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The ancient Egyptians were famous for their exotic and luxury perfumes in the ancient world, even having cities that specialised in perfume production in the Ptolemaic Period, when they exported these perfumes all over the Mediterranean. They produced these perfumes, and other scented preparations, from aromatic plants, fats and oils. The deities were fragrant beings, imbued with the divine essence, and perfume was considered by the Egyptians to be the sweat of the god Ra. Some deities were specially linked to perfume, one of the most important being Nefertem, god of perfume and of the primordial fragrant blue lotus flower. Incense was to the Egyptians the ‘eye of Horus’, burnt as an offering to the deities in temples. Aromatic plant material was stored in perfume/unguent ‘laboratories’, and perfumers’ workshops produced the precious perfumed oils and unguents, used in the funerary context, rituals, ceremonies, festivals and banquets. / History / M.A. (Ancient Near Eastern Studies)

Missing from the discussion surrounding the use of coinage in select burials within southern Italian Greek necropoleis in the fourth and third centuries BCE is an attempt to reconstruct the ancient conception of the ritualistic function of coinage. It is through a chronological survey of epigraphical evidence for temple finances that we can trace the concurrent developments of the recognition of a fiduciary value to money, on one hand, and the acceptance of a ritualistic function to coinage on the other. Both occur simultaneously in Magna Graecia where the earliest coins in burial have been found. The case study of Metaponto, an archaeological site around the Lucanian Apennines, reveals a correspondence between an Oscan assemblage of funerary equipment and the presence of coinage. One tomb in particular contains an old coin’s ceramic impression, a clear representation of a value above that of its monetary model. Indigenous Italian agency ought therefore be considered when explaining, not just the ritualistic deposition of bronze coinage in Italy, but also a broader recognition of the sacred and fiduciary value to coinage which led to its deposition. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / When did humans start conceptualising the abstract notion of value which underpins modern paper money? The time of Socrates’ death was one of economic transition, when coins were first integrated into funerary rituals, used as religious dedicatory offerings, and minted in a new metal, bronze. These concurrent developments stemmed from the need for Greeks, using silver, to exchange with indigenous Italians who used bronze. This created a symbolic value for the bronze coins which was manifested in the contemporaneous acceptance of coinage in religious rituals. The case study of Metaponto, a Greek city founded in southern Italy, demonstrates the indigenous Italian impetus to include coinage in funerary assemblages, and by extension, their involvement in redefining the economic conception of money. A ceramic impression of an older coin found in one of these burials, is similar to paper money in that it represents a value abstracted from its silver model.

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No description available.

The aim of this study is to analyse and interpret the distribution of white-ground lekythoi with a known context from the 5th century BCE. Exploring white-ground lekythoi in context is a complex matter, as many lekythoi lack archaeological documentation. The purpose of this study is to locate and map white-ground lekythoi with available archaeological documentation in order to lay the groundwork of their geographical distribution and interpret how they were used and could have been viewed from a socio-economic perspective in different regions. The study has shown that white-ground lekythoi were distributed throughout the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Levant, and have been found in various contexts such as funerary, domestic and religious space depending on the region. The chronological distribution indicates that white-ground lekythoi were popular in locations such as Eretria, Gela and Macedonia, before becoming adopted in Attic funerary activities during the second half of the century. This suggests a more multifunctional use of the vessel than only being a funerary libation vessel which is the traditional scholarly approach to the vessel’s function. Lastly, this thesis addresses the value of white-ground lekythoi. The hypothesis is put forward that the vessels increased in value when being found in limited numbers and with what could be considered luxurious artefacts made for both a local and foreign market. / Målet med denna studie är att analysera och tolka fördelningen av vit-grundiga lekyter med en känd kontext från 500-talet f.v.t. Undersökningar av vit-grundiga lekyter med en känd kontext är en komplex fråga då många av kärlen saknar arkeologisk dokumentation. Syftet med studien är att lokalisera och kartlägga vit-grundiga lekyter med tillgänglig arkeologisk dokumentation för att lägga grunden för deras geografiska utspridning och tolka hur de användes och kunde ha blivit sedda från ett socio-ekonomiskt perspektiv i olika regioner. Studien har visat att vit-grundiga lekyter distribuerades över Medelhavet, Svarta havet och Levanten och har hittats i olika kontexter som gravar, bosättningar, och helgedomar beroende på region. Den kronologiska fördelningen indikerar att vit-grundiga lekyter var populära i områden som Eretria, Gela och Makedonien, innan de antogs i Attiska begravningsaktiviteter under andra hälften av seklet. Detta tyder på en mer multifunktionell användning av kärlen än enbart ämnat för begravningsaktiviteter som är den traditionella vetenskapliga tolkningen av kärlets funktion. Hypotesen framförs att vit-grundiga lekyter ökade i värde när de hittades i begränsat antal och tillsammans med vad man som kan betraktas som lyxiga artefakter gjorda för både en lokal och utländsk marknad.

