DEATH IS JUST THE BEGINNING: SPATIALITY AND FUNERARY PRACTICES IN NORTHWESTERN ANATOLIA BETWEEN THE 3RD AND 5TH CENTURIES CE

• Grant number: 24/20964-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Archeology - Historical Archaeology
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Figueira da Hora
• Grantee: Gabriela Rodrigues Marques de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia (MAE). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The proposed study aims to analyze the influence of Christianization on the spatial organization of burial sites in northwestern Anatolia during Late Antiquity. To this end, we will focus our survey on the main regions of northwestern Anatolia: Bithynia (including the cities of Nicaea and Nicomedia), Troas (including Troy and Parion), Mysia (where we will analyze the city of Assos), and Lydia (where the focus will be on Sardis and Ephesus). Through the analysis of the spatial organization of cemeteries (such as the arrangement of tombs, distance from religious monuments and city centers, etc.) and the materiality associated with these burials (such as tombstones, objects deposited in funerary contexts, inscriptions, etc.), as well as historical documents, this study will investigate the interaction between religious beliefs, social structures, and urban planning in the formulation of the spatiality of funerary contexts in the region. As this study will address different aspects of funerary spatiality, such as religion and funerary practices, we will use the principles of Contextual Archaeology as the theoretical basis. As a result of the research, we aim to produce maps and databases, which will contribute to the database of the Laboratório de Estudos sobre a Cidade Antiga (LABECA).