The Grave of the Griffin Warrior at Pylos: Construction, Burial, and Aftermath

The circumstances of the discovery, stratigraphy, and construction of the grave of the Griffin Warrior were described briefly in 2016 as an introduction to a detailed presentation of the four gold rings found inside it. Here the “life history” of the grave is considered fully. As a sealed context, the grave of the Griffin Warrior also provides a key dated context for many classes of artifact, the chronologies of which have not hitherto been well defined. Because of its importance in this regard, supporting evidence is presented that the Griffin Warrior was buried in Late Helladic IIA and that the burial deposit in the grave lay undisturbed after Late Helladic IIA.