Quantification of ceramics from early iron age tombs

The paper is concerned with the importance of quantifying ceramic material from tombs and the potential contribution of quantitative analysis to the interpretation of funerary contexts. The irst part argues that quantitative approaches ought to be included in all publications of pottery from burial assemblages and outlines the considerations that should be taken into account in quantifying data. The second part discusses a case study from the archaeology of Early Iron Age Crete with the aim to demonstrate that the contribution of quantitative approaches can go beyond the ield of ceramic analysis. By quantifying urns from select Cretan tombs I challenge the widespread identiication of these contexts as family tombs and pave the way for alternative interpretations.

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