A Relational Approach to Mortuary Practices Within Medieval Byzantine Anatolia Sophie Violet Moore Doctor of Philosophy School of History, Classics and Archaeology November 2013 Abstract How did Byzantine people treat their dead? How do the mortuary practices for which we have archaeological evidence relate to Byzantine understandings of eschatology and the other world? This thesis endeavours to fill a lacuna in the study of Medieval Byzantine mortuary practice by collating and analysing both previously published catalogues of graves and the data contained in two previously unpublished archives from the sites of Çatalhöyük and Alahan. A typology of sites and graves is developed categorising sites as interior church cemeteries, exterior church cemeteries, chapel burials and field cemeteries. Date ranges and standard grave forms for each category of site have been established as far as possible. This thesis aims to put the data from cemetery sites in context in terms of the religious and political climate of Medieval Byzantine Anatolia in order to assess issues of regionalisation and identity through diversity in mortuary practice. The culmination of this thesis poses the question of whether it is possible to use archaeological data in combination with theoretical approaches to mortuary practice, emotion and ontology to discuss experience at the graveside. The categories and type definitions of cemeteries and graves set out in this thesis form a suggested framework for the future analysis and publication of medieval graves from the region. The primary conclusions of this thesis are that a relational approach to archaeology allows for a greater engagement with the past at the level of the individual, and that the study of Byzantine mortuary practice has a considerable amount to contribute to questions of regionalisation and identity in the period. Finally, it is found that approaching mortuary practice from a symmetrical perspective and problematizing our understanding of Byzantine emotion enables a nuanced discussion of grief and mourning practices not accessible from the study of either the textual or the archaeological material alone. i To my family. ii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the financial support provided jointly by the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, and the Faculty of the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Newcastle University, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity. Equally I would not have written a word without the support and wisdom of my supervisors, Dr Mark Jackson and Dr Chris Fowler, both of whom have been excellent mentors throughout. I would like to thank Professor Ian Hodder and Professor Douglas Baird for granting me access to the archives of Çatalhöyük and Pinarbaşı respectively and also the site team at Çatalhöyük, particularly Shahina Farrid, for being so helpful and welcoming. Thanks go to Rachel Crellin, Oliver Harris and Lousie Tolson, members of the Latourian reading group 2011 at Newcastle University, for inspired discussions of relational concepts that came enmeshed with their wit and friendship. Thanks also to occupants of the postgraduate Historical Studies office in Newcastle, particularly Katie Green, Maria Duggan and Michelle Gamble for their encouragement and enthusiasm. Finally to my friends and colleagues throughout the United Kingdom and Turkey, I would not have got here without you. iii Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research questions ................................................................................................................. 2 Chapter 2 Contextualising Methodology: Approaching Mortuary Practice and Byzantium ....... 6 2.1 Political context ....................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Borders ............................................................................................................................ 6 2.1.2 Byzantine identities ....................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Mortuary practice and ‘social’ identity ................................................................................. 22 2.2.1 Ivison’s doctoral thesis: mortuary practices in Byzantium (950-1453)......................... 23 2.2.2 Wider theoretical approaches to mortuary practice .................................................... 33 2.3 Theoretical approaches to reality ......................................................................................... 37 2.3.1 Terms and concepts: network, assemblage, moment, thing, blackbox, present- to/ready-at-hand .......................................................................................................................... 38 2.3.2 Relational approaches to archaeology .......................................................................... 41 2.3.3 Anthropological approaches to ritual – Structuralism .................................................. 47 2.3.4 Conclusions for chapter 2 ............................................................................................. 54 Chapter 3 Building a Corpus: Building a Chronology .............................................................. 56 3.1 Defining Medieval Byzantine burials .................................................................................... 57 3.1.1 Sampling and research strategy .................................................................................... 57 3.1.2 Published material ........................................................................................................ 59 3.1.3 Previously unpublished material................................................................................... 68 3.1.4 Defining characteristics of ninth to twelfth century cemeteries .................................. 75 3.1.5 Results: Limitations ....................................................................................................... 87 3.2 The picture from the texts: what can Byzantine history tell us about Medieval Byzantine mortuary practices? .......................................................................................................................... 88 3.2.1 Byzantine eschatology .................................................................................................. 89 3.2.2 Orthodoxy, heterodoxy and heresy .............................................................................. 90 3.2.3 Physical versus spiritual resurrection ........................................................................... 91 3.2.4 What do we know? Ready-to-hand belief .................................................................... 93 3.2.5 What do we know? Ready-to-hand practice .............................................................. 101 3.2.6 Exceptional practice; present-at-hand belief .............................................................. 106 3.2.7 Conclusions for chapter 3: drawing together bodies of evidence .............................. 109 Chapter 4 Tracing Experienced Mortuary Practices ............................................................. 112 4.1 Introduction to experienced moments of mortuary practice............................................. 112 iv 4.2 Locating a grave site and opening the grave ...................................................................... 118 4.2.1 Divergent traditions of burial ...................................................................................... 118 4.2.2 A relational analysis of tomb selection and construction ........................................... 126 4.3 Dispersal of material culture ............................................................................................... 131 4.4 Laying out the body ............................................................................................................ 132 4.5 Shrouding the body ............................................................................................................. 133 4.5.1 Archaeological, textual and artistic evidence for the prevalence of shrouding ......... 133 4.5.2 A relational analysis of the affective field of shrouding ............................................. 137 4.6 Procession to the graveside ................................................................................................ 139 4.7 Moments of deposition....................................................................................................... 140 4.7.1 Material culture in graves ........................................................................................... 140 4.7.2 Relational objects in grave assemblages .................................................................... 149 4.8 The cerecloth ...................................................................................................................... 156 4.9 Conclusions for chapter 4 ................................................................................................... 157 4.10 Possible experiences at the graveside of AMR004 ............................................................. 162 Chapter 5 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 165 Appendix: Catalogue of Sites and Graves .................................................................................