On the Middle Terrace, about 30 m east of the Neopalatial Quarter, are the badly preserved remains of what seems to have been a funerary building (Zone 18) (Figure 5).

Thus far, mainly the Neopalatial phase of the House Tomb has been explored so we do not know if this was a new construction or a rebuilding of an earlier House Tomb. In any case, the area north and west of the structure was strewn with pebbles and on these surfaces, small pottery deposits were found, also dating to the Neopalatial period.

These seem to form similar commemorative consumption deposits as those dated to Middle Minoan II that took place in Zones 1 and 9, suggesting a continuity of practice. Thus far several pit and pithos inhumations have been identified especially in the east part of the structure. The large room in the west part seems to have been used for ceremonies that involved many identical juglets and some more extraordinary clay recipients. The bad preservation of the deposits suggests earthquake destruction in the Neopalatial period. When the area was in ruins, it was revisited. A first time in Late Minoan II/IIIA1 when a shaft grave was installed in the large western room.

This is formed by a small compartment that reuses the outer walls of the room. Within this compartment we first found the disturbed remains of an individual.

Lower down, however, was the intact burial of a woman, accompanied by a bronze mirror, three small vases, a golden necklace and some other objects (Figure 6). The type and date of this burial compare well with contemporary funerary customs at Knossos, Archanes and Chania, suggesting that Sissi formed part of the Knossian kingdom in LM II-IIIA1. To the south of the building we came across a small pit in the bedrock which received a secondary burial accompanied by some LM IIIA2 miniature vases.

Céline Piret (https://celpiret.wixsite.com/monsite), in close collaboration with the excavators and anthropologists, has reconstructed the burial of the lady.

A short video: