Research issues and publication project
Funeral archaeology, long-considered a sourcing centre of fine objects, has significantly evolved over the last few decades.
The creation of multi-disciplinary teams and, in particular, the cooperation of anthropologists - specialists in research on human remains - have made it possible to extend the field of research in a variety of directions:
diagnosis on the sex of the deceased, their age, the pathologies from which they may have suffered and their diet.
modes for treating the bodies after death: where cremation is used, the duration and temperature of exposure at the stake, then the rites for laying the remains in the cinerary urn; where inhumation is chosen, the skeleton’s position in the tomb and the presence or absence of a sheet in which the body was wrapped.
after the burial, the body’s decomposition method, in a fully-sealed or partially-open environment. Also explored are the conclusions that certain bone disconnections might validate regarding the possible presence of a stretcher or wooden bed under the body, or weighty organic offerings laid at the joints.
Other forms of cooperation have also proven important: that of archaeozoologists, in identifying the remains of fauna associated with the tombs, storage areas or hearths, anthracologists to determine the wood essences used at the stake or in the hearths.
The Franco-Bulgarian mission for Apollonia has established the following multi-disciplinary research areas, alongside the purely-archaeological research, which sometimes have special applications in the colonial environment:
Types of sepulchres. Cremation remains very much in the minority in Apollonia, accounting for 10 to 15% of all tombs identified since 1992. The deceased were rarely burned on-site, and the remains were most often gathered in a clay vase, produced locally or imported from Athens. Inhumation was commonly done in a pit dug directly in the earth, sometimes equipped with wooden casing and a tiled covering; in other cases, the body was placed inside a cist composed of several stone plates placed side-by-side (“cist tomb”).
Grouped sepulchres. Groupings by family, in the more or less broad sense, are a traditional characteristic of Greek necropolises. Here, the groupings are broadly set apart by rectilinear walls or horseshoe formations, inside of which smaller groupings can be found, along a horizontal plane or in mounds (tumuli), formed gradually. Some of the family groups are built up within small rectangular enclosures.
Personality of the deceased. The presence of tombstones bearing the name of the deceased is relatively rare, but the names attested to up until now are, for the vast majority, Greek. The Thracian population that lived in the surrounding area is little-represented by this type of source, or by funeral rituals foreign to the Greek world.
Nature of funeral practices. It is common in the Greek world to find unburned offerings laid outside the tombs and the existence of hearths in which other offerings were burned, but the layout of the offerings and, sometimes, the types of objects, can reflect practices specific to a colony, which may or may not be related to Thracian cultural traditions.
Local production and imports. The clay vases produced locally form the majority of the offerings laid in the necropolis: the Apollonia excavation has made it possible to revive studies of this type of production. It is important to distinguish, when dealing with imported items, the commercial amphora, present most of all in unburned offerings, the origin of which - especially in Thassos to the north of the Aegean Sea and Heracles on the southern coast of the Black Sea - provides important information as to the exchange channels that Apollonia maintained. Fine imported ceramics - varnished in black or decorated - come from Athens: some of the vases in the necropolis bear red decorations of remarkable quality. However, it is likely that some of the vases are imitations produced in Apollonia itself, in Northern Greece or in other colonial cities. Our digs will help expand current knowledge on the matter, as well as on the choice of figurative scenes on the Attic vases exported to Apollonia.
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