Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0876616139, Paperback)

Before the creation of the Agora as a civic center in the 7th Century BC, the region NW of the Acropolis was a vast cemetery. Over 150 ancient burial places have been found by excavators and a few of the more remarkable are described here. These range from a wealthy Mycenaean chamber tomb, filled with the vases and jewelry of a rich noblewoman, to the poignant pithos burial of an infant from around 725 BC, accompanied by eight tiny vases. As well as describing the assemblages found, the author discusses the symbolism of funeral rites, and the information about social status and identity that burials reveal.