On political developments on Crete in the Final and Postpalatial periods (the ceramic phases LM II to IIIB) seen through the lens of high-status mortuary practices.
Patterns in tomb architecture, burial assemblages, and cemetery distributions provide insights into changes in elite ideologies and political geography.
At the start of the Final Palatial period, new burial customs were introduced in Knossos that functioned as a medium for status competition.
Changes in the later Final Palatial period suggest a standardization in mortuary self-representation.
Beyond Knossos, similar tomb practices began to occur, but an increase in mortuary display in the early Postpalatial phase indicates resurgent regional elites seizing the political opportunities attendant upon Knossos 's collapse.
The Postpalatial phase also sees a shift in focus of mortuary ostentation toward the far west of the island.
