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Modern Description: Below Apano Kastro to the southeast, about half way between the castle and Tsikalarió, lies an important and unusual cemetery of the Geometric period. (The tombs are to the south of the footpath to/from Tsikalarió, reached by a path beside a stone wall which runs south and crosses a small, rocky ridge through a defile before descending to the cemetery.) The cemetery appears to be a collection of monumental family tombs on a plateau. The site is dominated by a menhir which stands over 2.5m high. The burial tumuli, some of which have a diameter of as much as 12m and were marked by circles of orthostats, are highly unusual for the period. Evidence of the funeral pyres at the centre of the tumuli has been found and a notable quantity of fine wheel-made pottery, painted vessels and jewellery (now in the Naxos Archaeological Museum): this dates mostly from the 9th and 8th centuries BC, and reveals contacts with Attica and other regions of Greece and the Aegean.
Wikidata ID: Q2458352

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

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