COMMUNITY HEALTH AT NEMEA, GREECE: A BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE IMPACT OF SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE IN BYZANTIUM By Jared Scott Beatrice A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Anthropology 2012 ABSTRACT COMMUNITY HEALTH AT NEMEA, GREECE: A BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE IMPACT OF SOCIOPOLITICAL CHANGE IN BYZANTIUM By Jared Scott Beatrice This dissertation investigates the biological consequences of sociopolitical transformation in Byzantine Greece using a comparative analysis of two human skeletal samples (N=259) from the site of ancient Nemea. The skeletal samples from Nemea represent agricultural communities th th that lived at the site during the Early Christian (5 -6 centuries AD) and Middle to Late th th Byzantine (12 -13 centuries AD) periods. In the latter period, southern Greece was invaded by western Europeans and the Byzantine Empire experienced changes in political administration that had lasting, disruptive effects. Such events tend to dominate historical narratives and have influenced the interpretation of archaeological patterns, yet few studies have utilized human skeletal remains as an independent line of evidence to explore their impact on local Greek communities. The bioarchaeological approach employed in this research integrates osteological, archaeological, and historical datasets in the reconstruction of patterns of physiological stress and activity in order to test the following hypotheses related to the biological and social consequences of alterations to Byzantine Greek society: (1) political instability and invasions diminished the quality of life of the Middle to Late Byzantine community at Nemea; (2) different spheres of activity for men and women resulted in sex-based differences in health within the Early Christian and Byzantine communities; and (3) burial location at Nemea was influenced by the social hierarchy. The results of the skeletal analysis demonstrate that, despite living through a period of administrative problems and Frankish conquest, the individuals from the Middle to Late Byzantine period exhibit prevalence rates of paleopathological conditions and mortality patterns that are markedly similar to those of their Early Christian counterparts. While few skeletal health disparities were found between males and females, significant differences in the prevalence rates of cribra orbitalia and osteoarthritis in the Early Christian sample lend support to arguments concerning gendered expectations of behavior and a gendered division of labor in Byzantium. Finally, analyses of the spatial distribution of paleopathological conditions across the mortuary space of Nemea reveal limited evidence of patterns consistent with the organization of burials according to the social hierarchy. Instead, the organizing principles of the cemeteries of each period can be linked to changes in Byzantine socioreligious notions of the community and the family. With few exceptions, the results of this research demonstrate that the health and well- being of each community at Nemea was more dependent on local conditions than on the state- level sociopolitical changes that figure prominently in Byzantine historical narratives. Copyright by JARED SCOTT BEATRICE 2012 To my parents, Mark and Jonelle, and my grandmother, Virginia v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The successful completion of a doctoral dissertation is the culmination of years of coursework, research, and perseverance. It cannot be accomplished on one’s own. I have been extremely fortunate in the individuals who shaped my academic development and who provided much needed assistance throughout the writing process. I wish to thank Dr. Nancy Tatarek for igniting my interest in and passion for the discipline of anthropology. My advisor and dissertation committee chair, Dr. Todd Fenton, was responsible for cultivating and channeling that passion toward a professional career as a human osteologist. I will be forever grateful for the opportunities, personal interactions, learning experiences, and fun offered by our field seasons in Albania. I would also like to thank the additional members of my dissertation committee, Dr. Norman Sauer, Dr. William Lovis, Dr. Jon Frey, and Dr. Denise Demetriou, for their guidance and for the many hours of careful scrutiny spent on my dissertation. The final product is improved substantially because of your efforts. Locating a suitable skeletal collection is one of the most basic components of producing a dissertation focusing on human skeletal biology, but it is also frequently the most challenging. For access to the human skeletal samples from Nemea, I am grateful to Dr. Kim Shelton and to the Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology. During my field research I