Retracing the origin, development and survival of individual and collective identities in past human societies, this volume features a global and interdisciplinary range of case studies from Late Antiquity to the modern period covering a diversity of geographical and historical regions. The contributors delve into the archaeological record to detect not only biological and cultural affinity, but also evidence of diversity and otherness. Through the lens of burial customs, dietary habits, biocultural changes, paleopathological evidence, everyday objects, built remains and belief systems, this book highlights archaeologys crucial role in unearthing, reconstructing and protecting long-established as well as forgotten or even obliterated identities, while also unveiling the recurrence of human values transcending space and time.
Organised by broad thematic sections, this collective body of work draws together perspectives from archaeology, bioarchaeology, zooarchaeology, forensic anthropology, archaeosciences, anthropology, historical archaeology and other disciplines. As a result, this book elucidates the importance of holistic approaches to the analysis of material culture and skeletal remains often the only indisputable remnants of human survival and resilience.
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Interdisciplinary case studies from across the globe spanning from Late Antiquity to the early modern period analyse and interpret the archaeological record to detect and reconstruct human identities and diversity persistence.
List of Illustrations
List of Contributions
Introduction
Annamaria Diana (Independent Scholar, Ireland), Daniela Marcu-Istrate
(Archaeology Institute V. Parvan, Ireland) and Alice Toso (University of
Bonn, Germany)
Part I - Belonging, Resilience and Spirituality
1. Aksum and Beyond: Plurality, Hybridization and Religious Identity in the
Horn of Africa
Gabriele Castiglia (Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology (PIAC) in
Rome, Italy)
2. Martyrdom Narratives and Identity Formation at the Edge of the Roman
Empire: The Case of Epictetus and Astion from Halmyris,
Ciprian Cretu (Anthropology Institute F. Rainer, Romania) and Dorian Andrei
Soficaru (Anthropology Institute F. Rainer, Romania)
3. Irish Identities Reflected in Pre-famine Headstone Iconography
Gerry Mullins (Independent Scholar, Ireland)
Part II - Stories From the Burial Context
4. Marginalised Communities in Late Medieval Lisbon: A Multi-isotopic Diet
and Mobility Study of the Rua Das Lagares 74 Necropolises
Rebecca Anne Macroberts (Hercules Laboratory and In2past, University of
Évoran Portugal), Lucy Shaw Evangelista (Independent Scholar, Portugal),
Marina Lourenço (University of Coimbra, Portugal), Cristina Barrocas Dias
(University of Évora, Portugal), Hermínia Vasconcelos Vilar (University of
Évora, Portugal), Bernd R. Schöne (University of Mainz, Germany), Anne-France
Maurer (University De Évora, Portugal)
5. A History of Violence? Atypical and Deviant Burial Patterns at Turda
Veches Reformed Church Cemetery, Transylvania
Horatiu Dorin Groza (History Museum of Turda, Romania) and Annamaria Diana
(Independent Scholar, Ireland)
6. Grips and Grip plates: Getting a Hold on Identity in Post-medieval
Yorkshire, England
Diana Swales (University of Dundee, UK)
Part III - Biocultural Transitions
7. Exploring Transition and Identity Through an Interdisciplinary Study of
the Third to Seventh Centuries CE Northamptonshire: a Theoretical Discussion
Alvaro Felipe Ortega-González (University of Leicester, UK)
8. Animals as Witness to Cultural Identities: The Spanish Imprint of the
Colonization of the Americas
Aurélie Manin (University of Bordeaux, France), Noémie Tomadini (National
History Museum of Bordeaux, France) and Ophélie Lebrasseur (Centre for
Research on Biodiversity and the Environment, France)
9. The Taste of the Land: Isotopic Evidence of Urban and Rural Identities in
Medieval Portugal Alice Toso (University of Bonn, Germany), Cleia Detry
(University of Lisbon, Portgual), Ines Simão (Era Arqueologia SA, Portugal),
Jaoquina Soares (University of Lisbon, Portgual), Ana Margarida Arruda
(University of Lisbon, Portgual), and Michelle Alexander (University of York,
UK)
10. Paddock to Plate at the Barracks: Meat Cuts as a Socioeconomic
Indicator in Nineteenth-century Colonial Triabunna (Tasmania, Australia)
Madeleine E. Lucas (Independent Scholar, Australia), Sofia C. Samper Carro
(Australian National University, Australia), D. A. Lenton (Australian
National University, Australia), Catherine J. Frieman (Australian National
University, Australia), and James L. Flexner (University of Sydney,
Australia)
Part IV - Expressions of Individuality
11. New insights on the Identity of a Seventh-century Horse Rider. The Case
of Grave 104 Bis from Târgsor
Erwin Gáll (Archaeology Institute V. Parvan, Romania), Andrei Dorian Soficaru
(Anthropology Institute F. Rainer, Romania), Ana Stefan, Andrei Magureanu
(Institute of Archaeology Vasile Pârvan, Romania), Gergely Szenthe
(Hungarian National Museum, Hungary) and Bogdan Ciuperca (Prahova County
Museum of History and Archaeology, Romania)
12. Archaeological Storytelling, or Stories About the Other? Cognitive
Archaeology and its Potential to Understand Emotional Actions Toward the
Deceased
Patrycja Godlewska (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland)
13. Brick by Brick: Constructing Anthropomorphic Graves for the Early
Nobility
Daniela Marcu-Istrate (Archaeology Institute V. Parvan, Romania)
14. In a community of pipes is a community of hearts: Glazed Tobacco Pipes
as a Reflection of Identity
Ionu?-Cosmin Codrea (Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilisation, Romania)
Part V - Reclaiming and Protecting Identities
15. After the Storm: Counteracting the Impact of Catastrophic Weather Events
on the Indigenous Archaeological Record with Creative Mitigating Solutions in
the Midwestern United States
Elizabeth C. Reetz (University of Iowa, USA) and John F. Doershuk (University
of Iowa, Archaeologist, USA)
16. The Roman-Catholic Bulgarians of Transylvania and the Franciscan
Monastery in Vintu de Jos: Historical and Archaeological Evidence of an
Eighteenth-century Diaspora
Sebastian Ovidiu Dobrota (Archaeology Institute V. Parvan, Romania)
17. Identity Without Context: Integrating Anthropological and Forensic
Methods for the Analysis of Isolated Archaeological Skulls
Annamaria Diana (Independent Scholar, Ireland), Daniel OMeara (Independent
Scholar, Ireland) and Julieta Gómez García-Donas
Epilogue
Annamaria Diana (Independent Scholar, Ireland), Daniela Marcu-Istrate
(Archaeology Institute V. Parvan, Romania) and Alice Toso (University of
Bonn, Germany)
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Annamaria Diana is a bioarchaeologist and independent researcher based in Ireland. Her work explores integrative approaches to the analysis of human skeletal remains, with a particular interest in bioarchaeological perspectives on past environmental and biocultural shifts and funerary taphonomy.
Daniela Marcu-Istrate is Senior Researcher at the Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology, Romania. Her work, including extensive archaeological excavations and numerous publications, has contributed vastly to the knowledge of medieval Central and Eastern Europe.
Alice Toso is Assistant Professor in Bioarchaeology at the University of Bonn, Germany. Her research focuses on using anthropological and biomolecular methods to assess social inequality, health, nutrition and mobility patterns.
