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- Frejman, Axel
(författare)
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With Gods as Neighbours : Extra-temenal activity at Greek rural sanctuaries, 700–200 BCE
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis investigates so-called extra-temenal areas at Greek rural sanctuaries 700–200 BCE. Extra-temenal areas are defined as areas located outside the temenos, which have a functional, administrative and conceptual connection to the sanctuary. The aim is to better understand the use, administration and significance of the areas and activities close to, but outside of the temenos. To facilitate this investigation a field survey project at Labraunda was devised, the Surroundings of Labraunda project, and to complement and contrast the results of this survey, all published material from the sanctuaries of Sinuri in Karia, and Nemea in Korinthia, was examined. Activities could be attested in the surroundings of all three sanctuaries, ranging from everyday household tasks such as cooking and weaving, to building activity, ceramic production, sports, and cult. Most of these activities were spatially concentrated within 500 metres of the temenos, possibly with an internal spatial organisation in which certain parts of the area were dedicated to permanent living, and others to temporary activities during the religious festivals. The activities noted appear to be focussed towards the sanctuary, i.e. they can be expected to have existed by and for the sanctuary’s needs. It can be suggested that there existed a zone around the temenos, perceived as belonging to the sanctuary, and where activities connected to the sanctuary were practised. To conceptualise the activities noted in the surroundings of rural sanctuaries, and the relationship between the extra-temenal and the temenos, the concept of commons was applied in an attempt to understand how the sanctuary could have functioned. Many parallels between ancient Greek rural sanctuaries and commons can be noted, and the sanctuaries are suggested to have functioned as ‘religious commons’, that is, places of shared interest and responsibility for the communities using them, and likewise places of social interaction and construction of identity. The commons perspective can help explain why an all-encompassing function of this type of sanctuary has been difficult to establish, as it emphasises variation rather than uniformity. Religious commons can be expected to have adapted to local conditions, leading to varying expressions of the same basic formula. The commons perspective can also help explain the resilience of rural sanctuaries, and why they had such an important role in the creation and perpetuation of identity in the ancient Greek society.
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| 2. |
- Weiberg, Erika, 1971-
(författare)
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Thinking the Bronze Age : Life and Death in Early Helladic Greece
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This is a study about life and death in prehistory, based on the material remains from the Early Bronze Age on the Greek mainland (c. 3100-2000 BC). It deals with the settings of daily life in the Early Helladic period, and the lives and experiences of people within it.The analyses are based on practices of Early Helladic individuals or groups of people and are context specific, focussing on the interaction between people and their surroundings. I present a picture of the Early Helladic people living their lives, moving through and experiencing their settlements and their surroundings, actively engaged in the appearance and workings of these surroundings. Thus, this is also a book about relationships: how the Early Helladic people related to their surroundings, how results of human activity were related to the natural topography, how parts of settlements and spheres of life were related to each other, how material culture was related to its users, to certain activities and events, and how everything is related to the archaeological remains on which we base our interpretations.Life and death in Early Helladic Greece is the overall subject, and this double focus is manifested in a loose division of the book into two halves. The first deals primarily with settlement contexts, while the second is devoted to mortuary contexts. After an introduction, the study is divided into three parts, dealing with the house, the past in the past and the mortuary sphere, comprising three stops along the continuum of life and death within Early Helladic communities. Subsequently, mortuary practices provide the basis for a concluding part of the book, in which the analysis is taken further to illustrate the interconnectedness of different parts of Early Helladic life (and death).
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