Throughout the Mycenaean period in Greece the grave structures changed massively. Before the Mycenaean period and during the early Mycenaean period, burial was very un-ritualistic with little honour; burial was purely a sanitary way to get rid of the deceased. These graves were called cist graves. These were an individual tomb, which was a simple shallow pit covered and lined by slabs of rock. The graves were usually to small or short to allow a fully extended burial so the bodies were usually crouched or in the foetus position often on a prepared floor or river pebbles. These graves were not usually found too close together like a cemetery but more isolated.

In the early Mycenaean period a more honourable grave was created for the wealthy and famous. These were called tumulus tombs. These originally consisted of a man being laid on the ground being covered in a...