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Instructors: Dr. Marion Bolder-Boos
Event type:
online: Proseminar
Displayed in timetable as:
PS:Griechische Welt
Hours per week:
2
Language of instruction:
German
Min. | Max. participants:
- | 15
Contents:
Many cultures reserve special places for burying their dead which are often set apart from the space of the living. This was also the case among the ancient Greeks. Burial sites were usually placed outside the towns. These “Cities of the Dead” were often situated along roads leading to and from the town. The necessities of burying one’s dead were accompanied by various rituals, honouring and commemorating the deceased and preparing them for the afterlife. Necropoleis give us insights into an important part of the social, religious and even economic life of a community.
There are different forms of interment that can be discerned: inhumation or cremation, burial in elaborate tombs or simple pits, single and group burials, with or without grave goods, etc. Furthermore, funerary inscriptions can give us some idea about the identity of some of the deceased, the circumstances of their demise or social conditions in general. Quantitative analyses allow us to draw conclusions regarding mortality rates, demographic or even medical conditions.
The course covers all these aspects by looking at several case studies from the Greek mainland as well as the colonies from Archaic to Hellenistic times in order to give participants a good overview of the multiplicity of Greek necropoleis and burial customs.
Recommended reading list:
H. Frielinghaus – J. Stroszeck – P. Valavanis (eds.), Griechische Nekropolen – neue Forschungen und Funde (Möhnesee 2019)
K. Sporn (eds.), Griechische Grabbezirke klassischer Zeit. Normen und Regionalismen. Akten des internationalen Kolloquiums am Deutschen Archäologischen Institut, Abteilung Athen, 20. - 21. November 2009 (Munich 2013)
S. Tarlow – L. Nilsson Stutz (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial (Oxford 2013)
Additional information:
Performance record consists of an oral presentation (ca. 40 min) as well as a written essay.
Digital teaching:
Whether the course will be held in class or online (Microsoft Teams) will depend on the situation at the beginning of the summer semester.
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