There is no place like home

Tombs are defined by Merriam-Webster.com as:

1 a : an excavation in which a corpse is buried : grave
   b : a place of interment 

2 : a house, chamber, or vault for the dead 

3 : a building or structure resembling a tomb (as in appearance) 

When I think of a tomb, the first picture that comes into my head is not of a house. However, in the ancient world there are many house tombs. For instance, in Turkey there is a site called Gordion, which has a number of tumuli. The most impressive excavated so far is Tumulus MM, dated to approximately 740 B.C.E. and is the "oldest standing wooden building in the world" (Digital Gordion).

The tumulus is a wooden cabin, which had one 60-65 year old man's body inside. The cabin was then covered over with a huge man-made mound. As you enter the tomb there is a long passage way that was dug by the excavators and you eventually come to the cabin: 

Fig .1 Cross section of the tumulus

The burial of the cabin preserved the wood, which allowed it to be dated by dendrochronology (which is dating when the tree was cut down by counting the tree rings). The excavators found that the inside of the tomb was set up like a house, which included "three large bronze cauldrons; 166 bronze bowls, ladles, and pitchers; 172 bronze fibulae (clothing or safety pins); nine three-legged wooden tables; and two large inlaid wooden serving stands" (Digital Gordion). 

Another example of house tombs are Etruscan tholoi, which actually look like Hobbit Holes:

Fig. 2 Aerial View of Cerverteri

 

Fig. 3 A Hobbit Hole

The Etrsucans lived in Italy before the Romans became powerful. They buried their dead in cities of the dead, otherwise known as necropoleis. Two of the best known sites are at Cerveteri and Tarquinia. The tombs had been robbed, but the carvings and wall paintings give archaeologists the best evidence for Etruscan domestic architecture. The tombs are laid out like a house might be with different rooms, and the sculptures have been made to represent chairs, shields, food, tools and benches. The paintings have shown banquets, musicians and everyday activities such as fishing.

Fig. 4 Interior of the Tomb of the Reliefs

Fig. 5 Musicians at a Banquet

  The idea of a house tomb is an interesting concept because of modern and different culture's associations with death. In the ancient world the understanding of death and ideas of how to bury (or not bury) the dead were completely different from culture to culture. However, house tombs turn up in a number of contexts, and show that there really might be no place like home.
 
P.S. Here are some additional sources on Gordion:

McGovern, P. E. 2000. "The Funerary Banquet of 'King Midas'," Expedition 42.1, pp. 21-29.

McGovern, P., D. Glusker, R. Moreau, A. Nuñez, C. Beck, E. Simpson, E. Butrym, L. Exner, and E. Stout. 1999. "A Funerary Feast Fit for King Midas," Nature 402 (Dec. 23), pp. 863-64.

Simpson, E. 1996. "Phrygian Furniture from Gordion," in The Furniture of Western Asia: Ancient and Modern, ed. G. Herrmann, Mainz, pp. 187-208.

Here are some sources for Etruscan tombs:

"Etruscan tomb paintings : their subjects and significance" by Frederik Poulsen

"House Urns and Etuscan Tomb Painting: Tradition Versus Innovation in the Ninth-Seventh Centuries BC"  by Robert Leighton

P.P.S. The images that do not have a link after them are personal photos taken in 2011.

Facing Mortality: What would I be buried with?

According to Merriam-Webster.com grave goods are “objects (as weapons, ornaments, tools) that are found buried with the dead...”

Grave goods represent the identity of an individual, their family, and sometimes the society they live in. Some of my favourite ancient grave goods are the Mask of Agamemnon from Mycenae, Greece, and the jewellery from Priam’s Treasure found at Troy.

Fig. 1 Mask of Agamemnon

Fig. 2 Sophia Schliemann modelling jewellery from Troy

My professor asked us what sorts of grave goods we would include in our burial to portray our identity. While this is very morbid to consider, my first "grave good" would actually be a tree and flowers planted. I really like the idea as it represents the cycle of life and rebirth. I could have grave goods buried at the foot of the tree as well. The first object would be a necklace my grandparents gave me on my 14^th birthday. They live in Australia so it’s the only birthday I have celebrated with them. The pendant on the necklace is in the shape of a heart, and I would hope that the necklace portrays family ties and an emphasis on relationships. It's one of my good luck charms. I would also want my miniature of the Parthenon because I love ancient Greece and I am also half Greek. Even though it would not last I would like a photo album of all of my friends and places I have traveled. I would also like a framed picture of my family, and my copy of Lysistrata's Frogs and Clouds. I would hope that archaeologists find that I have close ties to my friends and family.

