Phourni

Phourni is the most important Minoan cemetery on Crete, located on a hill northwest of Archanes, in use from approximately 2400 to 1200 BC. The 6,600 sq m necropolis contains 26 funerary buildings including both rectangular house tombs and circular tholos tombs. Excavated for 25 years by Yiannis Sakellarakis beginning in 1965, the most significant discovery was an intact, unlooted sarcophagus of a 'Queen' containing over 140 pieces of jewellery. The site also yielded 136 seal stones, the largest collection found at a single site in northern Crete.