Armeni (archaeological site)

Armeni is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan cemetery on Crete.

Contents

Geography

The cemetery is eight kilometers south of the modern town of Rethymnon.

Archaeology

Armeni has been under excavation since 1969 by Yiannis Tzedakis. Over 200 chamber tombs and one tholos tomb have been found from the Late Minoan era.

Finds from over 200 chamber tombs included seal stones, jewelry, bronze tools, stone vases, bronze vessels and pottery. Clay larnakes (coffins) painted with double axes, hunting and bull scenes, and Horns of Consecration were also excavated. These artifacts can be found at the Archaeological Museum of Chania and the Rethymno Museum.

Over 500 skeletons have been excavated, yielding useful information about the diet of the Minoan people in this area. They ate high carbohydrate diets but not much meat.

Tourism

Swindale reports that the lighting does not work in many of the tombs, and recommends the use of a flashlight (British: torch). The area is open to tourists 8:30 until 15:00 during the summer, except on Mondays.

References

External links