 The usual form of burial during this period was inhumation . The earliest Mycenaean burials were mostly in individual graves in the form of a pit or a stone lined cist and offerings were limited to pottery and occasional items of jewellery . Groups of pit or cist graves containing elite members of the community were sometimes covered by a tumulus ( mound ) in the manner established since the Middle Helladic . It has been argued that this form dates back to the <unk> culture ; however , Mycenaean burials are in actuality an indigenous development of mainland Greece with the Shaft Graves housing native rulers . Pit and cist graves remained in use for single burials throughout the Mycenaean period alongside more elaborate family graves . The shaft graves at Mycenae within Grave Circles A and B belong to the same period represent an alternative manner of grouping elite burials . Next to the deceased were found full sets of weapons , ornate staffs as well as gold and silver cups and other valuable objects which point to their social rank . 
