Research Project:
Plundering, Reusing and Transforming the Past: Grave Robbing and the Reuse of Funerary Material in Late Antiquity

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cris.legacyIdpj00091en_US
cris.sourceIdINTERNAL-SUBMISSION::1c0ed8ca-cf0f-4f31-94db-dcbd7d333d97en_US
cris.sourceIdMIGRATION::pj00091
crispj.coinvestigator.affiliationInstitute of History, Ancient History and Reception History of the Ancient Worlden_US
crispj.coinvestigatorsWheeler, Ginnyen_US
crispj.investigatorMurer, Cristina Evaen_US
datacite.rightsmetadata.only
dc.date.accessioned2022-12-06T13:16:25Z
dc.date.available2024-07-01T10:37:21Z
dc.description.abstractFrom the later 3rd until the 6th century, tombs that had fallen into oblivion were frequently subject to robbery and spoliation. This phenomenon can be observed across the entirety of the late imperial and early medieval world. It is attested not only by a large quantity of legal, literary and epigraphic sources but also by archaeological evidence, since the marble decorations of tombs in particular were reused not only as spolia within walls and streets but also as décor elements within public (e.g. bath buildings, churches, latrines, fountains, nymphaea) and private buildings (villae and domus). For floors, funerary inscriptions were often visibly integrated and grave reliefs, sarcophagi and even funerary statues of the deceased were reused as ornamenta for the late antique sculpture décor. The spoliation of tombs and the transferal and reuse of funerary material can therefore be connected with major transformations of cities and societies. The aim of this research project is to collate for the first time all archaeological, epigraphic, literary and legal sources that describe the social practice of grave robbing and the associated reuse of funerary material (especially marble décor) in the late Roman empire (both the western and eastern Roman empire) in public and private contexts. With current field methods and theories of ancient urbanism, survey campaigns in Italy and Asia Minor, as well as the strong implementation of social anthropological theories (object biographies) and reception theories, new insights on the comprehensive transformation of the late antique city, society and its image world will be obtained. Furthermore, the project will place a wider focus on grave robbing or what is called grave robbery, identifying whether these phenomena occurred especially in times of major political instability from antiquity until the very modern period.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipInstitute of History, Ancient History and Reception History of the Ancient World
dc.description.sponsorshipSwiss National Science Foundation
dc.identifier.urihttps://boris-portal.unibe.ch/handle/20.500.12422/31155
dc.language.isodeen_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.relation.funding174174
dc.subjectDewey Decimal Classification::900 - History::930 - History of ancient world (to ca. 499)en_US
dc.subjectDewey Decimal Classification::900 - Historyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsspatial turnen_US
dc.subject.keywordsimage transformationsen_US
dc.subject.keywordsoblivionen_US
dc.subject.keywordstomb robbingen_US
dc.subject.keywordsfountainsen_US
dc.subject.keywordsroman urbanismen_US
dc.subject.keywordsitalyen_US
dc.subject.keywordsfunery cultureen_US
dc.subject.keywordslate antiquityen_US
dc.subject.keywordswater featuresen_US
dc.subject.keywordsbiography of objectsen_US
dc.subject.keywordsroman lawen_US
dc.subject.keywordsmemoryen_US
dc.subject.keywordsdestructionen_US
dc.subject.keywordsostiaen_US
dc.subject.keywordsroman sculptureen_US
dc.subject.keywordsreuseen_US
dc.subject.keywordsspoliaen_US
dc.subject.keywordslate antique statuaryen_US
dc.subject.keywordsurban transformationsen_US
dc.titlePlundering, Reusing and Transforming the Past: Grave Robbing and the Reuse of Funerary Material in Late Antiquityen_US
dspace.entity.typeProject
oairecerif.internalid174174en_US
oairecerif.project.endDate2022-12-31en_US
oairecerif.project.startDate2018-08-01en_US
oairecerif.project.statusActiveen_US
unibe.isfundedtrueen_US
unibe.primaryconductorSwiss National Science Foundationen_US
unibe.project.duration01-08-2018 - 31-12-2022en_US
unibe.project.managerMurer, Cristina Evaen_US
unibe.project.primarycontactCann-Guthauser, Keithen_US
unibe.projectManager.affiliationInstitute of History, Ancient History and Reception History of the Ancient Worlden_US
unibe.projectprimarycontact.affiliationInstitute of History, Iberian and Latin American Historyen_US

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