Kylindra children's cemetery
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The slope underneath the town of Hora is called Kylindra. On the west and southwest slopes, construction work in the late 1990s uncovered a very large cemetery, containing only the burials of young children. Subsequent excavation has shown that there are over 3400 burials, making it the largest ancient children's cemetery in the world. All but one of the burials so far found has been in a large pot. This method of burial for children was very common in Greece in ancient times and it is called enghytrismos (εγχυτρισμός). Usually, however, the burials of children are mixed in with those of adults and it is rare for there to be large groups of child burials on their own. In fact, the main ancient cemetery of Astypalaia seems to have been on the hill next to the town, at a site called Katsalos. This contains the remains of not only adults, but also older children, and some babies. At present it is not known why young children were buried in such large numbers on Kylindra.
Picture shows Kylindra cemetery during excavation - each little pit is a pot burial
The Ephorate of Antiquities of Dodecanese is excavating both cemeteries (see paper). The form of the pottery vessels allows them to estimate the date of the burials. The earliest is Late Geometric in form and was made around 750 BC, whilst the latest is a form from Roman times which would be made about AD 100. Most pots, however, suggest dates between 600 and 400 BC. The bulk of the pots are large trade amphorae. Their shapes suggest they came from all over the Aegean, extending to the Levant and Egypt. They may have been heavily used before being pressed into service as a container for the burial, as some have been repaired with lead.
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A pot burial just before lifting during excavation - the neck is blocked with a stone and the hole in the side through which the child's body was placed has been carefully covered by the piece of pottery which had been cut out