Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T08:35:48.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Bioarchaeological Practice and the Curation of Human Skeletal Remains in a Greek Context: The Phaleron Cemetery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2019

Eleni-Anna Prevedorou Open the ORCID record for Eleni-Anna Prevedorou [Opens in a new window]  and
Jane E. Buikstra
Eleni-Anna Prevedorou*
Affiliation:
Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281
Jane E. Buikstra
Affiliation:
Center for Bioarchaeological Research, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Human skeletal remains constitute remarkably informative finds, both biologically and socioculturally. Their recovery, preservation, conservation, storage, and analysis are complex issues that need to be addressed within any given biocultural context. Given the country's geography and the long history of human occupation, Greek field archaeology is intense and ongoing, with both rescue and systematic excavations. Human burials are thus frequently encountered in excavations throughout Greece, resulting in the accumulation of osteological material. Some of the common challenges of bioarchaeological research in Greece consist of insufficient time, funding, and documentation in the field; unmet conservation needs and lack of storage space; as well as the long time-gap between excavation and analysis. Here, we give a brief overview of excavation, curation, and bioarchaeological practice within a Greek archaeological framework. We focus on the newly launched Phaleron Bioarchaeological Project on a vast necropolis from the wider Athens region in order to present our methodological approach. Finally, we consider the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in managing large-scale bioarchaeological projects and serving long-term heritage preservation goals.

Los restos humanos tal vez son la clase de material arqueológico más delicada, tanto por razones biológicas como culturales. Su recuperación, preservación, conservación e análisis presentan retos en cualquier contexto biocultural. Dada su geografía y la larga duración de la presencia humana en el país, la arqueología de campo en Grecia es intensiva, con excavaciones sistemáticas o de rescate durante todo el año. Sepulcros, cementerios y restos humanos son encontrados con frecuencia, resultando en la acumulación de material osteológico. Problemas comunes incluyen la falta de tiempo y fondos, la documentación insuficiente en el campo, la carencia de materiales y espacio adecuados para la conservación y el largo intervalo de tiempo entre excavación y análisis. En este trabajo presentamos un breve resumen de los procesos de excavación, preservación, conservación y prácticas de análisis bioarqueológico en Grecia. Nos enfocamos en un nuevo proyecto en la vasta necrópolis de Phaleron, presentando ejemplos y enfoques metodológicos. Finalmente, consideramos el papel que desempeñan los proyectos colaborativos y las instituciones sin fines de lucro como el Laboratorio Wiener de la Escuela Americana de Estudios Clásicos de Atenas en el asesoramiento y manejo de colecciones bioarqueológicas de gran escala para alcanzar las metas de preservación a largo plazo en Grecia.

Keywords

curationconservationbioarchaeologyGreeceancient Athensarchaic and classical antiquitycuraciónconservaciónbioarqueologíaGreciaantigua AtenasAntigüedad Arcaica y Clásica
Type
How to Series
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 7 , Special Issue 1: The Practice and Ethics of Skeletal Conservation , February 2019 , pp. 60 - 67
Copyright
Copyright 2019 © Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Out of respect for diverse cultural traditions, sensitive photographs of human remains generally are not accepted for publication in any SAA journals, however some waivers of this policy are allowed by the editorial policies, when other alternatives to photography are not effective. Articles in Advances in Archaeological Practice 7(1), a theme issue on The Practice and Ethics of Skeletal Conservation, discuss the need for sensitive and ethical care of human skeletons as they are excavated, documented, conserved, and curated by archaeological projects conducted around the world. Selected images of human skeletons are published here to support education about the best treatments for these human ancestors. No images of Native American or First Nation ancestors are published in this issue. Prior to publication, figures in these manuscripts were carefully reviewed by the Society for American Archaeology president and president-elect.

