Ever since my years as a graduate student at the ‘La Sapienza’ University, Marcella Frangipane has been a leading figure in the important discussion on the search for social inequality among ancient societies. Over time her teachings have developed into an ongoing dialogue on how to define archaeological correlates for identifying social complexity within ancient Near Eastern societies. Within this perspective, the archaeological remains of funerary practices have obviously been considered as an extraordinary source of evidence for relating funerary variability to social change. In particular, the discovery of the early third millennium BCE ‘royal tomb’ at Arslantepe in the ‘90s has prompted me to reflect again on the role of royal tombs in facilitating the acquisition of power by emerging elites. In addition, the discovery of the numerous stone-lined cist graves and of a large mass burial at Başur Höyük in the province of Siirt by the archaeological team directed by Haluk Sağlamtimur, that is contemporaneous with the ‘royal tomb’ of Arslantepe and dates to the same historical phase, has increased my interest in the role of these graves in the creation of social inequality in eastern Anatolia during this specific chronological period. Thus, in this brief contribution I will reflect on the role played by these rich funerary contexts in the transformation of the social fabric of societies that were engaged with metal working and commercial exchange rather than agricultural subsistence strategies. More specifically, I will question the concept of ‘royal’ in relation to the funerary contexts associated with the deposition of hoards of metal objects, the presence of human sacrifices and the connection with the divine that, I believe, is the quintessential desire of the rulers when acquiring power.

Tracing Inequality: A Reflection on ‘royal tombs’ in eastern Anatolia at the beginning of the third millennium BCE

Laneri N
Primo
Methodology
2020-01-01

Abstract

Ever since my years as a graduate student at the ‘La Sapienza’ University, Marcella Frangipane has been a leading figure in the important discussion on the search for social inequality among ancient societies. Over time her teachings have developed into an ongoing dialogue on how to define archaeological correlates for identifying social complexity within ancient Near Eastern societies. Within this perspective, the archaeological remains of funerary practices have obviously been considered as an extraordinary source of evidence for relating funerary variability to social change. In particular, the discovery of the early third millennium BCE ‘royal tomb’ at Arslantepe in the ‘90s has prompted me to reflect again on the role of royal tombs in facilitating the acquisition of power by emerging elites. In addition, the discovery of the numerous stone-lined cist graves and of a large mass burial at Başur Höyük in the province of Siirt by the archaeological team directed by Haluk Sağlamtimur, that is contemporaneous with the ‘royal tomb’ of Arslantepe and dates to the same historical phase, has increased my interest in the role of these graves in the creation of social inequality in eastern Anatolia during this specific chronological period. Thus, in this brief contribution I will reflect on the role played by these rich funerary contexts in the transformation of the social fabric of societies that were engaged with metal working and commercial exchange rather than agricultural subsistence strategies. More specifically, I will question the concept of ‘royal’ in relation to the funerary contexts associated with the deposition of hoards of metal objects, the presence of human sacrifices and the connection with the divine that, I believe, is the quintessential desire of the rulers when acquiring power.
2020
978-88-7853-848-1
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/456217
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