Death-Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity

by Ian Morris

• ISBN13: 9780521374651
• ISBN10: 0521374650
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-11-27
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The chief purpose of this book is to show how burials may be used as a uniquely informative source for Greek and Roman social history. Burials permit a far wider range of inference and insight than the literary texts produced by and for a narrow social elite, and by studying them in depth Dr. Morris is able to offer new interpretations of social change in Graeco-Roman antiquity. The major interdisciplinary importance of the book lies in its attempt to break down barriers between archaeologists and historians of different societies and cultures.

Table of Contents

1. The anthropology of a dead world

2. 'Mos Romanus': cremation and inhumation in the Roman empire

3. 'Dem bones': skeletal remains

4. Taking it with you: grave-goods and Athenian democracy

5. Monuments to the dead: display and wealth in classical Greece

6. Famous last words: the inscribed tombstone

7. At the bottom of the graves: an example of analysis

8. Conclusion

Bibliographical essay

Bibliography

Index.