Archaeology of Stone Sarcophagi around the Mediterranean during Antiquity
CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE SESSION 152 – “INTERTWINED PASTS”:
EAA 2025 BELGRADE (3-6 SEPTEMBER)
Session 152
Archaeology of Stone Sarcophagi around the
Mediterranean during Antiquity: Current
Research and Approaches
Daniel Morleghem, La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
Laura Nazim, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Katharina Meinecke, Universität des Saarlandes, Germany
Submission before 6th February 2025 at https://submissions.e-a-a.org/eaa2025
From Antiquity to the present day, the stone sarcophagus has been an ostentatious and costly funerary container. It is very often carved from a quality stone (marble
in particular) and sculpted with geometric, plant, animal or anthropomorphic motifs, either as single isolated ornaments or depicting scenes from daily life or
mythology. But a large proportion of sarcophagi, which are difficult to quantify at present because they have hardly been studied, are carved in local stone rather
than in noble marble, often without any particular ornamentation and in different stages of manufacture.
Today, sarcophagi are no longer studied solely from the social, iconographic, artistic and commercial point of view that marked the 19th and 20th centuries. For
more than two decades, researchers have been taking an increasing interest in the strictly artisanal aspects (tools and cutting techniques), the presentation and
visibility of the object within the funerary space, social differences and various local production centres. Even the simplest examples are gradually becoming part
of the regional corpus, so that we can better understand the economy (in the broadest sense) of this particular craft object, as well as its role as a social and identity
marker.
The aim of this session is to provide an overview of recent and current research on stone sarcophagi in the Mediterranean during Antiquity. We invite contributors,
particularly early career researchers, to present their case studies and discuss the following points in particular:
their approach(es) to the sarcophagus as a craft, artistic, funerary and economic object;
the criteria used to establish a corpus;
the place of sarcophagi among other contemporary funerary containers (for example, terracotta and lead sarcophagi, as well as stone or terracotta urns);
the contextualization of sarcophagi inside the burial space;
the question of recognizable social differences among sarcophagus burials in a common context.
EAA 2025 BELGRADE (3-6 SEPTEMBER)
Session 152
Archaeology of Stone Sarcophagi around the
Mediterranean during Antiquity: Current
Research and Approaches
Daniel Morleghem, La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
Laura Nazim, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany
Katharina Meinecke, Universität des Saarlandes, Germany
Submission before 6th February 2025 at https://submissions.e-a-a.org/eaa2025
From Antiquity to the present day, the stone sarcophagus has been an ostentatious and costly funerary container. It is very often carved from a quality stone (marble
in particular) and sculpted with geometric, plant, animal or anthropomorphic motifs, either as single isolated ornaments or depicting scenes from daily life or
mythology. But a large proportion of sarcophagi, which are difficult to quantify at present because they have hardly been studied, are carved in local stone rather
than in noble marble, often without any particular ornamentation and in different stages of manufacture.
Today, sarcophagi are no longer studied solely from the social, iconographic, artistic and commercial point of view that marked the 19th and 20th centuries. For
more than two decades, researchers have been taking an increasing interest in the strictly artisanal aspects (tools and cutting techniques), the presentation and
visibility of the object within the funerary space, social differences and various local production centres. Even the simplest examples are gradually becoming part
of the regional corpus, so that we can better understand the economy (in the broadest sense) of this particular craft object, as well as its role as a social and identity
marker.
The aim of this session is to provide an overview of recent and current research on stone sarcophagi in the Mediterranean during Antiquity. We invite contributors,
particularly early career researchers, to present their case studies and discuss the following points in particular:
their approach(es) to the sarcophagus as a craft, artistic, funerary and economic object;
the criteria used to establish a corpus;
the place of sarcophagi among other contemporary funerary containers (for example, terracotta and lead sarcophagi, as well as stone or terracotta urns);
the contextualization of sarcophagi inside the burial space;
the question of recognizable social differences among sarcophagus burials in a common context.