Nine pithos burials and a bowl burial dated to the Early and MC periods have been found at Akrotiri. Most were single burials that included two adults, but three pithoi contained multiple burials of up to three infants. The burial jars of various shapes were appropriated from domestic usage; one no longer serviceable jar was “mended.” The adults and three infants were given offerings of stone tools, including obsidian blades or “razors.” Whether all the burials were intramural is unclear. One infant was 6–9 months old, ten were full‑term and one was extremely premature, no more than 34 weeks. In some cases the infant’s head was positioned downwards, perhaps in symbolic preparation for rebirth. Since only one infant burial dates to the MC period, we may posit an improvement in the survival rate of newborn infants or a change in burial customs. On Thera a pithos burial of a newborn from Kalamia is dated to EC III. The custom of pithos burial appears to come from the East. At Akrotiri direct contacts with Anatolia are demonstrated by Beycesultan type figurines and the depas amphikypellon ceramic form, while the MC bowl burial is reminiscent of infant burials at Ur and complements the ever-increasing body of evidence for reciprocal interaction in the cultural and ideological sphere with the Levant, where the custom of jar burial was long-lived and became embedded in Levantine mythology.
Photini J. P. McGeorge (Mon,) studied this question.