Yes / While death is universal, reactions to death and ways of dealing with the dead body are hugely diverse, and archaeological research reveals numerous ways of dealing with the dead through time and across the world. In this paper, findings are presented which not only demonstrate the power of archaeology to promote and aid discussion around this difficult and challenging topic, but also how our approach resulted in personal growth and professional development impacts for participants. In this interdisciplinary pilot study, archaeological case studies were used in 31 structured workshops with 187 participants from health and social care backgrounds in the UK, to explore their reactions to a diverse range of materials which documented wide and varied approaches to death and the dead. Our study supports the hypothesis that the past is a powerful instigator of conversation around challenging aspects of death, and after death care and practices: 93% of participants agreed with this. That exposure to archaeological case studies and artefacts stimulates multifaceted discourse, some of it difficult, is a theme that also emerges in our data from pre, post and follow-up questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The material prompted participants to reflect on their biases, expectations and norms around both treatment of the dead, and of bereavement, impacting on their values, attitudes and beliefs. Moreover, 87% of participants believed the workshop would have a personal effect through thinking differently about death and bereavement, and 57% thought it would impact on how they approached death and bereavement in their professional practice. This has huge implications today, where talk of death remains troublesome, and for some, has a near-taboo status – ‘taboo’ being a theme evident in some participants’ own words. The findings have an important role to play in facilitating and normalising discussions around dying and bereavement and in equipping professionals in their work with people with advanced illness. / The project ‘Continuing Bonds: Exploring the meaning and legacy of death through past and contemporary practice’ was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Grant Number AH/M008266/1. / Research Development Fund Publication Prize Award winner, Dec 2020.

The research focuses on the use of animals in ritual deposits. It is based in the analysis of the faunal remains recovered from the internal funerary and ritual structures carved in the clay, in the site of the Early Bronze Age of Can Roqueta II (Sabadell, Barcelona). The results show that children, women and men were buried together in a very similar ceremony and accompanied by animals. Sheep and goats, cows, pigs and dogs are the best-represented, although carnivores and birds are also documented. While many of these animals were offered as a meal to accompany the deceased on his journey, the dogs, which were not consumed, were probably sacrificed as guides of the soul. The research aims to show that animal sacrifice is a universal response to death, with slight differences that probably reflect cultural and social adjustments. / La investigación se centra en la utilización de los animales en depósitos rituales. Se basa en el análisis de los restos faunísticos recuperados del interior de estructuras funerarias y rituales excavadas en la arcilla del asentamiento de la edad del bronce inicial de Can Roqueta II (Sabadell, Barcelona). Los resultados muestran que niños, mujeres y hombres eran enterrados de forma muy similar y acompañados de animales sacrificados. Ovejas y cabras, vacas, cerdos y perros son los mejor representados, aunque también se documentan carnívoros y varias especies de aves. Mientras que muchos de estos animales se ofrecían como comida de acompañamiento al difunto en su viaje, los perros, que no se consumían, se sacrificaban probablemente como guías de las almas. La investigación propone mostrar que el sacrificio animal es una respuesta universal a la muerte, con leves diferencias que responden seguramente a adaptaciones culturales y sociales.

Les tombes royales et les tombes de prestige sont spécifiques d’une partie de la communauté détenant un pouvoir régional ou local. Dans le contexte du Bronze Ancien en Mésopotamie et en Syrie, l’étude archéologique a permis de distinguer les tombes de prestige des autres tombes selon trois critères principaux : l’architecture monumentale, la localisation topographique et le matériel funéraire déposés dans les tombes. Ces traits constituent un ensemble de signes complexes intégré dans un discours idéologique. L’étude a eu pour objectif de replacer les pratiques funéraires dans la société et les pratiques rituelles et sociales du pouvoir. Une perspective anthropologique apportée au sujet des tombes royales et de prestige a permis de mettre en évidence comment les pratiques funéraires sont un instrument institutionnel de manipulation idéologique, intégrées dans un discours social et politique structuré. Comme d’autres moments centraux de la société, les pratiques funéraires sont des pratiques rituelles et sociales qui jouent un rôle dans la représentation du pouvoir des élites et la structuration de la communauté. Elles permettent de reproduire et de maintenir l’équilibre social et de justifier le pouvoir des dites élites. / The royal tombs and the tombs of prestige are specific of a group detaining a regional power or local power. We have identified archaeological traits in the Syrian and Mesopotamian Early Bronze Age context which could distinguish the prestige tombs from the others. These formal features are the monumental architecture, the specific location of the prestige tombs and the group of graves associated, and the grave goods. The wealth of the deposition and the structure are characteristics of the prestige tombs and it constitutes complex signs integrated in an ideological discourse. Thus, an anthropological perspective has been essential to appreciate the social implication of the elite funerary practices. As others main events in the society, funerary practices of prestige are rituals and social practices which play a role in the representation of the elite power and in the structure of the society. The royal tombs and the tombs of prestige are social instruments of ideological manipulation; the funerary practices are integrated in social discourse through rituals in order to reproduce and maintain social structure and justify the elite power.

