Scene di prothesis e di deposizione a Creta e sul continente greco in età micenea

Barbara Montecchi Στο F. Longo, R. di Cesare & S. Privitera (eds) 2016. ΔΡΟΜΟΙ. Studi sul mondo antico offerti a Emanuele Greco dagli allievi della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene, Atene-Paestum: 681-694.

This paper deals with depictions of two specific moments of the Late Bronze Age III funeral ritual that are poorly attested in Aegean art, both on Crete and on the mainland, namely, the exposure of the deceased (prothesis) and his or her subsequent deposition in the coffin. The author analyzes a total of eight images. Five are painted on four clay coffins (larnakes), the other three on pottery sherds. Among the depictions on larnakes, four have been recognized as funeral scenes since the date of their first publication, while one is interpreted as a prothesis scene here for the first time. As to the pottery sherds, they all date back to the LH IIIC period, but one is very small, so its comparison with what is certainly a prothesis scene depicted on one of the other two is only tentative. The paper ends with a brief account of the similarities between Mycenaean and Geometric depictions of funeral rituals.