References

REFERENCES CITED

Beiner, Gail Gali, and Rabinovich, Rivka 2013 An Elephant Task—Conservation of Elephant Remains from Revadim Quarry, Israel. Journal of the Institute of Conservation 36:53–64.Google Scholar
Buikstra, Jane E., and Lagia, Anna 2009 Bioarchaeological Approaches to Aegean Archaeology. In New Directions in the Skeletal Biology of Greece, edited by Schepartz, Lynne A., Fox, Sherry C., and Bourbou, Chryssi, pp. 7–30. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Buikstra, Jane E. and Prevedorou, Eleanna 2012 John Lawrence Angel. In The Global History of Paleopathology: Pioneers and Prospects, edited by Buikstra, Jane E. and Roberts, Charlotte A., pp. 3–13. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Camp, John M. 2001 The Archaeology of Athens. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Charalampopoulou, Rania 2013 The Institutional Framework of Scientific Analyses in Greece. Administrative Procedures and Some Statistics for the Period 2002–2009. In Diet, Economy and Society in the Ancient Greek World: Towards a Better Integration of Archaeology and Science, edited by Voutsaki, Sofia and Maria Valamoti, Soultana, pp. 231–234. Peeters, Leuven.Google Scholar
Chryssoulaki, Stella 2017 The Archaic Cemetery at the Phaleron Delta [in Greek], Lecture, Acropolis Museum http://www.blod.gr/lectures/Pages/viewlecture.aspx?LectureID=3262, accessed October 6, 2018.Google Scholar
Chryssoulaki, Stella, Alexandropoulou, Anna, and Aggouras, Theosevious 2014 The Excavations of the 26th EPCA (Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities) at the Phaleron Delta, https://www.snfcc.org/construction/archaeological-findings/, accessed October 6, 2018.Google Scholar
Cleere, Henry 1993 The Charter for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage. Antiquity 67:402–405.Google Scholar
Eliopoulos, Constantine, Moraitis, Konstantinos, Vanna, Velissaria, and Sotiris, Manolis 2011 Greece. In The Routledge Handbook of Archaeological Human Remains and Legislation: An International Guide to Laws and Practice in the Excavation and Treatment of Archaeological Human Remains, edited by Márquez-Grant, Nicholas and Fibiger, Linda, pp. 173–183. Routledge, Oxon.Google Scholar
Hall, Jonathan M. 2006 A History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200–479 BCE. Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Johnson, Jessica S. 1994 Consolidation of Archaeological Bone: A Conservation Perspective. Journal of Field Archaeology 21:221–233.Google Scholar
Jones, Eppie R., Gonzalez-Fortes, Gloria, Connell, Sarah, Siska, Veronika, Eriksson, Anders, Martiniano, Rui, McLaughlin, Russell L., Gallego Llorente, Marcos, Cassidy, Lara M., Gamba, Cristina, Meshveliani, Tengiz, Bar-Yosef, Ofer, Müller, Werner, Belfer-Cohen, Anna, Matskevich, Zinovi, Jakeli, Nino, Higham, Thomas F. G., Currat, Mathias, Lordkipanidze, David, Hofreiter, Michael, Manica, Andrea, Pinhasi, Ron, and Bradley, Daniel G. 2015 Upper Palaeolithic Genomes Reveal Deep Roots of Modern Eurasians. Nature Communications 6:8912.Google Scholar
Knudson, Kelly J., and Stojanowski, Christopher M. 2008 New Directions in Bioarchaeology: Recent Contributions to the Study of Human Social Identities. Journal of Archaeological Research 16:397–432.Google Scholar
Lagia, Anna 2015 The Potential and Limitations of Bioarchaeological Investigations in Classical Contexts in Greece: An Example from the Polis of Athens. In Classical Archaeology in Context: Theory and Practice in Excavation in the Greek World, edited by Haggis, Donald C.. and Antonaccio, Carla M., pp. 149–173. de Gruyter, Berlin.Google Scholar
