Part of a Mycenean larnax

The burial larnakes were four-sided, long and narrow cases with four corner legs. The body or the bones of the deceased were deposited inside, along with various grave goods that included jewellery, figurines, and other items. They were covered by a flat or gabled lid bearing often added elements modelled in clay. Mythological subjects and beings usually decorated them, as well as scenes of the funerary ritual, one of which is depicted here with female figures in a typical mourning posture.

The larnakes were first made in Crete around 2000 BC. In Mycenaean Greece they appear exclusively in the cemeteries and chamber tombs of Tanagra, indicating a special relationship between the Boeotian city and Minoan Crete.