Department of History and Archaeology
Library of the School of Philosophy

2024-06-20

2024

Grimanelis Dimitrios

Δημήτριος Πλάντζος, καθηγητής Τμήματος Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Αντώνιος Κοτσώνας, αναπληρωτής καθηγητής Πανεπιστημίου Νέας Υόρκης
Βύρων Αντωνιάδης, κύριος ερευνητής Ινστιτούτου Ιστορικών Ερευνών, ΕΙΕ
John Papadopoulos, καθηγητής Πανεπιστημίου UCLA
Ευρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου, αναπληρώτρια καθηγήτρια Τμήματος Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Βασίλειος Πετράκης, επίκουρος καθηγητής Τμήματος Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Νικόλαος Δημάκης, επίκουρος καθηγητής Τμήματος Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ

Burial practices and social structures in the Cyclades during the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. The case of Vitzi cemetery in Paros.

English

Burial practices and social structures in the Cyclades during the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. The case of Vitzi cemetery in Paros.

The immediate goal of my work was the study of communal graves T105 and T144 from Paroikia, the well-known as Parian polyandria, within the context of the Early Iron Age Cyclades. A contextual and interdisciplinary analysis of the burial practices is attempted, using new theoretical perspectives derived from anthropology and sociology. Furthermore, the present research contributes to the study of burial customs in Ancient Greece as a whole and enriches our knowledge about both burial archaeology of the Early Iron Age Aegean and Parian pottery production during the Geometric and Archaic periods. The examination of the pottery from the Vitzi cemetery provides the first large-scale study of the Parian ceramic production of the Geometric and Early Protoarchaic periods.
Part of a cemetery was partly excavated from 1983 to 2003 by Photeini Zapheiropoulou in the north-eastern boundary of the ancient city of Paros, in an area of the modern city of Paroikia, called Vitzi. The detailed analysis of the spatial and material remains from the Vitzi cemetery yielded insights into the chronology, spatial organization and significance of this burial ground for the Parian community. An important outcome is the revision of the chronology of the establishment of the Vitzi cemetery, which was in use at least from the Late Protogeometric period.
Paros developed a distinct style in the decoration of ceramic vessels from the beginning of the LG period. The locally produced pottery presents a number of novelties and particularities on stylistic features, decorative syntaxes and forms from the Late Geometric to the end of the Orientalizing period. The extraordinary neck-handled amphorae with scenes of warfare are the only two vessels that are closely connected to the Attic LG production.
I suggest that the burial practices at the Vitzi cemetery reflect the general change in social structures observed in Greek communities from the last decades of the 8th century B.C. Population growth, lack of arable land and the expansion of trade were the main factors that led to the rearrangement of social structures and the emergence of new powerful groups in the 8th century B.C. I interpret the erection of the two extraordinary communal graves at Paroikia as an attempt by the established Early Iron Age elite to emphasize and retain its power and the genealogical connections with the ancestors. Multiple facets of personhood were revealed from the burial practices and funerary rites in the Vitzi cemetery during the Late Geometric and Protoarchaic periods. Relational and dividual personhood are the most noticeable forms identified among the deceased of both communal graves.
Cultic activity was established above the two communal graves at the Vitzi cemetery at the beginning of the 7th century B.C. This activity presents similar traits to the hero and ancestor cults as practiced in many Greek territories during the Archaic period.

Archaeology

burial practices, social structures, Cyclades, Paros, polyandria, personhood

No

0

Yes

1999

1132

File access is restricted until 2027-06-21.

https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/3401552