The Southern Necropolis of Cyrene

Luca Cherstich

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9781803275505
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: History

This book presents an in?depth analysis of the Southern Necropolis of Cyrene. Numerous tombs surround this ancient Greek city located in Eastern Libya. Many of these monumental structures feature elaborate ornamental patterns and complex architectural elements. Yet, most graves have been plundered in the past, hence they appear as beautifully decorated, but empty spaces that seem to provide little information to archaeologists.This volume aims at overcoming this problem. While the book provides an exploration of the architecture of Cyrenean tombs, it avoids a purely descriptive, art?historical approach. Instead, the analysis focuses on issues of funerary competition, display strategies, spatial organization, and the possible role of lost, unknown rituals in shaping the material record over a period of more than a thousand years, from the Archaic phase to Late Roman times. In so doing, it reconstructs the social history of ancient Cyreneans through the evolution of their ostentatious funerary culture.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Table of contents
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 Approaches to Mortuary Archaeology in Cyrene
• Chapter 3 Field Strategies and Techniques
• Chapter 4 Types of tombs and their dates
• Chapter 5 Archaic – Early Classical times
• Chapter 6 Late Classical – Hellenistic times
• Chapter 7 From Early Roman to Middle Imperial times
• Chapter 8 Late Antiquity
• Chapter 9 Conclusions, wider perspectives
• Appendix A gazetteer of the Southern Necropolis
• Bibliography
• High-resolution map