Since the first excavations between 1904 and 1906, Koumasa (34° 58' North, 25° 0' East, in the south-central part of the island of Crete) occupies a prominent position in Minoan archaeology. Located strategically on the foothills of Eastern Asterousia and overlooking a large part of the Mesara plain, this site was predestined to play an important role as a regional center during the dynamic social processes that transformed Early Bronze Crete to a palatial society. The old excavations of the cemetery brought to light a magnificent array of burial finds that demonstrated the importance and wealth of Koumasa during the Prepalatial and Early Protopalatial Period (early 3rd to early 2nd millennium BCE).
More than one hundred years after the first archaeological exploration of Koumasa, a new interdisciplinary research program commenced in 2012 with the basic aims of systematically exploring the Minoan settlement adjacent to the tombs. However, during an extensive cleaning of the cemetery for the digital documentation of its architectural remains, it became apparent that it was not fully excavated. The systematic archaeological re-investigation of the area within and around Tholos Tomb B, the cemetery’s most important building, started in 2013 and was completed in 2015 with finds that were beyond all expectation, including a thick layer of cremated human bones in a commingled state and hundreds of precious artefacts. This unprecedented discovery has provided the opportunity to excavate part of one of the most important tholos tombs of Minoan Crete according to a scientific protocol that complied with the highest standards of archaeological documentation. The project aims at the systematic study of the archaeological contexts, pottery, and finds from the new excavations as preparatory for the final publication of the tomb.
The publication project is directed by Dr. Diamantis Panagiotopoulos.
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