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Towards a Social Bioarchaeology of the Mycenaean Period - A Biocultural Analysis of Human Remains from the Voudeni Cemetery, Achaea, Greece (Paperback)
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Towards a Social Bioarchaeology of the Mycenaean Period - A Biocultural Analysis of Human Remains from the Voudeni Cemetery, Achaea, Greece (Paperback)
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This book investigates the complex relationship between funerary
treatment and wider social dynamics through a contextual analysis
of human skeletal remains and associated mortuary data from
Voudeni, an important Mycenaean (1450-1050 BC) chamber tomb
cemetery in Achaea, Greece. Voudeni is one of the most significant
sites of Achaea, thoroughly investigated under the direction of the
Honorary General Director of Antiquities, Dr Lazaros Kolonas. Over
60 chamber tombs, spanning the entire Late Helladic III period,
have been excavated, yielding an unprecedented wealth of
biocultural information. This study explores the post-mortem
treatment of the body in the Voudeni cemetery, through a novel
interpretive approach that transcends unproductive
cross-disciplinary divisions. This biosocial approach integrates
traditional archaeology, current reflections in mortuary
archaeological theory and cutting-edge bioarchaeological methods,
primarily focused on funerary taphonomy and archaeothanatology of
commingled skeletal assemblages. The author proposes that the most
effective route to explore the social dimensions of mortuary data
is through an emic understanding of historically situated actions
and experiences, both of the living actors, the mourners, and of
the dead themselves. Human skeletal remains are used as the primary
strand of evidence, both as the object of the acts of the living
and the subject of their own lived experiences. Most importantly,
this study aspires to show how reconciliation between abstract
theoretical advances and empirical biocultural data may be
possible, providing the most insightful path to a better
understanding of the archaeological mortuary record. The book
provides a thorough background on Mycenaean mortuary research and
explores the topic in successive stages: a) theoretical and
methodological framework, b) detailed taphonomic analysis and
osteological results of 20 tombs, c) multivariate analysis of
bio-cultural data across socio-temporal parameters (with special
emphasis on the distinction between the palatial LHIIIA-B and the
transitional post-palatial LHIIIC period), and d) final synthesis,
addressing questions pertaining to changing social conditions in
Achaea and key issues of current Mycenaean mortuary research. These
include: tomb re-use; form, diversity, sequence and frequency of
mortuary activities; mortality profiles; differential inclusion,
visibility and funerary treatment of different groups/identities;
changes in treatment of the dead body, reflecting shifts in notions
of the self and social relationships. The results shed new light on
social developments in Mycenaean Achaea, showing that the complex
interaction between changing social conditions and mortuary
practice is often reflected in subtle, yet meaningful, shifts of
emphasis in the post-mortem treatment of bodies and bones, rather
than in blatant radical changes.
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