Ce travail a pour fondement l’étude de trois ensembles funéraires périurbains situés dans les capitales de cité des peuples Médiomatriques (Metz-Divodurum), Nerviens (Bavay-Bagacum) et Morins (Thérouanne-Tervanna). Notre étude est basée sur un corpus composé de plus de 480 structures funéraires, auquel ont été ajoutées les données issues des autres découvertes funéraires effectuées dans ces trois villes, du 18ème siècle à nos jours. Sur la base de cette documentation, nous proposons une analyse des pratiques funéraires en usage dans le nord de la Gaule et plus particulièrement dans la province de la Gaule Belgique et de leur évolution au cours des trois premiers siècles de notre ère. La première partie de ce travail est consacrée à l’organisation des espaces funéraires en contexte urbain à travers l’analyse de différents paramètres : lieux et dynamique d’implantation des aires funéraires, organisation interne et structuration de l’espace ainsi que le mode de répartition des structures (fonctionnelle, chronologique et sociale). Les chapitres suivants sont consacrés à la compréhension et à l’interprétation des différentes pratiques et gestuelles funéraires qui ont pu être observées lors de l’étude des structures de notre corpus. Pour ce faire, nous avons tenté de restituer les différentes étapes du processus funéraire et de replacer l’ensemble de ces pratiques dans l’ordre selon lequel elles se sont déroulées. Dans un premier temps, nous nous sommes intéressées aux données relatives à l’étape de la crémation du corps observées lors de la fouille des bûchers funéraires, à travers l’examen de la structure des bûchers, des modalités de traitement du corps ainsi que du rôle et de l’origine du mobilier funéraire utilisés autour du bûcher. Ensuite, nous avons abordé le lieu de dépôt définitif des restes en présentant les éléments constitutifs de la tombe, les différents types de structures funéraires auxquels nous avons été confrontés ainsi que les divers modes de dépôts des ossements et leur organisation au sein de la fosse sépulcrale. Une attention particulière a également été portée aux étapes relatives au transfert et aux modalités de dépôt des restes osseux du défunt dans la tombe ainsi qu’aux pratiques et aux gestuelles qui en découlent. Enfin, dans un dernier chapitre, nous avons analysé les différents apports du mobilier funéraire afin de mieux cerner les différents gestes, perceptibles à travers les restes archéologiques, effectués lors de la constitution de la tombe mais également tout au long des funérailles ou encore lors de fêtes commémoratives où l’on rendait hommage au défunt. Cette étude synthétique s’appuie sur un catalogue détaillé des sépultures, composé de deux volumes (volume 1 : Metz « Avenue André Malraux », volume 2 : Bavay « La Fache des Près Aulnoys » et Thérouanne « Les Oblets ») présentant, par phases chronologiques, les observations de terrain, l’inventaire du mobilier, ainsi que les résultats des études des restes osseux humains et animaux. / This work is founded on the study of three funerary complexes of outlying suburbs located in the capital cities of Mediomatrici (Metz-Divodurum), Nervii (Bagay-Bagacum) and Morini (Thérouanne-Tervanna). Our study is based on a corpus composed of more than 480 funerary structures, which has been amended by the data issued from the other funerary discoveries carried out in these three cities, from the 18th century to nowadays. Based upon that documentation, we propose an analysis of funerary practices in use in the North of Gaul and more particularly in the province of Gallia Belgica and of their evolution in the first three centuries of our area. The first part of this work is related to the organization of the funerary areas in an urban context through the analysis of different parameters: places and settlement dynamic of funerary areas, internal organization and space structuring as well as the mode of distribution of the structures (functional, chronological and social). The following chapters are related to the understanding and interpretation of the different funerary practices and gestures, which may have been observed during the study of the structures of our corpus. To do that, we have tried to reconstruct the different steps of the funerary process and to replace the whole practices in the order in which they took place. First, we took an interest in the