Urne figurate da Priniàs. Il Protogeometrico B tra Dark Age e Alto Arcaismo

Abstract. In 1994, a book in honor of M.S.F. Hood, integrally devoted to Knossos was published, where several topics and problems concerning the site where uestioned. In that volume, .N. Coldstream treated the issue of the continuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age on the base of the evidence provided by the North Cemetery, at that time not yet published. Coldstream carried out the analysis of funerary practices in some Knossian tombs and recognized that the association of precise architectures and rituals, in particular the use of the figured Protogeometric B straight sided pithoi as urns, formed a topos to be connected with a precise identity. The complete study of the Siderospilia necropolis carried out by the Archaeological Mission at Priniàs of the University of Catania and CNR IBAM, directed by Dario Palermo, since 2012 provided a huge contribute to the general knowledge of the period at issue and the burial costumes. In particular, the analysis of funerary goods inside Protogeometric B tombs allowed to enrich the picture already provided by Coldstream himself. The archaeological evidence from Priniàs, seems to partially confirm the image of a society in transformation, in which the tendency to maintain traditional features (linked with the LMIII past) is associated with a will projected towards new trends. Nevertheless, at Priniàs, maybe more than in Knossos, it is possible to those recognize precise signs of continuity, which anticipate some peculiar features of PGB phase, on one hand, and maintain them over the time, on the other.