The Archaeology of Death: Ritual and Social Structure in the Ancient World

Historically contextualized study of how the dead 'lived' in the ancient Roman world, in funerary practices and traditions. Topics may include: funerary rituals; ritual distinctions between the space of the living and dead around cities and in the countryside; ancestor cult; monumental and not-so-monumental tombs; grave offerings and grave assemblages; public personae and funerary iconography tied to gender, age, and occupation. Course will compare death-practices between ancient Rome and other regions and periods.