also benefitted enormously from advice and support from Dr. Jon Frey, Dr. Elizabeth Langridge-Noti, Leslie Lemire, Dr. Effie Athanassopoulos, and Christian Cloke. In order to expand the scope of my research, I relied on help from an outside source. I owe a sincere thank you to Dr. Voula Tritsaroli, who permitted me to use paleopathological data vi collected in her dissertation research for comparative purposes in my own. It is my hope that the present research can serve as a jumping off point for future interdisciplinary investigations of health and burial practices in Byzantine Greece. Inevitably the goals of a dissertation demand that one work to acquire new skills, however successfully. I am indebted to Sarah AcMoody and Dr. Jon Frey for their assistance building a functional GIS for the analysis of the burials at Nemea. It is impossible to estimate the number of frustrated hours, late nights, and cups of coffee that were associated with this task. It would also have been impossible for me to complete it without you. Perhaps the most important factor contributing to the successful completion of a doctoral dissertation is one’s support system. The graduate students (and former graduate students!) with whom I had the pleasure of being acquainted at Michigan State University are, I believe, as supportive as they come. Ideas and suggestions related to the content and presentation of this research were generated in discussions with Dr. Colleen Milligan, Dr. Lindsey Jenny, Dr. Michael Koot, Carolyn Hurst, Cate Bird, and Jen Vollner. I owe most of all, however, to Dr. Angela Soler, who provided me with advice, encouragement, and unconditional support when I needed it most. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my parents and my grandmother. As family members and as the individuals most intimately involved with my progress in graduate school, no one had more patience and understanding. You made this possible with every form of support imaginable. It is to you that I dedicate this dissertation. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES xii LIST OF FIGURES xxi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Sociopolitical Change and the Byzantine Greek Countryside 1 The Contribution of Bioarchaeology 4 Bioarchaeological Research in the Eastern Mediterranean 5 Nemea and its Environs 10 Phases of Occupation and Activity 14 Research Goals 18 Outline of the Dissertation 20 CHAPTER 2: BIOARCHAEOLOGY AND MORTUARY ANALYSIS 21 Physiological Stress and the Skeleton 21 Enamel Hypoplasias 23 Porotic Hyperostosis 24 Cribra Orbitalia 26 Periosteal Reactions 28 Osteoarthritis 29 Trauma 31 Issues of Interpretation: “The Osteological Paradox” 34 Mortuary Analysis: Historical Development and Theoretical Background 35 Burial and Social Organization 36 Postprocessual Approaches 39 Gender and Mortuary Analysis 43 Spatial Analysis 45 Summary 47 CHAPTER 3: GREECE IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN AND MIDDLE TO LATE BYZANTINE PERIODS: PLACING THE NEMEA COMMUNITIES IN CONTEXT 49 Greece and its Place in the Mediterranean World of Late Antiquity 50 Cities, Towns, and the Countryside 50 Religious Life 55 Gender 58 Health and Health Care 60 The Early Christian Community at Nemea 63 The Abandonment of Early Christian Nemea 65 Greece and Byzantium in the Middle to Late Byzantine Period 68 Prosperity under the Komnenoi 68 Factors Precipitating Fragmentation 69 The Fourth Crusade and the Conquest of the Peloponnese 71 Frankish Greece 72 viii Social and Religious Change in the Middle to Late Byzantine Period 74 Religion 74 Gender and the Family 76 Medicine and Public Health 77 The Middle to Late Byzantine Community at Nemea 79 Summary 83 CHAPTER 4: MORTUARY PRACTICE IN BYZANTIUM 84 Early Christian and Byzantine Funerary Ritual 85 Burial in Byzantium 88 Grave Construction, Arrangement of the Body, and Grave Contents 89 Collective Burial and Secondary Burial 90 The Spatial Organization of Byzantine Cemeteries 91 Burial Location and Religious Beliefs 91 Burial Location and the Social Hierarchy 92 Summary 95 CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH QUESTIONS, HYPOTHESES, AND EXPECTATIONS 96 Investigating the Biological Impact of Sociopolitical Change 96 Research Hypotheses and Expectations 97 Hypothesis One 97 Hypothesis Two 99 Hypothesis Three 101 Summary 104 CHAPTER 6: MATERIALS AND METHODS 106 Research Materials 106 History of the Excavation of Burials at Nemea 106 The Early Christian Burials 107 The Middle to Late Byzantine Burials 110 The Human Skeletal Samples from Nemea 111 Research Methods 113 Skeletal Analysis 113 Demographic Data Collection 114 Measuring Physiological Stress at Nemea 118 Statistical Analysis: Indicators of Physiological Stress 124 Mortuary Analysis 125 Assessing Spatial and Temporal Variation in Burial Patterns at Nemea 125 Examining Differences