Towards a social bioarchaeology of the Mycenaean period : a biocultural analysis of human remains from the Voudeni cemetery, Achaea, Greece / Ioanna Moutafi

• VerfasserIn: Moutafi, Ioanna
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford : Oxbow Books, 2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Classification: 15.19 - Vor- und Frühgeschichte
• Physical Description: xvi, 312 Seiten; Illustrationen, Diagramme, Karten; 28 cm

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 (1400-1050 BC) chamber tomb cemetery in Achaea, Greece. Voudeni is one of the most significant sites of Achaea, thoroughly investigated under the direction of the former Ephor of Antiquities, Dr Lazaros Kolonas. Over 60 chamber tombs have been excavated (Late Helladic IIB to IIIC periods), yielding an unprecedented wealth of biocultural information. This study explores the post-mortem treatment of the body, 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 .