Ithaca, Troy, Sparta). As can easilybe studied in Drerup’s monograph, Geometric buildingsdo not show such a construction. 32The “Dark Ages” and HomerAfter the invasion of seafaring tribes in the 12 thcentury, the Mycenaean fortresses, with the exceptionof the Acropolis of Athens, are destroyed and thegovernment of the palaces, together with its literatebureaucracy, is broken. But life continued: KlausKilian’s excavations prove that notable constructionactivity commenced in Tiryns, especially on the lowerpart of the fortress, and in Mycenae during the phaseLH III C, indicating continuation of occupancy.After 1100 B.C., the Dorians streamed from thenorth into the destroyed and deserted Mycenaeanregion, thus confining the remaining Mycenaeanpopulation to the centre of the peninsula, to Arcadia.In the same period, Aelians from Thessalia and Ioniansfrom Attica poured into Asia Minor under thepressure of the Dorians and settled upon the coastand outlying islands, with Smyrna-Izmir representingthe border between Ionians and Aeolians, whosettled further north.In the meantime, it can be asked whether the earlyIron Age also left traces in the Iliad and the Odyssey.Informative in this respect is the Euboean village ofLefkandi, situated between Chalkis and Eretria. It hasbeen excavated since 1964, and consists of an antiquesettlement with necropolises dating to 2000 B.C. 33 Themost interesting structure in Lefkandi is a monumentalapsidal building measuring 45 x 10 m and locatedat the edge of a cemetery dating from 1000 to 950 B.C.A grave with two compartments was found in thecentre of the long interior. One part contained theskeletons of four horses and the other a double-burialconsisting of a woman and the cremated remains of aman. The woman’s hands and feet were crossed andbound and placed next to her head was iron knifewith ivory handle, two golden hair spirals, one goldenmedallion with a chain of faience pearls, two goldenbreast plates, a pectoral, and several garment needles,all indicating the dead woman had a high rank.A bronze-urn found next to the woman contained theashes of a man wrapped in linen, as well as a whetstone,an iron sword, and a spear-tip. The urn is animport from Cyprus.This discovery prompts an interpretation accordingto the description of the burial of Patroclus in thetwenty-third song of the Iliad. Achilles crematesPatroclus with four horses before sacrificing twelveTrojan boys. The bones of Patroclus are preserved tobe later buried together with Achilles’ bones. On thisoccasion a golden urn is referred to (χρύσεος àµφιφορεύς).34 The aftermath of it can be concluded fromHector’s burial described in the twenty-fourth songof the Iliad. His ashes were wrapped in linen (πορφυρέοιςπέπλοισι καλύψαντες µαλακοÖσιν) and preservedin a golden coffin (χρυσείην âς λάρνακα). 35 Consequently,the royal grave of Lefkandi gives us anopportunity to see customs of the earliest Protogeometricera reflected by Patroclus’ and Hector’s burial.The Geometric AgeCremation in the style of the Iliad is a phenomenonthat started in the submycenaean/protogeometricera and continues in the Geometric Age. Similarlydated are anachronisms such as the previously mentioneduse of iron instead of bronze, which may havealready influenced the epic tradition around 1000B.C. The same applies to the techniques of inlayedmetal work, which is important for the shield ofAchilles as is described in the eighteenth song of the31. Blegen and Rawson 1966, fig. 417; Mylonas 1957, fig. 21;Wace 1964, 91-97, fig. 32-34.32. Drerup affords only one doubtful example for an upperfloor (Drerup 1969, 56). Nevertheless, he believes in theidentity of the Homeric and Geometric house (Drerup1969, 128-133).33. Blome 1984, 9-21.34. XXIII.161-257; 24.65-84.35. XXIV.785-800.