 Meanwhile , new types of burials and more imposing ones have been unearthed , which display a great variety of luxurious objects . Among the various burials types , the shaft grave became the most common form of elite burial , a feature that gave the name to the early period of Mycenaean Greece . Among the Mycenaean elite , deceased males were usually laid in gold masks and funerary armor , while females in gold crowns and clothes gleaming with gold ornaments . The royal shaft graves next to the acropolis of Mycenae , in particular the Grave Circles A and B signified the elevation of a native Greek @-@ speaking royal dynasty whose economic power depended on long @-@ distance sea trade . 
