Typology and topography of late antique graves in the archaeological landscape of central Dalmatia

Bubić, Vinka. (2016). Typology and topography of late antique graves in the archaeological landscape of central Dalmatia. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Archaeology.
(Poslijediplomski doktorski studij arheologije) [mentor Sanader, Mirjana].

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Abstract

This doctoral thesis has two objectives. The first one is to define the types of late antique graves in the area of central Dalmatia. The form of burial that was prevalent in the second half of the third century throughout the Roman Empire has been known as inhumation. While the grave pit, in which the deceased was buried or burned, has usualy been in a sterile soil. By changing the mode of burial from incineration to inhumation, the types of burial structures have also been changed. Therefore we used the collected grave forms origing from the sites all around the Central Dalmatia, and we formed the basic division relying on theirs grave construction. Thus, the graves are divided into those which do not contain any construction elements, which means that the body has been laid in a simple grave pit; then those that contain an element of grave construction, which also include wooden caskets, simple grave pits bordered by stone, graves that used masonry stone structures as a structural element, and graves lined, covered or paved with various handy materials; in the end, the most complex version of the grave is the one with the concrete structure, which includes amphora grave, tile grave, mixed grave type, stone-built grave and stone-built tomb. The listed types are not unique nor typical exclusively for the area of Central Dalmatia, but for the first time these types will be analyzed and presented within this doctoral thesis. The second objective of this PhD thesis is to consider the deployment of graves in the archaeological landscape of the region of the central Dalmatia and determine how they affect the formation of late Roman landscape. It was achieved with: analysis of spatial distribution of late antiquity graves, systematization of grave architecture, charting graves in relation to the landscape or a strategic position in it. In this way, we have learned that the cultural landscape and people who buried their dead created new social spaces that provide opportunities for different perception of late Roman landscape. Consequently with the help of aerial photography, topographic data and drawings we tried to reconstruct, where it was possible, late antique look at a certain landscape. In the area of the former capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and its landscape we were able to answer a few questions. For example: we tried to establish whether the late the antique graves follow natural terrain configuration; what is their position in relation to the late ancient urban and suburban areas; where are they located in relation to communication routes and how they relate to the nearby architecture.

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