Primary and Secondary Burials with Commingled Remains from Archaeological Contexts in Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey

Abstract

Within the geographical scope of the Eastern Mediterranean and Near East, commingled human skeletal remains appear frequently in archaeological contexts. This chapter presents recent issues and approaches to analyzing commingled remains at four sites in Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. The first case, in Late/Roman Early Christian Kalavasos-Kopetra, discusses the misinterpretation of a primary burial grave site for an ossuary as a result of post-excavation commingling. In the Hellenistic and Roman sites of Paphos, Cyprus, and Corinth, Greece, examples of commingled remains are explained as traditions in secondary burial rites. Within two Late Byzantine graves at Thebes, larger skeletal elements were favored in ritualized exhumations, resulting in a preponderance of smaller skeletal elements (e.g., hand and foot bones) within the primary burial. Finally, in the study of a Roman period mass grave from Oymaagac Hoyuk (ancient Nerik), Turkey, the authors demonstrate commingling of human remains during excavation and exhumation procedures. From recent work on human skeletal material at Oymaagac, a methodology for recording and analysis of commingled remains has been developed and implemented.