Archaic Themiclesia: Difference between revisions
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==Archaeology== | ==Archaeology== | ||
Starting from 1866, a series of ancient tombs were found in Themiclesia and systematically excavated in the decades following. This effort co-incided with a renewal in historical interest in the Archaic Period, particularly the desire to assign absolute dates to the various rulers mentioned in the annals. | |||
===Tomb evolution=== | |||
There is a well-known evolution in rulers' tombs that appears in the Archaic Period. | |||
The earliest style of major Archaic burial is known as the Linear Burial. Its defining feature is that the principal (the person for whom the burial was made) was buried in a pit of modest size, while other pits were laid out in a (more or less) straight line aligning with the principal pit. Goods of bronze, stone, and ivory and representative body parts of victims were then buried in these pits, which together with the principal pit always were an even number. A long pit was dug parallel to the sequence of pits, into which the remaining cadevars sacrificial victims were buried. The principal row was probably topped, when the burial was new, with a roofed structure; this may have been the ruler's actual residence in life and converted to his shrine in death. | |||
The quantity of these victims, together with the general richness of burials, was waxing during the last part of the Dark Ages through the Early Archaic and rose to a maximum during the High Archaic. 4-pit tombs (already large in the Dark Ages) grew to 10-, 12-, and (in one instance) 16-pit tombs; one tomb came to house over 300 sacrificial victims. Capstan wrote in his 1886 study that it "is shocking to see that the headless bodies of most victims were left outside of the principal row... only a their heads were fit to be buried in it", but other views have been offered of this practice. | |||
It is agreed amongst scholars that this linear configuration of pits mirrors the residences of rulers in this period, which was a long and narrow building, under a continuous roof but divided into several rooms of various functions. In such buildings, the end-rooms were often the largest, and in combination with the configuration of Linear Burials, they are probably to be interpreted as the ruler's chambers. | |||
The material richness of the burials was ostentatious and encompassed objects of both close and distant relevance to the principal. Often, thousands of arrowheads and dozens of daggers, swords, axes, and spears were buried in one of the chambers (usually the fourth, fifth, or sixth away from the principal). | |||
The apparent gruesomeness of the royal burials of the Archaic Period has been the subject of much expounding for decades, seeking to explain the ethical or spiritual basis for such a practice. This "flood of blood" strongly contrasts with the mildness and tenderness that has been reputed of many Archaic rulers. One view is that generosity and kindness showed by the principal dead was done towards members of the aristocracy, who were also responsible for the cultural memories of the principal dead. | |||
It is quite possible that not all the victims were slaves in the estate of the principal dead but were funerary gifts presented by those who were (morally or economically) indebted to the principal dead. Such repayment attests to and re-affirms the kindness of the principal dead. Alternatively, the principal dead could be generous to his household slaves, and this could be part of the kindness remembered culturally. There is evidence that kindness towards slaves was a virtue rather than a vice. But his successors would invariably send a part of his household into the afterlife with him, and this again is considered the successor's kindness towards the principal dead, not his cruelty towards the slaves in the estate. | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 14:14, 15 July 2023
Archaic Themiclesia, or the Archaic Period, encompassed the period from the advent of written history in 385 BCE until the 265 CE, a period of 650 years. Despite the existence of written history, the record is sparse, especially compared to the following Classical Period. Until recently, it was only possible to construct a chronology of rulers for much of this period, though after the introduction of archaeology and other methods of analysis, a better image is emerging.
Chronological history
Archaeology
Starting from 1866, a series of ancient tombs were found in Themiclesia and systematically excavated in the decades following. This effort co-incided with a renewal in historical interest in the Archaic Period, particularly the desire to assign absolute dates to the various rulers mentioned in the annals.
Tomb evolution
There is a well-known evolution in rulers' tombs that appears in the Archaic Period.
The earliest style of major Archaic burial is known as the Linear Burial. Its defining feature is that the principal (the person for whom the burial was made) was buried in a pit of modest size, while other pits were laid out in a (more or less) straight line aligning with the principal pit. Goods of bronze, stone, and ivory and representative body parts of victims were then buried in these pits, which together with the principal pit always were an even number. A long pit was dug parallel to the sequence of pits, into which the remaining cadevars sacrificial victims were buried. The principal row was probably topped, when the burial was new, with a roofed structure; this may have been the ruler's actual residence in life and converted to his shrine in death.
The quantity of these victims, together with the general richness of burials, was waxing during the last part of the Dark Ages through the Early Archaic and rose to a maximum during the High Archaic. 4-pit tombs (already large in the Dark Ages) grew to 10-, 12-, and (in one instance) 16-pit tombs; one tomb came to house over 300 sacrificial victims. Capstan wrote in his 1886 study that it "is shocking to see that the headless bodies of most victims were left outside of the principal row... only a their heads were fit to be buried in it", but other views have been offered of this practice.
It is agreed amongst scholars that this linear configuration of pits mirrors the residences of rulers in this period, which was a long and narrow building, under a continuous roof but divided into several rooms of various functions. In such buildings, the end-rooms were often the largest, and in combination with the configuration of Linear Burials, they are probably to be interpreted as the ruler's chambers.
The material richness of the burials was ostentatious and encompassed objects of both close and distant relevance to the principal. Often, thousands of arrowheads and dozens of daggers, swords, axes, and spears were buried in one of the chambers (usually the fourth, fifth, or sixth away from the principal).
The apparent gruesomeness of the royal burials of the Archaic Period has been the subject of much expounding for decades, seeking to explain the ethical or spiritual basis for such a practice. This "flood of blood" strongly contrasts with the mildness and tenderness that has been reputed of many Archaic rulers. One view is that generosity and kindness showed by the principal dead was done towards members of the aristocracy, who were also responsible for the cultural memories of the principal dead.
It is quite possible that not all the victims were slaves in the estate of the principal dead but were funerary gifts presented by those who were (morally or economically) indebted to the principal dead. Such repayment attests to and re-affirms the kindness of the principal dead. Alternatively, the principal dead could be generous to his household slaves, and this could be part of the kindness remembered culturally. There is evidence that kindness towards slaves was a virtue rather than a vice. But his successors would invariably send a part of his household into the afterlife with him, and this again is considered the successor's kindness towards the principal dead, not his cruelty towards the slaves in the estate.