Mycenaean burnt animal sacrifice at Eleusis

Michael B. Cosmopoulos & Deborah Ruscillo Oxford Journal of Archaeology 33.3 (2014): 257-273

Abstract

Burnt animal sacrifice is well attested in Greek historical times, but whether it was practiced in the Mycenaean period is debated. Until now, the lack of architectural structures suitable for the ritual burning of animals and the ambiguity surrounding the interpretation of burnt faunal assemblages have been used as arguments against the occurrence of such sacrifices in the Late Bronze Age. In this paper, it is proposed that the platform in front of the Mycenaean Megaron B at Eleusis was an altar used for burnt animal sacrifices and that a group of burnt pig bones found in a drain in front of this platform was burnt ritually on the platform and then swept into the drain.