I rene S. L emoS “… ἐπεὶ πόρε μύρια ἕδνα …” (Iliad 22,472) Homeric Reflections in Early Iron Age Elite Burials In Homeric studies scholars focus mostly in the status of Homeric warriors and their role in society. Sigrid Deger-Jalkotzy has collected the archaeological evidence of warrior burials in the LH IIIC period and dis- cussed their importance in an important forthcoming article. Moreover, she has made clear that any discus- sion of warrior burials in the Early Iron Age has to take into account their LH IIIC predecessors.  In the Early Iron Age the status of a warrior is given to a number of burials found in the Aegean. These ‘warrior burials’ are found at the most prominent sites of the period such as Athens, Lefkandi, Knossos, and Tiryns. 2 Warrior burials in Iron Age Greece are defined as those buried with at least one sword, usually of the long Naue II type, and which is often accompanied with a spearhead. Exceptional burials were also given axes, the so-called shield-bosses, and arrowheads.  It has been argued, however, that the fact that burials were offered weapons does not presuppose that they were either male or warriors. In other words, they might have been women given weapons or male burials but not necessarily warriors. 4 I believe, however, that we do have enough osteological evidence from such burials in Athens and Lefkandi to be quite certain that weapons and male burials go together.  We do not find the combination of women buried with weapons. In some rare cases knives were found together with female burials and one example comes from an Early Geometric burial found near the Athenian Agora.  Such finds, however, do not carry the same sym- bolic value as the long iron swords and other weapons which were given to male burials. 7 Another argument implies that weapons might have been given to male burials who were not fighters.  But if we agree with Whitley that the way a person is buried is associated with the notion of what roles were appropriate for him or her in life, then we can argue that it is acceptable for an adult or a youth or even a  Sigrid’s important paper will appear in the volume which we have jointly edited after the conference we organized in January 2003 in Edinburgh. It was during her term in Edinburgh that I had the opportunity to spend time with her discussing issues re- lated to our common interests in the archaeology and history of early Greece. Sigrid taught me that scholarship can be a lot of fun and I enjoyed thoroughly her company and her enthusiasm for the subject. This is now published in Deger-Jalkotzy and Lemos 2006. 2 For burials with weapons in the pre-palatial and palatial period and the combinations of other offerings found with them which suggest their status see Kilian-Dirlmeier 1986.  For Sub-Mycenaean burials see Kilian-Dirlmeier 1998; Eder 2001; for Protogeometric burials, Lemos 2002, 188–9 and 117–26, where weapons and their context are discussed. For a survey of iron swords found in Central Europe and Greece see Kilian- Dirlmeier 1993. 4 Similar observations were made among others for Anglo-Saxon burials where determination of gender based on traditional as- sociations that jewellery is found with women and weapons with men have been challenged, see for example Härke 1990; Lucy 1997; and summary discussion in Parker-Pearson 1999, 94–114. Whitley (2002) introduced the debate in the burial practices of EIA Greece.  For osteological evidence of female and male burials in Athens during the EIA see Strömberg 1993. For Lefkandi see Musgrave 1980, 429–46.  Young 1949. 7 The knife found in this particular burial has a short blade. Young (1949, 289) commented that such knives could easily have been used by women in cooking or for house-work; Musgrave 1980, 16–8. More interesting is the dagger with an ivory handle found near the head of the female burial in the Toumba building. I have associated this with the possible sacrifice of the burial and the horses (Lemos 2002, 166–7).  Whitley 2002.