data connected with the stage of the body cremation, data observed during the excavation of the funerary pyres, through the examination of the pit structure, the methods of treatment of the body as well as the role and the origin of the grave goods used around the pyre. Then, we moved on to the place of final deposition of the remains by presenting the constituent elements of the grave, the different types of funerary structures we have been confronted with as well as the varied modes of deposition of the bones and their organization within the sepulchral pit. A specific attention has also been given to the steps which are relative to the transfer and to the modes of deposition of the bones of the deceased in the grave as well as the practices and body movements which follow that. Finally, in a last chapter, we have analyzed the different deposits of the funerary goods in order to define as well as possible the different gestures which were pointed out through the archaeological remains, and which were made at the time of the composition of the grave but also throughout the funeral or during the memorial feasts where respects to the deceased were paid. This overall study is based on a detailed catalogue of the tombs which is composed of two volumes (volume 1: Metz “Avenue André Malraux”, volume 2: Bavay “La Fache des Près Aulnoys” and Thérouanne “Les Oblets”) displaying by chronological phases the observations made during the excavation work, the inventory of the grave goods, as well as the results of the studies of animal and human bones rests. / Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit drei am Stadtrand gelegenen Grabensembles, die in den civitates-Hauptstädten der Mediomatriker (Metz-Divodurum), Nervier (Bavay-Bagacum) und Moriner (Thérouanne-Tervanna) liegen. Unsere Untersuchungen beziehen sich auf eine Sammlung von mehr als 480 Grabstrukturen, ergänzt durch Grabungsdokumentationen früherer Entdeckungen, die von 18. Jh. bis heute in diesen drei Städten zu Tage gekommen sind. Anhand dieser Dokumentation, ist eine Analyse der im Nordgallien und besonders in Gallia Belgica üblichen Bestattungsbräuche und deren Entwicklung während der drei ersten Jahrhunderte nach Christus möglich. Der erste Teil dieser Arbeit ist den Grabbereichen im Stadtbereich gewidmet, wobei verschiedener Faktoren untersucht worden sind: Orte und Ansiedlungsdynamik der Grabareale, innere Organisation und Raumstrukturierung sowie Verbreitungsart der Befunde (funktional, chronologisch und gesellschaftlich). Die folgenden Kapitel sind dem Verständnis und der Interpretation der verschiedenen Bestattungsbräuche und –gesten, die während der Studie der Befunde unseres Corpus beachtet wurden, gewidmet. Dabei wurde versucht, die verschiedenen Etappen des Bestattungsprozesses, in der Reihenfolge wie sie vollzogen wurden, zu rekonstruieren. Zuerst haben wir uns für die in den Grabungen beachteten Gegebenheiten der Kremationsetappen der Körper interessiert, durch Untersuchung der Scheiterhaufenstruktur, Behandlungsbedingungen der Körper sowie Rolle und Herkunft der Grabbeigaben, die um die Scheiterhaufen benutzt wurden. Dann haben wir die Stelle, die der endgültigen Deponierung des Leichenbrandes diente, angesprochen, durch Vorstellung der Grabgrundlagen, der verschiedenen Grabstrukturtypen mit welchen wir konfrontiert waren, sowie der diversen Formen der Knochendeponierungen und ihre Organisation innerhalb der Grabgrube. Ausserdem wurden die Etappen, die im Zusammenhang mit dem Transfer und den Deponierungsbedingungen des Knochenmaterials ins Grab stehen, sowie die Bräuche und Gesten die daraus folgen, besonders analysiert. Im letzten Kapitel wurden schließlich die verschiedenen Elemente des Grabmaterials untersucht, um die diversen durch archäologischen Gegebenheiten erkennbaren Gesten besser abgrenzen zu können, welche während der Komposition des Grabes, während des Begräbnisses selbst oder aber während der Gedenkfeiern, durchgeführt wurden. Diese zusammenfassende Arbeit stützt sich auf einem detaillierten Katalog der Gräber, eingeteilt in zwei Bände (Band 1: Metz « Avenue André Malraux », Band 2: Bavay « La Fache des Près Aulnoys » und Thérouanne « Les Oblets »), in welchem die Grabungsbeobachtungen, die Grabinventaren sowie die Ergebnisse des Studiums des menschlichen und tierischen Knochenmaterials in chronologischer Reihenfolge präsentiert sind.