View syllabus
FUNERARY ARCHAEOLOGY
VALENTINA GIUFFRA
Academic year2022/23
CourseCULTURAL HERITAGE STUDIES
Code374LL
Credits6
PeriodSemester 1
LanguageItalian

ModulesAreaTypeHoursTeacher(s)
ARCHEOLOGIA FUNERARIAL-ANT/10LEZIONI36
ANTONIO FORNACIARI unimap
VALENTINA GIUFFRA unimap
Learning outcomes
Knowledge

The student who successfully completes the course will have the ability to know the technique of excavation of human remains, performing the taphonomic documentation and characterizing the burial typology. The student will be able to demonstrate a solid knowledge of the ideology, rituals and funerary practices of the ancient populations. Moreover the students will be able to demonstrate advanced knowledge of typology of funerary monuments, tombs and funerary equipments from the Bronze Age to the Modern Age in Italy.

Skills

The student will have the technical and theoretical tools to participate in archeological excavations of the funerary contexts.

Behaviors

The student will have the technical and theoretical tools to participate in
the excavation of funerary contexts.

Prerequisites

Basics of anatomy of the human skeleton.

Teaching methods

Learning activities:

  • Attending lectures
  • Participation in seminar
  • Individual study

Attendance: Advised

  • Lectures
  • Seminars
Syllabus

Bioarchaeology of human remains: the human skeleton as a biological archive, notes on the reconstruction of the biological profile (sex, age of death, height, ergonomics, skeletal pathologies). The study of the paleodiet. Notes on molecular investigations and ancient DNA (aDNA). Medical archeoentomology.

Anthropology of death: E. Durkheim's sociological theory, Van Gennep's rites of passage, Hertz's model, recent developments in the anthropology of death in relation to archeology. Brandt's application: a new interpretation of Etruscan funeral paintings.

Archaeological tafonomy: from the corpse to the skeleton, the diagenesis of the bone, elements of taphonomic anthropology (primary and secondary burials, burials in full and empty space, multiple and collective burials).

The burial excavation technique: the tools, the excavation stages, the delimitation of the pit, the exhibition of the skeleton, the photographic documentation, the archaeological survey, the skeletal unit form, the samples, the removal of the skeleton, the packaging.

Funerary Archeology: definition of a "border" discipline and its theoretical developments in the XX-XXI century.

Ideology, rites and funeral practices in Roman times. The topography of the necropolises, the typology of burials and furnishings, the Roman funeral, the relationship between cremation and burial. Paleopathology and paleodemography of the Roman age (outline).

Paleochristian ideology, rites and funeral practices. Topography of cemeteries, funeral basilicas, catacombs and the cult of martyrs. Typology of burials and outfits, the Christian funeral, the relationship between paganism and the new Christian rituality.

Ideology, rites and funeral practices of the Germanic populations: the Goths and the Lombards. Topography of cemetery areas, type of burials and outfits. The Lombard funeral.

Ideology, rites and funeral practices in the early Middle Ages. Topography of cemetery areas, type of burials. The Christian funeral.

Ideology, rites and funeral practices in the late Middle Ages. Topography of cemetery areas, type of burials. The funeral between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries and the reappearance of the burials.

Ideology, rites and funeral practices in the post-Middle Ages. Topography of cemetery areas, type of burials and outfits.

Insights:

The coin in the grave, use and meanings between classical and contemporary age.

The "anomalous" burials, definition of the question and recent developments of the debate on unusual and enigmatic funerary contexts.

The monumental tombs between the Middle Ages and the modern age.

Body treatment and double burial in the modern age between mummification and skeletonization.

Bibliography

Texts for the exam:
THE NOTES OF THE LESSONS ARE ESSENTIAL (there is no manual!). The lesson plans available online on the website: www.paleopatologia.it are also useful, but not sufficient.

MINOZZI S., CANCI A. - Archeologia dei resti umani, Carocci, 2015 (per l'anatomia dello scheletro, la tafonomia, lo studio delle cremazioni

DUDAY H., 2005. Lezioni di Archeotanatologia: archeologia funeraria e antropologia di campo. Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma (consultazione)

Enciclopedia Archeologica Treccani, 2008

Assessment methods

Oral examination.

Additional web pages

https://www.paleopatologia.it/attivita/corso.php?RecordID=2

Notes

Examination board: President: Prof. Valentina Giuffra; Members: Dr. Antonio Fornaciari, Dr.ssa Simona Minozzi.

Substitute President: Dr. Antonio Fornaciari.

Substitutes: Prof. Federico Cantini; Dr.ssa Giulia Riccomi.

Updated: 30/07/2022 10:59