Lagia, Anna, Papathanasiou, Anastasia, and Sevi, Triantaphyllou 2014 The State of Approaches to Archaeological Human Remains in Greece. In Archaeological Human Remains: Global Perspectives, edited by O'Donnabhain, Barra and Lozada, María Cecilia, pp. 105–126. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Lobell, Jarrett A. 2018 Ancient Athens’ Other Cemetery. Archaeology Magazine July/August:48–53.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, Michael 2007 State of the Discipline: Osteological Research in Classical Archaeology. American Journal of Archaeology 111:473–504.Google Scholar
Mathieson, Iain, Lazaridis, Iosif, Rohland, Nadin, Mallick, Swapan, Patterson, Nick, Alpaslan Roodenberg, Songül, Harney, Eadaoin, Stewardson, Kristin, Fernandes, Daniel, Novak, Mario, Sirak, Kendra, Gamba, Cristina, Jones, Eppie R., Llamas, Bastien, Dryomov, Stanislav, Pickrell, Joseph, Luís Arsuaga, Juan, de Castro, José María Bermúdez, Carbonell, Eudald, Gerritsen, Fokke, Khokhlov, Aleksandr, Kuznetsov, Pavel, Lozano, Marina, Meller, Harald, Mochalov, Oleg, Moiseyev, Vyacheslav, Rojo Guerra, Manuel A., Roodenberg, Jacob, Vergès, Josep Maria, Krause, Johannes, Cooper, Alan, Alt, Kurt W., Brown, Dorcas, Anthony, David, Lalueza-Fox, Carles, Haak, Wolfgang, Pinhasi, Ron and Reich, David 2015 Genome-wide Patterns of Selection in 230 Ancient Eurasians. Nature 528:499.Google Scholar
Moraitis, Konstantinos, and Eliopoulos, Constantine 2015 Forensic Archaeology in Greece. In Forensic Archaeology: A Global Perspective, edited by Groen, W. J. Mike, Márquez-Grant, Nicholas, and Janaway, Robert C., pp. 77–82. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, West Sussex.Google Scholar
Osborne, Robin 1996 Greece in the Making, 1200–479 BC. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Pelekidis, Stratis 1916 Anaskafi Phalerou. Archaiologikon Deltion 2:13–64.Google Scholar
Pinhasi, Ron, Fernandes, Daniel, Sirak, Kendra, Novak, Mario, Connell, Sarah, Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Songül, Gerritsen, Fokke, Moiseyev, Vyacheslav, Gromov, Andrey, Raczky, Pál, Anders, Alexandra, Pietrusewsky, Michael, Rollefson, Gary, Jovanovic, Marija, Trinhhoang, Hiep, Bar-Oz, Guy, Oxenham, Marc, Matsumura, Hirofumi, and Hofreiter, Michael 2015 Optimal Ancient DNA Yields from the Inner Ear Part of the Human Petrous Bone. PLOS ONE 10(6):e0129102.Google Scholar
Price, T. Douglas 2008 Isotopes and Human Migration: Case Studies in Biogeochemistry. In Between Biology and Culture, edited by Schutkowski, Holger, pp. 243–272. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Roberts, Charlotte, Bourbou, Chryssi, Lagia, Anna, Triantaphyllou, Sevi, and Tsaliki, A. 2005 Health and Disease in Greece: Past, Present and Future. In Health in Antiquity, edited by King, Helen, pp. 32–58. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Schepartz, Lynne A., Fox, Sherry C., and Bourbou, Chryssi 2009 Introduction: New Directions in the Skeletal Biology of Greece. In New Directions in the Skeletal Biology of Greece, edited by Schepartz, Lynne A., Fox, Sherry C., and Bourbou, Chryssi, pp. 1–6. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Shapiro, H. Alan (editor) 2007 The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Snodgrass, Anthony M. 1980 Archaic Greece. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Storch, Paul S. 1983 Field and Laboratory Methods for Handling Osseous Materials. Conservation Notes 6:1–8.Google Scholar
Wills, Barbara, Ward, Clare, Sáiz Gómez, Vanessa, with contributions by Korenberg, Capucine and Phippard, Julianne 2014 Conservation of Human Remains from Archaeological Contexts. In Regarding the Dead: Human Remains in the British Museum, edited by Fletcher, Alexandra, Antoine, Daniel, and Hill, JD, pp. 49–74. The British Museum, London.Google Scholar
Zejdlik, Katie J. 2014 Unmingling Commingled Museum Collections: A Photographic Method. In Commingled and Disarticulated Human Remains: Working toward Improved Theory, Method, and Data, edited by Osterholtz, Anna J., Baustian, Kathryn M., and Martin, Debra L., pp. 173–192. Springer, New York.Google Scholar