Cremation Mortuary Practices at Phaleron during the Archaic Period

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Bioarchaeology of the Phaleron Cemetery, Archaic Greece: Current Research and Insights" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this paper, we reconstruct cremation mortuary practices from the Archaic site of Phaleron (ca. 750–480 BCE) located in Athens, Greece. We build on performance theory and issues of identities to answer two main research questions: (1) How was the identity(ies) of the cremated individuals at Phaleron portrayed in the cremation burial custom and how does that relate to the biological profile? and (2) What are the different stages of cremation rituals at Phaleron and what are the possible cultural significance? We do this by reconstructing the biological profile of individuals, examining thermal alterations, burial construction, and broader archaeological information from the site. Preliminary results highlight the variation in cremation rituals between different individuals. Some individuals were highly burned while others were not, suggesting diverse levels of pyrotechnological efficiency and/or resource accessibility. Additionally, the necropolis of Phaleron was an active space where people buried and memorialized their dead in many ways. This research project emphasizes the benefits of exploring cremation rituals within a holistic view, considering the decedent and how their mourners and community treated the individual at death.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Bioarchaeology of the Phaleron Cemetery, Archaic Greece: Current Research and Insights   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40281.0