Social Identity and Status in the Classical and Hellenistic Northern Peloponnese: The Evidence from Burials

Classical and Hellenistic cemeteries can give us more than descriptions and styles of pottery, art and burial architecture; they can speak of people, societies, social conventions as well as of social distinctions. This book aims to employ and illustrate the unique strengths of burial evidence and its contribution to the understanding of social identity and status in the Classical and Hellenistic Northern Peloponnese. By thoroughly reviewing published burials from the regions of Achaia, Arcadia, the Argolid and Cynouria, Corinthia, Elis and Triphylia, spatial and temporal variations which led to a change in definitions of ‘society’ and perceptions of ‘community’ on the basis of shifting reactions to death and the dead are demonstrated. Social roles of men, women, children, elite and non-elite individuals as expressed or negotiated in the mortuary record are explored. Preconceived ideas and stereotypes within and about the Classical and Hellenistic burials are challenged. In spite of the many constraints imposed by the limited previous research, what clearly emerges from this study is the wide degree of variation in what are often loosely termed ‘customary’ or unappealing Classical and Hellenistic burial practices in the Northern Peloponnese. If death was indeed an occasion or ‘opportunity’, then the meaning of this opportunity varied along the shifting dimensions, in time and space, of identity and status.

Table of Contents:
Preface; Chapter 1 – Introduction; Chapter 2 – A Case Study: The Argolid; Chapter 3 – Death and Space in the Northern Peloponnese during Classical and Hellenistic Times; Chapter 4 – The Mortuary Record; Chapter 5 – Burial Offerings; Chapter 6 – The Funeral Ritual; Chapter 7 – Conclusions; Bibliography; Appendix A: groups of burials (GB); Appendix B: individual graves (IG)

About the Author :
Dr Nikolas Dimakis is a RCH Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research on ‘The Archaeology of Child Death: child burials in Classical and Hellenistic Attica’, funded by the Research Centre for the Humanities, examines the interplay of identity, status and emotions within the context of child burials in Attica. He is also a Research Associate inw the ‘THALES – University of Athens – Apollo’s Sanctuary at ancient Halasarna on Kos’ project of excellence. Nikolas received a thorough classical education at the University of Athens, and further pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Nottingham where he obtained his PhD, on prestigious studentships and awards. He has published on Classical and Hellenistic burial customs, deathscapes and terracotta lamps. He has coordinated and participated in international meetings and in many archaeological projects in the Peloponnese, Attica and the Dodecanese.