I asked some of my friends and family what they would bury with me. My friend Michelle said “your really pretty blue dress and with… a rose.” Michelle and I have joked about roses are very fitting for me, and therefore her choice makes sense. My friend Marie-Louise would include “a rose, a childhood photo of us eating popsicles and playing dress up, sailor moon DVDs, a photo album of my traveling, the Legend of Zelda games and a tennis racket.”  My friend Caitlyn focused more on location. She chose a tree or rose bush in my hometown with my family, as well as a plaque about my life. My brother said he would bury me with three things to show my identity:

 1) something that shows how much I love all of our family and friends so selflessly (maybe a scrapbook of photos and crafts/gifts/paintings/projects I made)
 2) a sea shell from Salt Spring Island
 3) a beautiful old set of Greek classic books

 My friends choices reflect memories we had together. Michelle and I were coworkers and roommates and had a lot of occasions to dress up for birthdays and staff banquets. Marie-Louise is one of my childhood friends, and the main theme of her choices is nostalgia. Caitlyn was another of my roommates, and we talked a lot about our family and hometowns. My brother has known me my whole life and his choices reflect memories with our family. Common themes between my friends choices and mine are roses, family, friends, and traveling. These represent ties to others around me, and memories I have had.

A World Away: Stonehenge and Ancestor Stones in Madagascar

Stonehenge is one of the most world famous archaeological sites, which has long fascinated both scholars and the general public. Mike Parker Pearson is an Archaeologist who has worked at Stonehenge, and has developed an analogy between the monument and modern stone structures in Madagascar with the help of a local Archaeologist named Ramilisonina. The two are compared in order to form a new interpretation of Stonehenge.

What are the ancestor stones from Madagascar? They are used in tombs and monuments. They are the possessions of the ancestors, as stone is a sacred material. The living do not use stone, but they use wood instead. The analogy Parker Pearson and Ramilisonia developed compares the use of stone in both monuments to connect them to ancestors.

There are no doubt similarities between modern burial traditions in Madagascar and ancient burial traditions from Neolithic England seen through the standing stones. However, an analogy between the two is not that applicable in my opinion. It is possible for similar ideas to arise independently, but the causes of those similarities are most likely completely different. The comparison is between two vastly different cultures separated by both time and geography. Analogies can be useful between two contemporaneous cultures to show cultural preferences and customs. However, we do not know that much about Neolithic England. We cannot verify our information.

For instance, we know that the stones in Madagascar are for ancestors, however we cannot confirm this in Neolithic England. There are theories interpreting Stonehenge as everything from a calendar to an alien monument. The monument’s main purpose was most likely much more complex, and probably changed through time. We cannot test these ideas because it was constructed in the Neolithic. In Madagascar we can consult the actual people performing the ritual surrounding the remaining burial site. Therefore any direct comparison between the two is restricted.

 

 Madagascar Ancestor Stones.

An aerial view of Stonehenge.

Saved by the Bell

Saved by the Bell. 

I didn’t know until recently that this phrase possibly originated from a practice from 17^th century England. People were saved from being buried alive by having their hand tied to a string attached to a bell above the ground. If anyone awoke from a coma-like state they could move their hand and be “saved by the bell.”

My name is Rose and I’m a Greek and Roman Studies and Anthropology student. The purpose of my blog is to explore different topics in mortuary archaeology for my Anthropology class. In other words, I’ll be learning about everything from bog bodies to ice mummies. Then I will be sharing my thoughts and ideas about what I’ve learnt in class. As our professor says, everyone is to some degree fascinated with death in order to be enrolled in the course. When I was younger I loved watching documentaries on Egyptian Mummies and ancient civilizations. I also watched shows that would have archaeological topics like “Mystery Hunters” and “The Magic School Bus.” I love learning about random facts like the etymology of "saved by the bell." My interest in the archaeology of death also stems from other classes I have taken. Some of my favourite classes include the History of the Bronze Age Aegean and Homer, Women in the Ancient World, and Greek and Roman Mythology. I’ve also had the opportunity to participate in two field schools. The first was an onsite lecture series in Greece and Turkey. We not only travelled to a number of popular archaeological sites such as Mycenae and Delphi, but we also got to visit two archaeological dig sites that are not open to the general public. The second field school I went to was called the Eastern Boeotia Archaeological Project, where I participated in the excavation of one of the sites I had visited the year before called Eleon. It was an amazing opportunity, and I learned both excavation and conservation techniques. I hope that this course will touch upon some examples from Greece, as that is my primary area of interest. I would also like to learn more about frozen bodies, grave goods, and Egyptian mummies. I hope to gain a broader perspective about funerary rites, and a greater understanding of cross-cultural practices. After my undergraduate degree I’m planning to travel for a couple of months to visit my family and then I am hoping to go to law school. I would also like to participate in excavations when I can.

P.S. Here’s a link to some photos of the Eleon excavation team on the site.

P.P.S. Here’s the blog from the exacavtion.