Phourni

thumb|Phourni. thumb|Phourni at Archanes. Phourni (, also Fourni) is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan cemetery in Crete, established in 2400 BC and lasted until 1200 BC. Phourni is Greek for "furnace, oven" and the name of the hill on which the cemetery is located. Phourni is located at 70100 Epano Archanes, Heraklion, Greece—located on a hill in north-central Crete. Phourni can be seen from Mount Juktas. It is a small hill situated northwest of Archanes, between Archanes and Kato Archanes. Phourni is reachable from a signed scenic path that starts at Archanes. It was an important site for Minoan burials. The burials consistently and proactively engaged the community of the Minoans. The largest cemetery in the Archanes area was discovered in 1957 and excavated for 25 years by Yiannis Sakellarakis, beginning in 1965. The 6600 sq m cemetery includes 26 funerary buildings of varying shapes and sizes. The necropolis of Phourni is of primary importance, both for the duration of its use and for the variety of its funerary monuments. All the pottery and much of the skeletal material was collected, unlike many other pre-palatial tombs. The cemetery was founded in the Ancient Minoan IIA, and continued to be used until the end of the Bronze Age. The occupation reached its peak during the Middle Minoan AI, just before the palaces of Knossos and Malia appeared. The proximity of Archanes to the important religious centres of Mount Iuktas probably contributed to the prominence of the site.

==Funerary practices== People were buried in either “House Tombs” which are rectangular long and narrow chambers or tholos tombs which are rounded structures that were built into a hillside. At Phourni, it was quite common to complete a primary burial: one that is complete and undisturbed, as no remains were moved after the fact. While rare, there were also secondary manipulations of the decayed human remains. A manipulation is an intentional rearrangement of human remains years after the primary burial. An example of a burial with the secondary manipulation of the body was found in Building 7, where there was an initial burial, and after the skull had decayed, it was detached from the jaw and placed near the feet of the human. This act was clearly intentional and meaningful towards the burial practices at Phourni. The organizational method of each burial was dependent on the identities (different cultures and religions believed in different ways how the dead should be treated), of the people performing the practice. There were also material goods buried with people in various cases. "The artifacts from the tombs (vessels of both pottery and stone, tools and weapons, jewelry, and seals) show that a dead person was buried with his or her personal belongings as well as with food and drink (for the next life?). Since the dead were supplied with food and drink, they were presumably primary burials (i.e. fully articulated bodies) and not secondary collections of bones. Most of the grave goods show signs of use in mortal life (i.e. they were not designed specifically for funerary purposes)."